Touring Gear

black diamond has a strong emphisis on low weight (skis boots and bindings), and lot of the snowbird ski partrol live by thier shit which is reason enough for me to buy it, however:

i do really really wanna try the new Guardian 16 by salomon

Yea black diamond seems like a pretty popular name in the business. Hopefully I can find some used cheap.

It is such a risk to buy a used boot- the liner has molded to someone else's foot, which is most likely not the same as yours. Same with boot work...

If you want the best boot for your foot, go get fitted and spend the money on the right thing for your foot, not what someone else likes to ski in.

check steepandcheap, i have seen a lot of touring boots no their from time to time, some scarpa, black diamond, and Garmont... all kick ass names in AT boots..

the Atomic Tracker 130 and Black Diamond Factor are pretty legit for someone that wants touring and uphill performance and a similar feeling to skiing downhill in a downhill boot. with that being said- there is no AT boot that is as legit on the way down as a downhill boot.

it really depends on how hard you are going to be skiing on the downhill and how much you want comfort on the uphill. AT boots are sick and Dynafits are as light as it gets- but on the flipside they aren't as nice for sending cliffs and hitting jumps as say - downhill boots with the MFD alltime and P18 setup.

Hey thanks a lot, so your saying if I'm going to be touring and going for pillow lines and cliffs and what not, I should just stick with a downhill boot and tough it out for the up hill? and MFD alltime and p18 setups could you explain a little more about those. Btw thanks for all the replies really appreciate the input.

I would love to buy a brand new boot but Right now moneys tight and i've seen some setups going on classifieds for like 400bucks-boots-skis n bindings and skins some for less so I was kinda wondering if their was some old gear that was always breaking and stuff that I should watch out for. I just kind of want the basic gear so I can get a taste of this and see If its something I really like before I go out and get all top of the line stuff. Though I do understand that having top of the line stuff would make it much more enjoyable but I just can't afford to go out and spend a couple thousand as currently I'm just a poor ol' ski bum. But yea thanks again for all the input guys really appreciate it.

If you are just looking to get a taste, make sure the first thing you do is get some avy training done and the appropriate gear there first, and then pick up some skins and trekkers. easiest cheapest way in, even though it wont last long. should be enough to get into it. buy it from a retailer that has an unlimited return policy (like backcountry.com) so then if it breaks, or when you want to upgrade, you can do it for no additional cost.

Avy training and gear should be your first priority. An avy 1 course, reading a book or two, getting a solid beacon, probe, and shovel should be your priorities.

Thanks a lot guys +k and Yea I'm def taking some Avy Courses to start and I have a few friends that have been touring for a while so they should be able to teach me some stuff as well. Cheers guys happy shredding looks like we got some now overnight here in the Lake Louise

Nice, have fun and stay safe! If you're ever in the roger's pass/ revy area, give me a shout.