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Touring/AT NSers...

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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627

I've been noticing lately that there are a few people on here who are into touring and earning their turns.  Where are you from, where are you touring and whatchagot for touring setups? 

I'm from mass but tour all over the EC and also when I go west for vaca (usually UT/BCC/LCC).  Mostly in VT along the green spine though while I'm home.  Right now I'm on Whitedot Redeemers quiverkilled for Plum Guides, but my 12/13 ON3P Billy Goat Tours should be on my doorstep by tomorrow- and will be my go-to touring skis for the majority of the season.  My boots are Dalbello Virus Tours with cochise top straps grafted on as well because I hated the stock top bail. 

So what's up with you, oh rando beasts of NS?   

Nov 13 2012 11:28AM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
The wider platform does NOTHING you will ever feel in reality.

Of course, on paper it will give a "better" area of stress dispersion, but wtf is that and why does it matter? The truth is that you'd only want a wider platform if your skis were 200mm wide and you were 12 feet tall. You will likely never rip out the Guide screws and if you do, the yak wouldn't have saved you. Also the reinforced mounting plate underfoot on every pair of skis is only so wide- go outside that area and you're mounting to non reinforced wood and then you're REALLY likely to rip out.

The Yak is just a marketing thing. Wider doesn't do SHIT for you in real life. I mean shit- think about the heels on an FKS. It's the tiniest screw pattern in the game and people stomp with them all day. If this was a valid concern every binding would go edge to edge.

Sure I mean technically the math is there but it's stupid to apply it to this particular situation since it's just not warranted IMO. You're putting a ski on edge, not using it to pry a door open and even if you were the concept of the wide mounting pattern would only work if your skis had a wider reinforced binding mounting area, otherwise you're just chasing your tail and doing more harm than good.
Nov 5 2013 10:02AM
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Ghini
Posts: 2262 - Karma: 3,004
Ok thanks again both! Great help!
Nov 5 2013 10:07AM
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LC.
Posts: 5952 - Karma: 2,423
^ Summed it up better than I could. Possibly better than my engineer ski partner who loves to rant about the whole wide-platform thing.

Tech toes rip out more than alpine toes because of the lack of elasticity and vibration dampening, not because of the narrower mount. Plus you're talking about inserts anyway which will give you a stronger connection to the ski anyway screws alone.
Nov 5 2013 10:07AM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
Thanks! Also agreed- If you're concerned with ripping out, simply use inserts. It will do far more for your binding integrity than going with a wider platform as it will keep you right in the sweet spot that they're meant to be mounted in.

I mean I can see it with the newer Dukes, as you're pretty high off the ski ad they're known for developing slop. Tech bindings, notsomuch.
Nov 5 2013 10:11AM
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rudager
Posts: 11335 - Karma: 4,626
http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/snow-safety-and-avalanche-gear-PP1106850000ALL1.html#prefn1=bd_filter_category&prefv1=Probes&start=2


Thoughts?

I'd check it out next season perhaps.
Just bought a new probe on Saturday...
Nov 5 2013 9:08PM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
I'll never put down something that may help save a life but I'm not really seeing the benefit of that. If you're slowing down your probe strikes that's bad IMO. If you did your search right you should be where you need to be, the probe is just to confirm exact location physically before you start wasting energy and time digging in the wrong place.


I don't see it, but I can't exactly say it's useless. For $200 though, I would not buy that.
Nov 6 2013 9:49AM
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ISellMeth
Posts: 1440 - Karma: 673
Could you guys throw some advice my way here? I posted this in gear talk without knowing about this thread

Looking to get into back country and I have no idea where to start when it comes to packs,probes,shovels,and a beacon. For a pack I'd prefer a avalung just to be safe, but everything else just need some guidance when it comes to things like brands and their quality . Thanks a lot guys.
Nov 8 2013 5:30PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,459
For ease of use and just getting into things, go for BCA for the beacon, shovel, and probe. They make all of those things and they do it well. Don't get BCA skins though.
Nov 8 2013 5:52PM
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snomaster
Posts: 3346 - Karma: 5,771
nothing like seeing a huge avalanche rip down the couloir you just skied to scare you into humility... thinking that possibly all three of your partners were in it.
luckily only one person was caught and I have no idea how he lived, let alone ended up on top of the debris. all I saw was a white wall of fast barreling snow mixed with small boulders run full track. I was up on the left (north aspect) of the west facing line by some rocks. the snow just under my skis released into the slide. my friends above thought I was taken out too. So effing scary.
Our one friend was heli-evaced out with a bad hip injury. I'm sitting here still gripped. and after we got him loaded into the bird the other three of us had to get out of a deep zone in the dark. we were on day 4 of a cabin camping trip of a lifetime, and this was the last line, just the one to get us moving towards the car at the trailhead. def let up our guard just enough.

dunno if I can sleep tonight.

make good decisions, don't cut corners, get rescue training beyond 5 yr old CPR cert, practice avy hazard mitigation skills, choose partners who do the same!
Nov 11 2013 2:51AM
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bakedpow
Posts: 8770 - Karma: 10,467
thats heavy shit man. glad you guys all made it out safe. i hate hearing about this kind of thing.
Nov 11 2013 2:58AM
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Ghini
Posts: 2262 - Karma: 3,004
^^ Scary stuff man.. Good thing you are all safe.. Hope you can tell more later about what went wrong?

Nov 11 2013 4:01AM
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SFBv420.0
Posts: 2539 - Karma: 3,124
damn dude glad you and your crew are alright.
don't take but a second for it to go from all good to shit show
strong point about the companion rescue bls skills seems everyone wants or suggests avvy training or are willing to spend $$$ on abs or the newest gadgets
the truth is the majority will use 1st aid/compaion self rescue skills before and way more often than beacon skills.
yet the # of peeps w/ woofers or emt certs are way lower.
been through 3 self rescue incidents now and only 1 was avvy initiated.
sucks to have to go through what you did on the flip side though ya learned more in those couple hours than a month of avvy classes.
hope your bro heals well and the rest of your season is safe


Nov 11 2013 8:24AM
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snomaster
Posts: 3346 - Karma: 5,771
thanks to all for condolences.
I've been meaning to get more 1st responder training for years... and it always slips by. This is what I'm asking for Xmas 100%. That's the only thing I need or want now. I hate thinking that the heli is the only
Nov 11 2013 12:23PM
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jca
Posts: 4172 - Karma: 6,310
damn dude, glad to hear you're all good.
Nov 11 2013 5:44PM
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Bozite
Posts: 981 - Karma: 561
Today I bought a BCA tracker one and could not be happier! But i saw that tracker 2 was just 30$ more and couldn't help to wonder why the prices are so close? if they are the same why not just get rid of one and have that one and a tracker 3? or is the tracker one just a bit lower tech so they still keep it? just thought fellow ns could provide some insight.Thanks
Nov 11 2013 7:27PM
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Shlogan
Posts: 4942 - Karma: 430
Click for larger image
This was my first tour ever, Bridger Bowl fingers on the 6th. ended up getting some atomic trackers on my Chetlers. Went hard again since, so stoked!
Nov 11 2013 7:33PM
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Shlogan
Posts: 4942 - Karma: 430
looking for a backcountry pack, can anyone tell em the differences in the Alias pack by BD over the last 3 years? the oldest ones $99, last years is $169 and this years is $279
Nov 11 2013 8:47PM
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.MASSHOLE.
Posts: 7495 - Karma: 11,554
After all this snow N. VT is getting im hopin to get out this friday morning somewhere.
Nov 11 2013 11:04PM
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rudager
Posts: 11335 - Karma: 4,626
Went touring at Highwood Pass on Saturday. It was rather wind blown on the west facing slopes, so I hit a few rocks, got a nice core shot.
Still felt amazing to be back out touring. I felt amazing. Can't wait to tackle some other faces next week.

Click for larger image
Click for larger image

And an artsy of hell shot of me
Click for larger image


Hoping to trek one of these (or both) in the future
Click for larger image
Click for larger image

Nov 12 2013 12:11AM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,459
Leaving to drive to California tomorrow. Camping in Moab for 2 days and then continuing my drive. Anybody in UT want to tour a bit? Probably Thurs or Friday?
Nov 12 2013 1:01AM
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Mama.
Posts: 3066 - Karma: 2,607
Hello. I'm threadsing because its long overdue. Carry on, friends.
Nov 12 2013 1:56AM
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Ghini
Posts: 2262 - Karma: 3,004
You should have bought the tracker 2. The tracker 1 has 2 antennas and the tracker 2 has 3 antennas wich works way better and faster. Enjoy the fact that the tracker 2 is just 30 dollars more, return the tracker 1 and get the tracker 2!
Nov 12 2013 4:33AM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2180 - Karma: 1,337
Okay need some advice, I am considering getting a touring setup together but not immediately, I have a brand new pair of unmounted pettitors and older bibbys that are slightly damaged. I have jesters and sth's. jesters are on the bibbys already, do the marker touring bindings/guardians fit the jester/sth screw pattern, I'd like to move the jesters to my pettitors as they will be my primary pow ski and want to keep them light. Also what about the Trekkers? Not convinced I'm going to use the touring setup that much.
Nov 13 2013 11:22PM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
Damn, how did I miss this?


Scary shit man. SO glad to hear your friend made it out of there, I do not envy your mind's track on that skin out. Big injuries in the BC are always on the front of my mind. I took a 14 week rescue course which also certed me for Patrol a few years ago after one of my best friends almost died in the mountains and I will definitely be taking it again next fall. That is the type of knowledge you want to stay fresh forever and you can take with you everywhere, all the time.

Avi training is of course on everyone's list but I do think it's important to be on top of your medical game and if you can spare the time to do a WFR, OEC or WEMT definitely do it. Like I said above, those are skills you will want everywhere in life. You never know.

I'd love to get an update on your friend though when you can spare a minute.
Nov 14 2013 9:26AM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Nothing new, but a cool study non the less.
http://unofficialnetworks.com/cell-phones-interfere-avalanche-beacons-126467/
Nov 14 2013 1:04PM
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McFellon
Posts: 1841 - Karma: 2,005
Got my first day ever of skinning today. So much better than boot packing.
Nov 14 2013 1:50PM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Nov 14 2013 2:00PM
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Ghini
Posts: 2262 - Karma: 3,004
http://xgames.espn.go.com/skiing/article/9942479/backcountry-riders-treating-avalanche-risk-nonchalance
Nov 15 2013 6:50AM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,143
Well, I finally got a pair of FT Radicals yesterday after looking for six weeks and getting sniped every single time. Just insane how hard it is to get those bindings without paying retail.
Nov 15 2013 11:46AM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
Yep. HUGE problem with entitlement in the BC. Go ahead, try and tell any one of those assholes that they're putting someone else in danger or that they're not supposed to be there without equipment/knowledge. They'll think YOU'RE the asshole!

Random followers suck too- those guys alone and with no gear in jeans that just try to follow you wherever you're going so they can drop in above you and kill you are the fkn worst. I've had them in VT fer chrissakes, and you try to tell them not to follow you and they're all "I can go where I want, you don't own this land"- and what are you going to do from there? Having someone above you sucks, especially when you know they have no idea what they're doing and may end up being your very real problem at some point.


Everyone everywhere just assumes it's there for them to hit, that they don't have to know shit to do it and anybody who tries to tell them otherwise is a fucking asshole. That same person would probably get hurt in an avi and try to sue the resort for letting them be their retard selves too... It's a vicious cycle of entitlement, ignorance and a complete lack of responsibility and there is no way to stop it aside from putting the fkn clamps on gates and nobody wants that!


I really wish people weren't so fucking stupid.
Nov 15 2013 11:49AM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
Nice, where'd you pick them up? Need a pair myself.
Nov 15 2013 11:50AM
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9327 - Karma: 61,265
i posted this in another thread, but in case someone here knows:

do the salomon guardians use the same mount pattern as all the other current salomon bindings?
Nov 15 2013 12:25PM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
No
Nov 15 2013 12:40PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,143

Locally. And man was it a nightmare to get ahold of them. If you look on TGR gear swap right now there's a thread on how impossible it is to find radicals on the second hand market. I have been looking for weeks, and had 3 separate occasions where I had a done deal only to have the seller back out. This time, I saw the ad on kijiji (asking 300 bucks for a pair with only 5 days on 'em, hell of a deal) and immediately offered him $350 - an extra 50 bucks over his asking price - if I got them today. Dude was getting off a plane at 7pm so I met him at his house once he got there, took the bindings off his skis, handed him the cash. Not taking the chance of another one falling through.

Seriously the hardest ski gear to buy I've ever found...

Nov 15 2013 12:53PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,143

This is only the half of it. A lot of people simply have more money than sense, and will in fact buy all the gear but have the worst attitude about it. Like, "okay, I've got my full helmet, got my avalung, got my airbag pack, got a beacon, I'm fully protected from avalanches. Time to ski this slope." No, man. If you think that you're actually going to NEED your gear when you're considering skiing something - i.e., if you wouldn't ski the slope without your gear - don't fucking ski it with.

Too many people treating safety equipment as a shield and becoming overconfident. All that stuff does is provide you somewhat better odds of not dying if something goes wrong - there is no situation where having it should increase your risk tolerance. The best odds of not dying happen if you actually assess the risk properly and decline to put yourself in a dangerous situation in the first place.

Nov 15 2013 12:59PM
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9327 - Karma: 61,265
okay thanks
Nov 15 2013 1:34PM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2180 - Karma: 1,337
Do the jesters share the same screw pattern as the marker touring bindings, ( think their called the barons?)
Nov 15 2013 6:33PM
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malonius_funk
Posts: 2249 - Karma: 1,500
i could be wrong but i believe they do except the dukes/barons have one more hole to drill
Nov 15 2013 6:42PM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2180 - Karma: 1,337
Thanks!!!!!
Nov 15 2013 6:58PM
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Bleez
Posts: 83 - Karma: 32
You are wrong. They only share two toe-piece holes, everything else is different.
Nov 15 2013 10:40PM
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malonius_funk
Posts: 2249 - Karma: 1,500
well thats good to know. thanks man!
Nov 15 2013 10:41PM
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Pudge
Posts: 3718 - Karma: 3,117
Okay, I need help.

This is my present dilemma, I have nearly given up on park skiing. I'll still hit jumps and send it when I'm feeling frisky, but I am getting too old for rails and other bullshit. I have too many compounding injuries.

So I am starting to hate my juvenile ski gear too, the only thing that remains of it is my Hot Doggers. My Full Tilts work for me, because I never did any serious skiing where I wanted to push myself. Now that that is changing, there is no way my boots fit. I ordered them offline a few years after being a 26.5 since like 8th grade.....

But now my veneered Jeff's are going to arrive. They are going to be my one ski quiver for the next three-plus, very poor years of my life. I am mounting them with inserts and FKS and everything is ready to go. But I don't want to mount them for boots I hate, but I won't have money for new boots until I work all winter break. At, of all places, my local terrain park again.

Once I make some "serious" money from six weeks of full time at 10/hr, I am going to buy new boots. But me being the longer term planner I am looking to buy more freeride boots that at some point could accommodate tech bindings. Really tentatively mind you. Still, I want a rad downhill boot that I could still be throwing myself around if need be. Also one which at some point could be a jumping off point of being a "Touring/AT NSer" Too many of the boots that I have looked into only care about the uphill or are too focused on the tech importance of the boot. I want that to be an asterisk, or a changeable sole?

I would ask TGR but even after a year of posting I am still afraid of being called a Jong or something worse ):

Even if I had some brands that I could explore deeper that when I go up to SkiRack to get fitted in the spring I can say, "okay, here are some boots I have been considering because they satisfy my criteria a, b and c..." Also having a list would put me closer to some price points.

I don't know maybe it's not even possible to satisfy these demands, which is why I look to you to tell me I am in fact a Jong, whatever the fuck that means.




tl;dr no, go read or don't offer help
Nov 15 2013 10:58PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,965
Could a loan be an option?
Nov 15 2013 11:02PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,965
*please note I have never gotten a loan and don't really know what that is all about, so if this is complete nonsense, just ignore it.
Nov 15 2013 11:04PM
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jon@wh2o
Posts: 314 - Karma: 158
Just found this thread, and I'm stoked on all the intelligence in here. Seems like there's more people who actually know what they're talking about than people who are trying to be cool by pretending they know everything haha. Anyhow, do you guys find that way more people are touring with headphones these days or is that just where I ski? Slash do many of you guys tour with headphones plugged in?
Nov 15 2013 11:06PM
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Avifarer
Posts: 5926 - Karma: 598
K2 pinnacle 130, new boot for this year. the 130 is STIFF. and the walk mode is by far the best out of the ones i have tried.
Salomon quest max have interchangeable soles which cost 150.
Technica cochise also comes loaded with both but i have no experience with that one.
Nov 15 2013 11:08PM
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minihef
Posts: 813 - Karma: 781
Jong = Jerk off newbie gaper.

I was looking for similar when shopping for boots last year ie a boot that would ski well enough for everything inbounds but could still tour comfortably whilst keeping the tech option open for when I get dynas. I ended up with Technica Cochise 130s as there weren't that many boots that fit the criteria.

The 130s come with DIN sole but they have changeable blocks so you can switch them out for a tech sole down the line. The Cochise Light 120s are the other way around - coming with the tech soles as standard.

Anyway I love the 130s. They ski as well as the strictly alpine big mountain boots I was on before except they're lighter and they have a decent walk mode. More companies are starting to bring out these hybrid type boots though so do some searching. I know K2 have brought some out although I haven't seen a pair yet.


Nov 15 2013 11:43PM
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Pudge
Posts: 3718 - Karma: 3,117
Thank you to you both! Three boots is a good starting off point. I'll have more questions when I look into them tomorrow.

Also @jakesmith, I don't have the credit for a non-student loan! Plus it would be so short time and such an insignificant amount that it wouldn't be worth it, good thinking though. I think my plan is the best allocation of my money/time.
Nov 16 2013 12:19AM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,459
I have these and they're great.
Nov 16 2013 2:16AM
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snomaster
Posts: 3346 - Karma: 5,771
Nope. And I don't like it either.
"hey, did you hear that whoomf?"
"What?"
Missed red flag.
One ear in on the way up is tolerable, but I still don't like it. If you're with me, I won't let you ride down with music. Communication is crucial in the backcountry and your ears are important sensors what what is happening around you all the time.
Nov 16 2013 3:28AM
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