Touring Setup Advice

umm, i would not recommend skinning on the new lifes. my friend once toured on the surface one life, and he had some traction issues do to the low surface area of the ski that actually touches the snow and gives you traction. i also heard the new lifes are decently heavy, and add dukes or guardians, and you will get super tired. as for jibbing and durability with dukes, you will be just fine. i wouldnt take them on rails, but they hold up fine for pure alpine skiing. ive ridden the barons super hard, and theyre holding up ok, and the duke is more burley which will be even more durable

a_shaky_gifumm, i would not recommend skinning on the new lifes. my friend once toured on the surface one life, and he had some traction issues do to the low surface area of the ski that actually touches the snow and gives you traction. i also heard the new lifes are decently heavy, and add dukes or guardians, and you will get super tired. as for jibbing and durability with dukes, you will be just fine. i wouldnt take them on rails, but they hold up fine for pure alpine skiing. ive ridden the barons super hard, and theyre holding up ok, and the duke is more burley which will be even more durable

Yo I'm that friend with one lifes...well not any more I sold them. One lifes kinda sucked for touring. But I've headd from multiple people that the new life is better because it's actually lighter than the one life coming in at about 4.5 per ski(which is light for a pow ski, especially that fat) but yeah heard they are better because they have more surface are and are lighter. Now there's still better options out there to tour on thi and still float. As for dukes, I didn't like them. In fact I'm not impressed with any tour binding on the market right now but if I had to choose Id go guardian or tracker then adrenalins before I go duke again. Great durabilty on the Dukes, just wasn't a fan of how high they were off the ski

Obviously there are better touring set ups.

But if your just getting into it, you need to ask your self how much time you will really spend touring.

Will you be doing long tours or just mini golf laps? Will you be setting your own track or uesing some one elses?

How much jibbing are you going to do?


Marker Dukes/Barons are my reccomendation for a binding. As for the ski, thats up to you.

The most important thing is your binding and boot setup. There are two types of touring bindings, frame and tech. Frame are much similar to traditional resort bindings in terms of stepping in and the way they ride but are a lot heavier than tech bindings. Tech bindings are also more expensive but are a ton lighter. They do, however, require a certain kind of boot (like dynafit). It really depends on what type of touring you are going to be doing. If you are mostly a resort guy looking to have the occasional Trek then I would say go with a frame binding because you can use your same boots and its a lot more cost effective.

For your boots I would recommend anything with a walk mode (you'll thank me later haha) and something that's a little lighter. Technica, Scarpa, Dynafit, and Roxa all have really nice boots that you can take into the backcountry and still rip resort. I have a pair of 2013 Technica Cochise 90's that I use daily at resorts and still take in the backcountry and they ski like a dream all over

When it comes to skis, I would just try to go with something that's light and versatile. A lot of companies make Touring specific skis now a days but you can pretty much go anything. Depending on your size I would say shoot for something in the 105-115mm underfoot range. You can definitely get a ski that has a good amount of tail rocker to ski switch.

and you might want to look into collapsible poles, they're just nice to hike in.

Hope this helps, shred on homie

I have had good experience touring with skis around 100mm underfoot. That is what I have and what my family and friends use. Stuff around that width are nice and light, easy to turn and flick around.

My current setup is surface green lifes with dukes.

thanks for the advice! that's good to hear^. just got a pair of blends but I was primarily going to use them for park/all mtn. I've been looking at atomic automatics for touring but I'm not sure how they handle for jib/freestyle related skiing.

slugworththanks for the advice! that's good to hear^. just got a pair of blends but I was primarily going to use them for park/all mtn. I've been looking at atomic automatics for touring but I'm not sure how they handle for jib/freestyle related skiing.

The automatics are a very popular touring ski.

If you want to charge hard get them, the blends as you know are very soft. Nice for park but not so nice for touring.

A lot of people will tell you that you need a lighter ski. But to be honest, when you're starting out you don't want to sink too much money into a AT set up only to discover you're not that into earning your turns.

For starting out, and just romping around, New Lifes with a frame AT binding will be just fine. Even more experienced backcountry skiers will often ride set up which overkill for what they're doing, so for just starting out your New Life will do just fine. Yes, you want be the fastest up the skin track, but when you do get a lighter set up after your first or second season of touring you'll be flying up hill. When I started touring I spent my first season on Caylors with alpine bindings and trekkers. I was pulling about 4200g per foot uphill, but I don't regret putting myself through it.

The only potential issue is the amount of skin in contact with the snow on icier skin tracks. However I never found it an issue on the notoriously icy skin tracks of Scotland and Eastern Europe on my Caylors. But if you are finding it an issue on the east coast then look into buying high traction skins and harscheisen.

VD.The only potential issue is the amount of skin in contact with the snow on icier skin tracks. However I never found it an issue on the notoriously icy skin tracks of Scotland and Eastern Europe on my Caylors. But if you are finding it an issue on the east coast then look into buying high traction skins and harscheisen.

except you have to realize that the caylor doesn't have the 3 stage rocker like the new life/one life both have. This makes the contact points a lot more prominent than on your caylors and can have much much less traction on hardback/ice when touring.

OP, don't use a ski with 3 stage rocker for touring, you'll hate yourself. I've seen a friend do the same and he sold them for something else within a couple of weeks, which was a shame since he drilled holes into brand new skis originally.

.nylesexcept you have to realize that the caylor doesn't have the 3 stage rocker like the new life/one life both have. This makes the contact points a lot more prominent than on your caylors and can have much much less traction on hardback/ice when touring.

OP, don't use a ski with 3 stage rocker for touring, you'll hate yourself. I've seen a friend do the same and he sold them for something else within a couple of weeks, which was a shame since he drilled holes into brand new skis originally.

I never said it was ideal, but it's more than doable if you're reluctant to drop £$¥€.

He's just getting into touring, so he's not exactly going to be setting any records for vert climbed and on top of that he's on the East Coast so even if he is on a steep icy skin track he's only going to have to put up briefly unlike your mate out west.

It'll help him develop decent skinning technique which becoming a surprisingly rare commodity and if he's still struggling higher tractions skins and Harscheisen will go someway to re level the playing field.

I will reiterate again that it's not ideal, but it is manageable. The issue with a lot of kids on here is there tell people to throw money at a situation to make it better, and all that happens is OP ends up dropping a tonne of cash if he listens to NS. He doesn't need some SkiMo spec set up or a BigMtn Freetouring set up to ran his first turns and to ski trees on the east coast.

thanks for the advice! Does anyone have any further information on atomic automatics? I'd really like to use them for jibbing (not park) and landing switch but I can't find any info on how they'd handle.

slugworththanks for the advice! Does anyone have any further information on atomic automatics? I'd really like to use them for jibbing (not park) and landing switch but I can't find any info on how they'd handle.

It's a pin tail shape, so it's not exactly ideal for switch skiing.

Take a look at this, it's more informative than the collective minds of NS -http://blistergearreview.com/gear-reviews/2012-2013-atomic-automatic