uphill gear

I have purchased boots and marker bindings.  I am looking for recommendations for skis to skin up with.   I will primarily be skinning up Whiteface, but in years to come, I hope to do more.

Thanks in advance.

Think snow.

I'm a relative BC novice, and a touring expert I am not and will never be.  That said....I think that what you intend when you reach the top has to have some bearing on the ski you put your AT bindings on.  Is the up the goal, with the down being a pleasant byproduct, or is the up just a way to achieve the down?

I put my Barons on a pair of Nordica El Capo, a burly all mountain charger at 107mm under foot.  Why?  Well, my touring goals were to get to the top of 45+ degree chutes in the BC so I could stomp them (or at least try to) on the way down.  The up was never my goal (although I've found I really enjoy it), but challenging myself on the way down was.  So I went with a ski that could handle whatever I was brave enough to throw at it.  It's certainly not a light, efficient ski for the uphill, but I could live with that given the capability the El Capos provided me for the downhill skiing payoff.  A classic touring setup it is not, but it's served me well in Tuckerman's and in the Pacific NW BC.   That's me charging WA BC powder on my setup in my avatar.  The setup rocks for my purposes. If we ever get snow again in NY I plan on bagging some ADK slides.

On the other hand, if your primary enjoyment of the touring setup will be the work/solitude/peace on the way up, and you aren't looking to rip on the way down, a lighter, somewhat narrower ski might be the way to go.

So, what are your goals?

I was going to say the same thing.

That said, my beloved late sister would skin up and ride the lift back down.  Each to his or her own.

JTG4eva! wrote

I put my Barons on a pair of Nordica El Capo, a burly all mountain charger at 107mm under foot.  

 If we ever get snow again in NY I plan on bagging some ADK slides.

then you better lighten the load cowboy...  lots of great 107 under foot skis out there that don't weigh a ton.  same thing w/ your bindings.  

to figure out if you like it just use something you already own.  If you want to do more then get serious about touring gear.  

My thoughts on this have changed over the years.

A lot of the new light bindings can take quite a beating. If it's a set up that you don't plan on doing lift laps with then Dynafits will work just fine. If it's something for touring and smashing hard pack all day long then ya, you will want something beefier.

I wouldn't go skinny on the skis tho, like Scotty said above there are plenty of light weight skis that are 107ish under foot. If it's for just skinning up on Whiteface then maybe the 107 thing isn't as needed but if I were going in the bc to ski variable and natural snow conditions the width sure helps a lot.

I'm currently on Dukes and some light 186 Atomic Blogs. I love the skis and the bindings are reliable and sturdy but for doing the big days with lots of ups and downs they are too much imo.

So...if if you will have something more specific for riding the chair go light on the touring set up and be good to yourself. With only occasional use you can get a bunch of seasons out of them.

ScottyJack wrote

JTG4eva! wrote

I put my Barons on a pair of Nordica El Capo, a burly all mountain charger at 107mm under foot.  

 If we ever get snow again in NY I plan on bagging some ADK slides.

then you better lighten the load cowboy...  lots of great 107 under foot skis out there that don't weigh a ton.  same thing w/ your bindings.

I could've done that, but I also wanted my touring setup to be more than a one purpose tool.  I wanted something I could use inbounds on the occasional East Coast powder day.  It's actually turned out I use my AT setup inbounds as much as my traditional Alpine gear.  The flex profile of the El Capo make it a great ski for that.  It's very stiff in the middle, with soft flex at the tip and tail.  Working the middle of the ski it makes great shorter radius turns on groomers.  All in all, for me, it's a good balance.

Sure, hoofing it up to Tuckerman's in the spring with near 50 lbs on my back was a bear, but the setup works great for skinning.  While the setup could be (a lot) lighter, it posed no problem bagging a half dozen  800 to 1,000 vertical foot runs in a day out in WA, so I think I'll be able to manage a slide or two in the Dacks with it.

for sure bro.  

Hopefully we'll get enough snow this year to find out.  On a longer tour into the Dacks for a slide I may be dying with the weight, you are probably right.

I do have to say when doing laps out in WA I was sweating like a pig, working about as hard as I ever have on the 45 or so minute skins up.  By the time we reached our destination chutes I was glad to be done with the climbs.  So, if the skin in for a slide in the Dacks is significantly longer I will probably really regret the added weight.

I guess I'm hoping that if some of the skinning in the Dacks is lower angle through the woods it might not be as taxing but, as you can pretty much tell.....I don't have a clue!  However, I'll learn and make it work!!

Not like I have a choice but to make it work....another setup ain't in the budget!

I went in on heavy gear for years before I could afford the right stuff.  

you can make it work BUT work it will be.  nothing good in the Adirondacks comes easy.  

Get whatever skis you want. You are running Marker bindings. Am I incorrect to assume you are going to use regular alpine boots and not dedicated AT boots? You are already killing yourself with weight, adding an extra pound per ski isn't going to make much difference at that point.

I earn turns with Dynafits, AT boots, and a G3 touring oriented ski. If there was one component of that package I wish I had gone beefier on, it is most definitely the ski. If you are skinning primarily at a ski area, I assume you'll be skiing groomers from time to time so get something that works for that type of skiing. My preference is to skip the TI/metal cores but whatever gets your blood pumping is the best ski for you.

I have AT tech bindings, light skis and boots. The last pair of touring skis I bought are really too light as the get thrown around a bit. I also am tired of skins so I am considering scales. Last year I was thinking the BC chargers, due to the love thread, didn't bite because it looked like a bad season. Maybe this year.

As far as slides in the Daks, there are few if any that don't take 45 minutes just to get to the base, let alone where you want to start to ski. The WF slides of course only require a tiny bit of work but that is side country. In the Daks you can have a lot of PUD (pointless up and down) to get to where you want to go and if you are skiing in that is a PITA. Sometimes I just hike in with snow shoes, climb and then ski out. Although I have not been in a few years, it is getting more popular.

With my karhu guides I can climb all the way to Avy Lake without skins.  you can climb some steep stuff with them scales but god they are soooo slow on low angle descents.  

when slide skiing we wax to Marcy (blown out) dam or the intersection of Algonquin trail when leaving from old parking lot at Adk Loj.  Skin from there.  On the way back we generally ski to marcy dam and then  if snow is good skin up whale's tail from the dam and ski out.   it's way more fun than the ski out on Van Ho from the dam.  

I like the vipecs because on the drainage drops I can reach back with my ski pole and lock the heel.  no stepping out to switch modes.  

Slowshoeing in with your gear is about as bad an idea as voting for trump!

You guys are both wrong. The best ADK winter travel is done on Tele skis with fishscales and backup skins in the pack.

Up and down approaches are easy, you don't have to fiddle with bindings all the time, it's lightweight, and it's comfy.

You just need to learn how to Tele.

Or you could just post hole your way up.

tele is so 1970 bro

Eff all that --- ride a sled up  ---- vroom, vroom

Hey, as mildly 'contentious' as our political discussions and debate of proper BC gear might get.....I'm hoping we get enough snow this year that I can meet up with some/all of you guys on a day spent touring the High Peaks and bagging a slide!

We passed on the WF season passes this year.  Given that my wife is down with saving money this winter (by not spending on hotels for the fam) and my younger son constantly gives me a hard time about getting out on ski mornings.....well, I'm becoming mildly optimistic I may get more time sliding on snow outside resorts this winter than in!  Throw in a couple of solo weekend trips west (gotta luv frequent flier miles) that my wife has already acknowledged will happen and I'm excited for this season's expanded use of the touring gear......as dreadfully heavy as it it.

campgottagopee wrote

Eff all that --- ride a sled up  ---- vroom, vroom

that's so trumpian!