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Gear New AT Setup, Who here tours?

Ken_R

Living the Dream
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Hi, Just converted my resort powder skis (Moment Deathwish 190cm) to handle AT duty as well by putting on some Marker Barons and getting some G3 skins. I use Marker Griffons on both of my skis and love the feel so after looking at several frame bindings the Barons were the best choice for me. Super sturdy mechanism, definitely not light and puts the boot higher up from the ski (not necessarily a bad thing on such a wide ski) but overall, solid. The skins are G3 alpinist 100mm wide even though the skis are 112mm wide. I like straight skins, makes it easier when folding (no extra glued parts to the side that pick up junk) and carrying them inside my jacket or pack.

Before heading into the backcountry I am gonna test the whole setup at a basin most likely. The skis will perform double duty anyway as my resort powder skis and backcountry setup. Love the feel and performance of the Moments in Powder no matter how light or heavy or deep.
 

Brian Finch

Privateer Skier @ www.SkiWithaGrimRipper.com
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Btw- I’m looking at the DeathWish as my next ski! There’s nothing so satisfying as badassing up & down.
 

Primoz

Skiing the powder
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I have sort of similar setup. Rossi Soul 7 with Baron and Super7 with Duke and Pomoca Free skins. It's far from anything that could be called light, but it's cool with me. I can still make tour with 2000+ meters of ascend, and at least for me, skiing with real binding is so much better then with pin bindings. Not to mention when I go skiing pow inside of resort, I can use my race boots instead of chewing gum like AT boots :) It takes more time to get up the hill, but I quit racing years ago, so it really doesn't matter if I'm 10min later on top of the hill then I would be with 2kg lighter setup. Point for me is to be out and enjoy nature anyway... and to have great skiing down :)
 

Gettes

Booting up
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Jan 8, 2018
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I'm just getting into AT myself. Picked up Line Sick Day 114 with Kingpin 13 and Scarpa Freedom RS boots. Wasn't a big fan of my existing alpine boots so will make the RS my one boot quiver with the switchable soles. Wanted to get something capable in powder but with good rep for variable conditions which is what we see the most around my neck of the woods. Will be testing them in bounds this weekend and hoping we get some of our snowpack back here in New England so I can try out some of the old CCC backcountry trails in the not too distant future.
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

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Went for a quick tour on Berthoud Pass. VERY windy but found some shelter in the trees. Setup works great. Snow was very wind affected, with sastrugi all over. Hard to ski but still fun to be out there.

IMG_0159.JPG
IMG_0151.jpeg
 

Analisa

Making fresh tracks
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Dec 29, 2017
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Welcome to AT! I'm of the mindset that skis tend to be heavy no matter what. My setup is pretty middle of the road, and they're heavy on my feet, heavy strapped to a day pack, heavy strapped up with overnight gear for a multi-day traverse. Weight helps with fatigue at some point, but no way ultra-light carbon skis make up the difference for baseline fitness. Or as my boyfriend puts it "I think about ultra light setups, but then I figure eating a little less ice cream would be the cheapest way to drop 4-5 pounds off my load."
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

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After a not so good experience with my Alpine Boots (no walk mode) while touring I decided to get some new boots. Tried a bunch, the best fit for me were the Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD. The shell fit was even better than in my current boots and with the liner it was a more sung but comfy fit than my current alpine boots. The walk mode felt awesome. Really easy to engage and disengage and also easy to maintain since its all on the outside and pretty simple and burly. I had never seen this boot previous to today and was VERY impressed. It is definitely NOT for someone with a tall instep but I have a low instep so they were perfect. They are narrow but have a great shape for my foot and the ankle pocket built into the liner felt super secure. (Tried so many boots including the Technica Cochise and the Zero G, Salomon QST Pro (fit very well but didnt like the feel of the flex) plus a few Langes). The other thing that the Atomics impressed me with was their light weight while still being comfortable. They are light without a skimpy liner (like the one in the Lange Freetour and the Zero G which have very thin liners).

I gotta stop buying stuff!! Please help me!
 

Joel

Having fun
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Boots do matter, fit and function. I have a pair of La Sportiva Spectres I like, lots of cuff rotation in walk mode, they tour well fully buckled. I also have a pair of Scott Voodoo, also fit well but they need to be unbuckled to get a good range of motion.

Stop buying stuff.......Ha Ha, you're screwed
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

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Forgot to mention I got the Hawx Ultra XTD 120 not the 130. The 120 has a more inbounds style of liner (thicker and stiffer) than the one in the 130 which is more designed for touring (lighter, thinner and with a heel cutout?). The stiffness of the 120 is comparable to my Lange RS130's (both at room temp). How much the Atomics stiffen up in the cold remain to be seen.
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

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jmeb

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A tech binding will completely change your feeling of how much you like to go uphill.

If you're tech curious and you wear somewhere around a 27mondo boot, I have some boards you can borrow for a day in Denver.

Warning: you'll order tech bindings that afternoon.
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

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jmeb

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312mm BSL, how much adjustability do the tech bindings provide?

Mine are 311, so 312 should be no problem. PM me if you want to test drive some sometime -- could even sneak out for a quick tour. I'm got some rock ski Moment Belafontes (187) with speed radicals, and some 182 Praxis Yetis with radicals mounted at the moment.

The Hawx is a helluva a boot. Really a OBQ if you don't need the last 4% of alpine performance. Awesome last shape too.
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

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Denver, CO
Mine are 311, so 312 should be no problem. PM me if you want to test drive some sometime -- could even sneak out for a quick tour. I'm got some rock ski Moment Belafontes (187) with speed radicals, and some 182 Praxis Yetis with radicals mounted at the moment.

The Hawx is a helluva a boot. Really a OBQ if you don't need the last 4% of alpine performance. Awesome last shape too.

That would be awesome. PM to meet up next week! I am mostly free all week. Jones pass is close and would be great to meet and do a tour.
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

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I did something bad today. Very bad. Will post pics tonight.
 

Monique

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I did something bad today. Very bad. Will post pics tonight.

Did you at least learn from it?



I desperately want to post on this thread, but my feet still hate AT boots. I suspect it may be an anatomy problem rather than a boot problem - in which case I may never be able to tour, which would make me very sad. I made it 1.75 miles on an XC trail last weekend before my feet were screaming too much to continue.
 
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Ken_R

Ken_R

Living the Dream
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Location
Denver, CO
Did you at least learn from it?



I desperately want to post on this thread, but my feet still hate AT boots. I suspect it may be an anatomy problem rather than a boot problem - in which case I may never be able to tour, which would make me very sad. I made it 1.75 miles on an XC trail last weekend before my feet were screaming too much to continue.

I never learn. Im a lost cause. :eek::doh:
 

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