• Forums
  • Ski Gabber
  • I'm working on a new tool for the backcountry, let me know what you think

Member of the Month

abjectwoe
May, 2025

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

I'm working on a new tool for the backcountry, let me know what you think

profile picture
canadianskier
Posts: 601 - Karma: 184


So I posted this in the backcountry section already, but I think it will be helpful for me to get more eyes on it here.
For the last while I've been developing a portable rope tow system intended for backcountry skiing and splitboarding. My plan is to continue prototyping and launch a kickstarter campaign sometime next season. I'm hoping to get more feedback on the idea now in order to make sure I'm building something people will actually want.

If you have a sec, I'd appreciate it if you could fill out a super short survey for me here. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time!

You can also learn more about it at www.zoaeng.com

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.
5 years ago
48 0
profile picture
Shredability
Posts: 2757 - Karma: 501
Ok damn kk 4kg yeah that's legit you guys got this... that's fucking tight... What type of batteries are you going to use? I know of some that work better in the cold. Also your gears are going to need to be hard as fuck
5 years ago
3 2
profile picture
Kretzschmar
Posts: 6749 - Karma: 99,120
Any updates on this @canadianskier ??
5 years ago
3 0
profile picture
canadianskier
Posts: 601 - Karma: 184
KretzschmarAny updates on this @canadianskier ??


I'm still busy prototyping and testing at the moment. I made some significant design changes to the gearbox recently and I'm working on getting that built right now.


My plan is to have some sort of blog on the site in the next week or so to regularly document progress for anyone that is interested. That will be shared on the social media accounts as well.
5 years ago
9 0
profile picture
WisconsinDogfart
Posts: 675 - Karma: 5,529
kind of off topic but a good accessory would be a stake/pole you can tie the paracord to because some of us dont own trees
5 years ago
1 0
profile picture
canadianskier
Posts: 601 - Karma: 184
airmightydudekind of off topic but a good accessory would be a stake/pole you can tie the paracord to because some of us dont own trees

I've made my own crude anchor/stake (basically just a strip of aluminum with some holes) for testing in the alpine. It's not a difficult or long process to set it up and should be familiar to many people with mountaineering and glacier travel experience.

I am considering offering a stake or fluke as an optional accessory, but I have to figure out if it's more practical to do that or to direct people to existing products on the market.
5 years ago
1 0
profile picture
patagonialuke
Posts: 1627 - Karma: 8,688
canadianskierI'm still busy prototyping and testing at the moment. I made some significant design changes to the gearbox recently and I'm working on getting that built right now.


My plan is to have some sort of blog on the site in the next week or so to regularly document progress for anyone that is interested. That will be shared on the social media accounts as well.


When I first heard about this I was admittedly pretty skeptical but now I'm very interested. Stoked to hear more about how the process is going, especially given rona here in the states, the fact that I won't be buying a sled any time soon, and I'm lazy.
5 years ago
3 0
profile picture
BrandoComando
Posts: 1486 - Karma: 18,798
I just read Gear Junkie's article on this! This is a super cool device and it's awesome to see it nearing launch. Kudos man! This could be a total gamechanger for backcountry laps. It's awesome seeing innovative new products in skiing!
3 years ago
6 0
profile picture
freestyler540
Posts: 13231 - Karma: 20,388
Im gonna keep an eye on this. This might solve a BC booter problem…
3 years ago
4 0
profile picture
canadianskier
Posts: 601 - Karma: 184
I thought I'd give this a bump to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who originally responded and also to do a little shameless self promotion. We just launched yesterday here and have crushed our goal right out the gate. I'm super stoked to keep moving forward with this project.
3 years ago
9 0
profile picture
Toona
Posts: 107 - Karma: 1,424
canadianskierI thought I'd give this a bump to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who originally responded and also to do a little shameless self promotion. We just launched yesterday here and have crushed our goal right out the gate. I'm super stoked to keep moving forward with this project.


Thats crazy how much you guys raised in such short time
3 years ago
3 0
profile picture
skierman
Posts: 8600 - Karma: 9,518
LOL there's going to be so many disappointed parents out there knowing their spoiled children wasted this much money on such a useless product.
3 years ago
0 10
profile picture
BigPurpleSkiSuit
Posts: 9616 - Karma: 71,531
canadianskierI thought I'd give this a bump to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who originally responded and also to do a little shameless self promotion. We just launched yesterday here and have crushed our goal right out the gate. I'm super stoked to keep moving forward with this project.


holy shit dude that is a lot of money! Congratulations!
3 years ago
4 0
profile picture
canadianskier
Posts: 601 - Karma: 184
ToonaThats crazy how much you guys raised in such short time

We had been building up our mailing list for over a year, so there were people ready to jump on the early bird deal right when we launched. The campaign is still growing but nowhere near the pace of the first few hours.
3 years ago
2 0
profile picture
canadianskier
Posts: 601 - Karma: 184
BigPurpleSkiSuitholy shit dude that is a lot of money! Congratulations!

Thanks! It's a great start for us as we move to production!
3 years ago
1 0
All times are Eastern (-4); Currently it's 5:32PM