Advice on touring gear?

I tour like 10-15 days a year in CO.

Sticking to Gear Advice:

1. Required: beacon, shovel, probe. I go touring by myself but I still bring a beacon. Don't make SAR spend days in dangerous terrain trying to find your stupid body.

2. If you need a 1 ski setup the "Shift" bindings do work. My wife uses them. Most annoying thing is the brakes which both stick together and sometimes engage when touring. The sticking together could probably be solved by bending them.

3. Personal opinion, but buy a shorter than narrower ski than what you ride in resort. My touring setup is the BC Navis Freebird at 184 (101 waist) and I fucking hate it. I thought I would go fast and ski powder in backcountry sometimes. I literally ski punchable crust 80% of the time and my tails stick because I suck at skiing. This is partly because I mostly tour for exercise and don't seek out shaded couloirs and ski resort when it snows, but still.

4. Another personal opinion but if you can afford it, get some boots which are dedicated to touring. I'm not saying you should buy those stupid skimo boots, but my hybrid boots went to shit fast partly because I used them in resort so much.

5. other stuff

Get moments and call it a day get their bindings too

I still fuck pretty hard with frame bindings ngl... ole faithful

+1 for dedicated touring boots. If you go used, make sure to try them on and that you know what a good-fitting boot feels like for you, for reference. If going new or through a shop, make sure you get fitted to them. I'm new to touring this year, and learning I am not the only one trying to manage blisters from imperfect boot fits (or in my case, likely too-loose socks). There is a lot more foot movement in touring boots compared to resort skiing.

Apologies for redundancy if you already planned on this, but getting your AST-1 or equivalent is a major asset if you plan to ski in avalanche terrain (along with the aforementioned beacon-shovel-probe). I was fortunate to have an experienced friend as my guide and intro to BC interior backcountry and touring while vacationing away from Ontario, but otherwise I am a liability to any group in avy terrain without that training/completely dependent on others to gauge snow conditions and forecasts. If a resort near you has it, practicing how to use your transceiver in a beacon park with someone experienced watching you is also a good idea. My friend and I spent a good hour or two of me refining my search technique before we went out, in lieu of AST-1.

Underfoot I'm rocking some used Dynafit ST pin/tech bindings on all-mountain skis (K2 MissBehaved), so not a hardcore backcountry setup (although I'm pretty spoiled by the light Salomon Mtn Explore boots even if the skis aren't light). But this works well for someone like me who will be touring in both resort and backcountry areas. No complaints about the Dynafits, they're awesome as far as I can tell.

With respect to poles, I made do with my resort ones since I will be an occasional tourer. I just upgraded the baskets to something larger/powder friendly.

I also found the pinned posts in the AT & Backcountry area of the forum pretty helpful for the rundown on touring gear.

**This post was edited on Apr 7th 2022 at 7:58:45pm

https://caltopo.com

Caltopo will save your life if you plan on going in BC, especially in Colorado. You can add the "Slope Angle Shading" overlay to the map. Colorado is crazy dangerous backcountry. However, if you stay away from avalanche terrain you 100% cannot die in an avalanche. This is what I do 80% of the time I'm out and 100% of the time I'm alone.

Two people snow shoeing died near Breckinridge this year. They had no idea they were walking under overhead avalanche risk on a mini-feature and died literally 20 feet off the path they were supposed to be on...

skiindanaI tour like 10-15 days a year in CO.

Sticking to Gear Advice:

1. Required: beacon, shovel, probe. I go touring by myself but I still bring a beacon. Don't make SAR spend days in dangerous terrain trying to find your stupid body.

2. If you need a 1 ski setup the "Shift" bindings do work. My wife uses them. Most annoying thing is the brakes which both stick together and sometimes engage when touring. The sticking together could probably be solved by bending them.

3. Personal opinion, but buy a shorter than narrower ski than what you ride in resort. My touring setup is the BC Navis Freebird at 184 (101 waist) and I fucking hate it. I thought I would go fast and ski powder in backcountry sometimes. I literally ski punchable crust 80% of the time and my tails stick because I suck at skiing. This is partly because I mostly tour for exercise and don't seek out shaded couloirs and ski resort when it snows, but still.

4. Another personal opinion but if you can afford it, get some boots which are dedicated to touring. I'm not saying you should buy those stupid skimo boots, but my hybrid boots went to shit fast partly because I used them in resort so much.

5. other stuff

This is really well put

Besides avy gear, I think boots > bindings > skis are most important.

Boots: dedicated touring boots won't ski as good as 90% resort boot, but will be great and comfy uphill. I think the hybrid boots for resort and touring have come a really long way and give the best of both worlds


Bindings: I'll categorize these into three types, dedicated touring (pin, dynafit, g3, atk...), Hybrid (shift, CAST, dukes, kingpin), and frame bindings. I think most nsers prefer the hybrid bindings, especially cast. Frame bindings have kind of become obsolete, but they are really easy to find used on the cheap

Skis: I just put a touring binding on the skis I enjoy most. I've found that the dedicated touring skis are just lifeless on the descent. Great uphill tho.

It's all a balance of how much you prefer going uphill vs. downhill and what your objectives are.

I personally tour on CAST with a pair of rossignol alltrack boots. I just feel rock solid on the way down and have seen buddies have problems with ice buildup in dynafits, g3s, and prereleasing on shifts.

get some of those voile ski straps. aluminium buckle if your ballin

shift 10 or 13
dalbello lupo 100 110 120
then any ski you want to carry

AIARE Avy 1, cal topo, pack (beacon, shovel probe) and touring boots as mentioned. Touring boots are a great investment because you want a different fit compared to resort boots. Touring with a downhill boot sucks. Sometimes it will pinch your calve and sometimes you get blisters because the boot isn’t made for that movement and your feet swell.

In Avy 1, they’ll teach you to read caltopo and maps and use the logbook

skiindanahttps://caltopo.com

Caltopo will save your life if you plan on going in BC, especially in Colorado. You can add the "Slope Angle Shading" overlay to the map. Colorado is crazy dangerous backcountry. However, if you stay away from avalanche terrain you 100% cannot die in an avalanche. This is what I do 80% of the time I'm out and 100% of the time I'm alone.

Two people snow shoeing died near Breckinridge this year. They had no idea they were walking under overhead avalanche risk on a mini-feature and died literally 20 feet off the path they were supposed to be on...

I use Caltopo quite extensively for touring and it makes the backcountry significantly easier to navigate. A caveat that was brought up in my AIARE 2 course was in regards to the slope angle shading overlay, it's a great feature but one that should be used as a very, very general guide. All the shading is produced by a computer and can be off by a few degrees, which could be the difference between avalanche and non-avalanche terrain.

Definitely view the slope angle shading on Caltopo, but be prepared to make changes while out in the actual backcountry based on real world conditions.

hot.pocketI use Caltopo quite extensively for touring and it makes the backcountry significantly easier to navigate. A caveat that was brought up in my AIARE 2 course was in regards to the slope angle shading overlay, it's a great feature but one that should be used as a very, very general guide. All the shading is produced by a computer and can be off by a few degrees, which could be the difference between avalanche and non-avalanche terrain.

Definitely view the slope angle shading on Caltopo, but be prepared to make changes while out in the actual backcountry based on real world conditions.

Agree 100%.

While unnecessary, I just wanna say I love you guys. I'm starting to see Moments out in CO more often.

My wife would also like a 'hot mess' without flowers on the top sheet. Thanks and bless

skiindanaAgree 100%.

While unnecessary, I just wanna say I love you guys. I'm starting to see Moments out in CO more often.

My wife would also like a 'hot mess' without flowers on the top sheet. Thanks and bless

Thanks! Hot Mess will see flowers again next year, sorry to bum your wife out. What length is she after?

hot.pocketThanks! Hot Mess will see flowers again next year, sorry to bum your wife out. What length is she after?

No worries, no worries. She'll probably end up getting a skinny wildcat. She's kinda tall and usually skis stuff around 170.

Not related to gear, but the one integral thing you need to really get after ski touring - 2-3 different groups of friends who consistently go ski touring.

Gear costs a ton of money and changes every season. Good friends dont.

Knowledgeable friends teach you not only where to go and how to ski safe, but are importantly also great first-hand gear testers. When you see your friends Kingpins fail for the third time it starts to make you think about selling your set, even though you've never had an issue.

RudyGarmischNot related to gear, but the one integral thing you need to really get after ski touring - 2-3 different groups of friends who consistently go ski touring.

Gear costs a ton of money and changes every season. Good friends dont.

Knowledgeable friends teach you not only where to go and how to ski safe, but are importantly also great first-hand gear testers. When you see your friends Kingpins fail for the third time it starts to make you think about selling your set, even though you've never had an issue.

Id expand on that and add ski mountaineering racing comps. You wanna learn how to be effiecient with your gear? Skimo teaches it.
Technique: your gonna notice how your stride is all wrong. Your switchbacking skills will improve by seeing how other people do it better. How to transition faster… list goes on
Categories: All races are usually open to all! There is a recreational course that is available for those trying and those with heavy metal. You will actually race against your level.
Friends: People who race are so happy. I make a bunch of friends everytime. Everyone waits at the finish line to cheer on the people arriving after; the mood is awesome!
Gear: Learn about what other people are using and line up your next purchase on what will fit your style best. Not everyone is riding skinny toopicks, some prefer wider skis to enjoy the downhill. No one has baron 13 on JJs in full tilts. Just a heads up