steverino

Well, they don't have much camber in them, but there is a little. I got the kickers primarily because after buying skis, bindings, and boots I was feeling *really* cheap! Heck, for at least awhile anyway I probably won't be good enough to ski down what the kickers can't climb. I'll mostly be touring. It will be awhile before I can attempt anything seen in the rainier trip report recently put up. Thanks! Steve

I've a question about mounting kicker skins, that I haven't answered with searching and reading various web sites. I just got a pair of BD kickers. First question: one end has a metal slide/shield, a strip of webing, and a camlock buckle. I assume this end goes towards the front of the ski. Right? Next question: where to position on the ski? I think they should be mounted so the midpoint of the skin is at the ball of my foot. It seems like this would give me the most skin to snow contact when my weight is on the ski. Sound about right? If it matters, I'm telemarking. Thanks, Steve

Ah, perfect -- and it sounds like you don't miss your mountaineering boots. Even when you're not in skis. Is this right?

But that wasn't one of my options. :-) I'm starting to feel like an old fogey...prefering tele. Joking aside, when it comes time to rope up, swap skis for crampons, and pull out the ice axe, you folks are happy in your AT boots? Would you still be if you did a lot of old style rope team foot work? Or do you just not do a lot of that? Steve

Thanks for the replies! As my dad would say, "Money doesn't grow on trees", so I have a major choice to make... Invest in mountaineering boots and compatible bindings, or invest in telemark boots and bindings. Using lazyalpinist's objective theme, the first setup is biased towards the foot climb and the latter is biased towards the skiing. I wish someone in northern Ca rented the former. :-( Steve

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Really! > Skiing in climbing boots? Plenty of people do it. Do you know what kind of binding system they use? Are ramers and silvrettas the only option? Steve

Hi, Getting back into alpine climbing after a 25 year break. My alpine experience back in the day was to walk in, climb up, walk/glissade down, and walk back to the car. My one pair of mountaineering boots did all that for me. My climbing partner these days is my adult son, who wants to add skiing as part of the climbing experience. I'm game -- I can telemark okay. But this brings up a boot/binding question. Surely we aren't the only ones thinking we ought to ski in/out, and maybe include the skis in our descent. Can someone educate me on boots for this? From my research, seems like folks use AT or tele boots, but then it also seems they keep the skis on nearly all the time...approach, climb, and descent. I don't want to entirely give up the walk mode of peak climbing, but I can't imagine alpine climbing in AT or tele boots. The forward lean is so much more than traditional alpine boots. I know they have a "walk" mode, but my tele boot walk mode is still too awkward for anything mroe than a walk across the resort parking lot. I know about ramers and silvretta bindings for mountaineering boots. Seems like they'd be okay on the approach/exit, but not so much on a descent. Am I wrong in that? Am I trying to mix too many activities? Should I just carry a second pair of boots along with the skis? Answers appreciated. Sorry for the length. Can't matter too much, but I do most of my climbing in the CA Sierra. Steve