thelawgoddess Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 who's used 'em? and how are they jibbing, park, and inbounds performance-wise? Quote
skykilo Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 If you like to jump stuff, there can be a small problem unless your skis are stiff. They have the same problem as the regular Fritschis. When you land, and your ski flexes (more the softer the ski), the bar on the binding stays the same length, and your heel will easily come free when the end of the bar escapes the lockdown part of the heel piece. No big deal, but something to consider. Quote
Fejas Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Never used them, but any convertable binding is not going to take the abuse as well as fixed bindings, of serious park/pipe jibbing... Â If you only do a little of it, then they prob will work, but landing on firm packed snow as is in a park, will put a lot more stress on the hardware components. they will break down faster if you jib on them a lot... the pressure of landing switch may cause the lockdown on the rear of the binding to break or jam really bad... Just a theiory though.... Quote
ridehikeclimbski Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 I am considering these for my new Atomic R:ex , have a 20% off coupon for REI , but cant seem to get thru the Portland store to see if they will trade the standard brake for the wide one for no extra charge, even emailed the REI.com question post and the person that replied didnt know if the brake was included ,geez the online REI Freeride page mentions the brake IS included ,DUH . Â Backcountry store offers either brake when you buy from them at the same price as REI. Any other places offering better deals ? I am a pathetic cheapskate ...Thanks ! Quote
thelawgoddess Posted November 19, 2003 Author Posted November 19, 2003 you should be able to work something out with rei. Â sounds like the fritschi's are not going to work for my inbounds and park skiing. oh, well; i figured as much. guess i'm going to have to have two separate rigs after all. man does it suck to have to spend all that money just to avoid having to carry my alpine gear in the bc! Quote
Dustin_B Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 ridehikeclimbski said: I am considering these for my new Atomic R:ex , have a 20% off coupon for REI , but cant seem to get thru the Portland store to see if they will trade the standard brake for the wide one for no extra charge, even emailed the REI.com question post and the person that replied didnt know if the brake was included ,geez the online REI Freeride page mentions the brake IS included ,DUH . Â Â Where did you get that coupon? Is this another round of 20% offs going on now? I don't think REI carries the brakes to be able to swap them out but you might try emailing BD, I bet they would do it for you. Call REI in Seattle if you can't get through in PDX. good luck. Quote
Dave_Schuldt Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 You mean you can't get a deal through work? Quote
ridehikeclimbski Posted November 20, 2003 Posted November 20, 2003 Thanks for all the suggestions , the 20% off coupon applied to REI/US Bank CC holders, it expires today ! However REI is backordered on the standard size Freerides, darn but I ordered it anyway. Had great luck with REI on all previous purchases/returns. Â I emailed BD asking if they knew the width of the brakes that REI sells and asked if they would swap if needed for no extra charge if I paid the shipping. Â I use 03 XXX bandits for inbounds skiing , rather not use the Freerides for cliffs or jumps. Maybe soon they will have a stronger binding that suits both AT and alpine. Â TGR High Life is showing tonight in Eugene, am pumped especially with all the early season snow !! Taking my daughter and a high school foriegn exchange student from Denmark , apparantly he has skied the Alps in France , lucky kid ! Â Have fun in Telluride and anywhere with POWDA ! Quote
thelawgoddess Posted November 20, 2003 Author Posted November 20, 2003 high life's great ski porn! Â i've talked to some more people about the freerides and i think they'll work fine for me. i'm aggressive, but i'm small and lightweight so i don't think i have to worry about the strength of the binding not being enough for me. apparently i have another issue at hand - nobody seems to make beefy at boots in my size!!! Quote
kailas Posted November 21, 2003 Posted November 21, 2003 Have had Fritschi since they first came out. Still don't beleive the perfect At binding has been invented yet. If you are going to tour and not ski really steep stuff, look into the Dynafit tri-step binding. Super light weight, works great, I just wouldn't use it in a steep Couliour. Remember that the Colorado bc isn't like that in the NSW, certainly more dangerous. Quote
kailas Posted November 21, 2003 Posted November 21, 2003 One more thing. I have two sets of holes in my skis, one for the Freeride and one for Salomon bindings. When the freerides are on, the Salomon holes are plugged. You'll have to get in with a ski tech at one of the local ski shops, that won't be too hard for a women in a ski town. I'll bet you won't need to change them that often because when the ski area gets good you'll be there more often than not. I doubt if you'll be in the back country that much, people are scared of the Colorado backcountry. You'll most likely change over in the spring when Colorado backcountry hopefully gets stable. Quote
thelawgoddess Posted November 23, 2003 Author Posted November 23, 2003 i'm not scared of the colorado backcountry. that was one of the draws of moving way the hell out here. still looking for boots. and what's the use of having a binding that doesn't go steep? i like it steep and deep. Quote
kailas Posted November 24, 2003 Posted November 24, 2003 You sound like the wanna-be poster child for powder magazine, all hype and no sense grasp of reality. Quote
AlpineK Posted November 24, 2003 Posted November 24, 2003 I've skied a lot inbounds with dynafit bindings; both steep and deep. As far as I'm concerned beefy bindings only help when you're skiing bumps, chopped up crud, or huckin big cliffs. Â I'm hoping your attitude about the CO backcountry is just macho internet posturing TLG. Show some respect when you're really skiing. Quote
iain Posted November 24, 2003 Posted November 24, 2003 freerides/diamirs also have a really annoying clack-clack sound when you're touring. A lot of people don't like to put up with the racket. Quote
JayB Posted November 24, 2003 Posted November 24, 2003 Last time I checked there had been something like two times as many people have been waxed in the CO backcountry than in all other states combined. Of course part of that is simply due to the extremely high number of skier-days logged in the backcountry there, but even after accounting for that what the statistics reveal is a snowpack that demands respect. Reading through the chronicle of burials and fatalities here:  http://geosurvey.state.co.us/avalanche/Colo_Accidents/accidents.html  did it for me, and I more or less decided to wait until the spring snowpack showed up to ski anything but ridges and supermellow terrain. YMMV. Quote
cracked Posted November 24, 2003 Posted November 24, 2003 iain said: freerides/diamirs also have a really annoying clack-clack sound when you're touring. A lot of people don't like to put up with the racket. True, but if it really bugs you that much, you could just glue some rubber on the parts of the elevator where the rail rests on it. That would certainly damp it. Quote
thelawgoddess Posted November 24, 2003 Author Posted November 24, 2003 AlpineK said: I'm hoping your attitude about the CO backcountry is just macho internet posturing TLG. Show some respect when you're really skiing. Â what are you talking about? i have lots of respect for the colorado backcountry! i guess that didn't come out right when i said i wasn't scared of it. that's not really what i meant. it's scary; i just definitely plan to take advantage of it - terrain and avy danger and all that other jazz fully considered. didn't mean to posture; i'm just super-excited about what's out here to be explored. that's all. Quote
AlpineK Posted November 25, 2003 Posted November 25, 2003 I'm sure there'll be some really good ski days for you this winter and spring. Just pick the right slopes. Quote
marylou Posted November 25, 2003 Posted November 25, 2003 Yesterday I had my first day on my brand spanking new AT setup. I took it up to Crystal to see what the whole magilla feels like for inbounds and to get used to it while I continue to learn snow safety stuff. I'm on an alpine ski with the Freerides and the Scarpa Lasers. Pretty bomber setup, on the way heavy side for a couple of reasons. Â As a longtime alpine skier with a pretty solid arsenal of skills for inbounds off-piste, I was pretty blown away at how hard it was for me to ski on the AT stuff. Be warned, it is way different. Here are my thoughts: The bindings and the boots are easy to use, and the boots are incredibly comfortable. (except for the Thermofit problem, which I can resolve) The skis I bought (K2 T9X) are heavier than any AT ski on the market, but still quite a bit lighter and softer than my Solly XCream 9s, which are a pretty beefy ski that likes to be ridden hard and put away wet. The difference with the AT stuff is that it seems you kind of have to "ride" the ski, rather than throw it around like a regular alpine ski. The setup was way better on steeper and more natural snow than on hardpan of any sort. Slippery as cat snot on a wet silk scark on anything resembling ice, versus my alpine setup which slices, dices and GRABS. In the chopped-up stuff I had mixed results. It's really different gear, surprisingly so. I think I will force myself to ski on the AT stuff inbounds to get used to how the stuff works, but once I get it dialed in somewhat, I imagine not using it at the ski lift. Â Hope this is helpful, I know there are a few people out there, like myself and Kaia, who might be interested in getting out in the BC and doing it for real instead of waiting in line with a bunch of other people to ride the chairlift and ski on the ice. Â Now would someone tell me what the hell is jibbing? Quote
gnibmilc Posted November 25, 2003 Posted November 25, 2003 it's when you are running down wind and you want to change tax. Quote
highclimb Posted November 25, 2003 Posted November 25, 2003 I am also considering getting the freerides. i am mostly an inbounds skiier but want the versitility of being able to hike when i want to. i have heard that the freerides work fine with alpine boot and am thinking about putting them on a new pair of K2's this season. i am also curious as to how a set up of alpine skis and boots with the freerides will preform in all conditions. Aidan Quote
Dustin_B Posted November 25, 2003 Posted November 25, 2003 marylou said: ...that likes to be ridden hard and put away wet... Â To easy, I'll leave it for someone else.... Â Thanks for the info. I just got a new AT setup and I'm planning to try it out on the lifts this weekend. Quote
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