Tele/Rando/Board battlecage

[Dru]

Or in an avalanche... Which is another good reason to use AT gear, or at least a releasable tele binding. There's no such thing as a releasable snowshoe.

 

I have seen slowshoes ACCIDENTALLY release when the binding broke

[AJScott]

I bit the bullet this last spring and quit snowboarding to get on a AT setup. Snowboards are toys and skis are tools. Whatever you decide, dont waste your time snowboarding if you plan on riding anywhere with out a lift to bring you back up.

 

and splitboards suck

[Freeman]

Some will argue that a snowboard is the best tool for riding pow pow (and it certainly can be elegent) and maybe for mank, but there are three significant problems in the b.c.

 

- Regardless of the uphill mode - snowshoe, split board, Verts - a boarder can not set a good uptrack that can be used by a skier - so they can't break trail for the others. In addition, walking in the skin track will destroy it for reuse if you want to yo yo a slope.

 

- On flats, traverses, slight uphills, etc. the boarder has a very hard time "poling" or kicking and gliding. If the snow is at all deep he can't really remove one foot and push like in the area. Most b.c. skiing involves some flats on each run.

 

- The turn around time with a split board is pretty long - by the time you do the split, bindings, skins, smoke, etc. the skiers are half way up or down the run. Changing to Verts or snowshoes is faster, but the skiers will always get first tracks (of course, they should).

 

As I said earlier, some guides recognizing all this simply won't let snowboards on their tours.

[cracked]

I'm an AT skier, but regularly ski with splitboarders, and must point out that Freeman is full of shit on all points. I have never been significantly held up by my boarder friends.

[crackpuppy]

I'm kind of reiterating what others have said, but to add my two cents. It probably depends what you want to do. I dropped snowboarding for teleskiing. Tele is much more useful for touring and getting turns in the backcountry. I have considered getting an AT setup if I decide to do some more serious mountaineering. I've tried climbing nearly vertical ice on toprope in my T2's and it isn't easy by any means, but doable for lower angle stuff. Glacier travel and general mountaineering isn't bad with tele gear.

[skyout]

I tried the snowshoe with snowboard en tow on my pack last winter. It really sucked trying to keep up with friends on AT. I am not the fastest hiker, but it took 3-4X longer for me to reach the hut than anyone else. Granted, it was nice to have the large float and toe cleat for crossing some deep powder and ice, the time and effort wasn't worth it. I spent way too much time switching from board to snowshoe for traverse or climbing then back for some short descent.

 

After 20yrs into snowboarding and out of skiing, I am back to skiing. It took me a few years to come to this realization. The board will still be in use, but not for BC trips.

 

Splitboard seemed like a bandaid to solve the problem of not being able to cover the traverses, plus I am told they aren't as solid as a non-split board. They are pricey ta boot.

 

I do like the "lock & load" aspect of AT vs. tele, but not an expert here. Still pretty much a novice to the BC realm.

[cj001f]

I'm an AT skier, but regularly ski with splitboarders, and must point out that Freeman is full of shit on all points. I have never been significantly held up by my boarder friends.

 

I've never seen a snowboarder who doesn't flail on the flats in powder. In truly deep snow it's funny too watch them come too a stop, then step off the board up to their waist. Rolling terrain ( like a drainage system) is murder for Snowboarders/Splits.

 

They can set good skintracks - the only problem is they can be too steep with the massive skins on those things.

[bDubyaH]

They can set good skintracks - the only problem is they can be too steep with the massive skins on those things.

you just need fatter skis! their tracks work great, hell i set tracks for em with my skis sometimes

[iain]

One issue I have run into with b.c. snowboarders has been they naturally take a different line of descent on a lot of stuff to find the consistent steepest line to keep moving. It is easy to get split up in the trees and hard to control or lead a group mixed with boarders and skiers, since it is a pain for boarders to have to meet up in the same spots skiers do, and skiers often don't take that into account. Then of course there is the obligatory flat meadow crossing in powder where a lot of towing ensues. There are certainly b.c. tours where boarders keep up no problem, often on car to car runs up stuff. Often this is not the case though.

 

I don't think too many people can keep up with boarders on breakable crust though.

[E-rock]

For those who think that split boards aren't viable backcountry tools, go to the Wasatch, see the kind of vert those guys are getting, and THEN make your judgment.

 

For long slogs they're not as good though.

[Kevin_Matlock]

Incredibly dumb question time -

So AT shit is in fact rando? The term here seems to be used interchangably.... guess I didn't realize that this was the same gear.

This might explain why I couldn't find quite as much info on randonee as I could AT! Didn't know it was the same.

 

And... rando/AT have fixed heels? I thought I understood that they had the option of being either fixed or free ala tele.

[cj001f]

And... rando/AT have fixed heels? I thought I understood that they had the option of being either fixed or free ala tele.

yes. fixed heel.

 

E-Rock. I was on a hut trip w/a 10 mile approach, 6 or so is meadow flat. Sure, splitboarders made it in. Sure they can log vertical. Did it look like the best tool for the job - hell no.

[thelawgoddess]

Incredibly dumb question time -

So AT shit is in fact rando? The term here seems to be used interchangably.... guess I didn't realize that this was the same gear.

AT (alpine touring) = randonnee

[cracked]

And... rando/AT have fixed heels? I thought I understood that they had the option of being either fixed or free ala tele.

yes. fixed heel.

 

E-Rock. I was on a hut trip w/a 10 mile approach, 6 or so is meadow flat. Sure, splitboarders made it in. Sure they can log vertical. Did it look like the best tool for the job - hell no.

The best tool for the job when the job is flat is a dog team. Or snowmobile.

[cj001f]

The best tool for the job when the job is flat is a dog team. Or snowmobile.

In a National Park? The Green Goblins will you faster than Smokey if you don't have a Forest Pass

[snoboy]

And... rando/AT have fixed heels? I thought I understood that they had the option of being either fixed or free ala tele.

yes. fixed heel.

 

Well, sorta.

 

AT/Touring Gear/Rando/Randonee/Bondage/Ski Mountaineering

 

The essential element of this type of ski gear is that the heel is able to be unlocked for going up, and then it gets locked down for the descent. The free heel mode is not tele though.

 

Tele has a different system where the heel is never locked, and the boot flexes near the toe.

[HappyCamper]

Newbie here - heard some advice that kind of ran counter to what I was thinking. I have been a long time snowboarder, but switched to AT last year to access the BC better (and to liven up the snow life a bit with some variety)....but still want to get a split at some point for the long slogs like St. Helens (well, at least peaks like that)...in other words, a long slog up for a few hours and then a blissful run to the bottom...sure if there was a long approach, i might still consider the AT.....but it seems like some of the Mt Baker routes might be nice with a split board....so, i guess the query is: are split boards sucky for doing a relatively straight forward uphill climb? I am stoked to improve my AT skills, but gotta pull some snowboard runs once in a while in the BC....this is all theoretical since the splits are gawd-awfully expensive and I already dropped cash on the AT last year.....

[bDubyaH]

split boards are great for straight forward uphills, they are best if the descent is long. use the AT gear for tours and yo-yoing short runs all day

[Billygoat]

Tele Bubba

[E-rock]

And... rando/AT have fixed heels? I thought I understood that they had the option of being either fixed or free ala tele.

yes. fixed heel.

 

E-Rock. I was on a hut trip w/a 10 mile approach, 6 or so is meadow flat. Sure, splitboarders made it in. Sure they can log vertical. Did it look like the best tool for the job - hell no.

 

Boarders claim that boards are the best tool for the job on the DOWNHILL, they make sacrifices (and in my estimation which was the argument that I was making), split boards are a negligible sacrifice for the users.

 

Are FAT SKIS the best tool for the job? On the the downhill yes. On the slog, no. Dig?

[cj001f]

Boarders claim that boards are the best tool for the job on the DOWNHILL, they make sacrifices (and in my estimation which was the argument that I was making), split boards are a negligible sacrifice for the users.

 

Are FAT SKIS the best tool for the job? On the the downhill yes. On the slog, no. Dig?

splitboarders use splits because they like snowboarding. tele skiiers tele ski because they like tele skiing.

 

rando skiiers like to ski and get places.

 

Fat skis are a miniscule handicap compared to the structural deficincies of a splitboard.

[philfort]

Splitboards rock.

[iain]

wow, this is getting hot. I can tell you I skied rando and tele today and rando still rocks. my double daffies have never looked this good

[cj001f]

wow, this is getting hot. I can tell you I skied rando and tele today and rando still rocks. my double daffies have never looked this good

About as good as the snowboarders twist 90's on Pucci today I'm sure.

[iain]

ahh, early season Pucci, the rocks were delightfully sharp today and as usual Pucci was a blistering 45 minute ride to the top.

 

I thought you would be out there. I was the guy not in the pmr threads, but not in the full camo w/jeans either. you must have been cleaning up the mess when someone fell off the chair. I got to tell the people on the lift to sit tight for 5 minutes and was summarily yelled at to fix the chairlift.

 

there is some great powder to be had in some of the gullies on palmer right now, that is if you can see it before you plow right into it and faceplant. or alternatively, fall off a 10 foot berm in the flat light. fun!