AT Gear Question

[Bigtree]

I've decided to take the plunge and buy some new AT gear this season; however, before doing so I thought I would cast about for some advice to see if anyone has anything good or bad to say about the Dynafit Tourlite Tech AT binding coupled with a Scarpa Matrix AT boot (3-buckle).

 

Based on my current appetite, I suspect that I'll be doing more touring/climbing that skiing so weight and mobility were primary considerations in selecting the setup.

 

I'm not interested in spending a wad of dough on skis but would welcome views on what's been working as a decent all-rounder these days (I'm 6' 2" & ~ 205 lbs).

[Mark_Husbands]

Those (or the Comforts) are what I would buy if I had the money to spend. Not the cheapest bindings out there.

[robert_Nielsen]

I just saw the Dark Side, by AT annonymous. A funnier-than-hell look at one guys conversion. It'll support your idea of locking 'em down...and make you laugh too. If I knew how to insert that here, I'd do it.

After that, volumns could be written about what gear works. All seem to have some pros and cons of course. Untill we can have it all, ya just make your choice.

 

Seems pretty hard to beat the TLTs. Proven for more than a decade, they are used by many of the best skiers around. Andrew Mcclean, the Skoogs, Lou Dawson, etc etc. Hard to argue with the weight. you get used to the operation. Dawson is continuely coming up with tips and tweaks to get more out of them. If you really want to go least effort, they are great.

Switch modes is less slick than the other big boy bindings, like the diamir, but the tlt works. The crampon is a little noisey, clanking under your foot as you climb. I used a skalp crampon with my tlts, and liked that better. By contrast, i was really unimpressed with my buddies diamir crampons: no bite when using the friggin heel lift, which you need most in the steeps.

If you are coming from free heeling you are going to be disappointed by the loss of the diagonal stride. Yeah, you can cruise along on the flat and pretend it's OK....but it's different, and all the AT stuff will feel that way too.

The other negative on not having a telemark feature, you can't skate along a steep hill side and step up; throw your heel just a bit for some elevation. so on big traverseing tours, you either skin up, when the free heeler is cruising/ skating, or you skate with heels locked down, or you goof around with a floppy ski in tour mode where the ski heel drops so easily.

Of course the main reason you are going AT is to get that great climb in deep stuff ability- that, and the carviblity of the locked heel, but you do loose the whole diagonal stride thing.

So, while light is right, the TLT's are the way to go.

 

If you must.

I just got a pair of 7TM tour bindings by Karhu, so i'm back to my free heeling ways. Have to have that free climb ability, for making elevation. Nice heel lifter and the best crampon I've seen yet are great. Never thought too much about releasibilty, but I like the idea of shedding skis in a slough, or worse. Now, I will miss some of that locked heel control in less than totally optimal snow, and I'll pay in face plants certain days. But while I', mostly a paralell skier on my free heel stuff, it is going to be nice to have that telemark feeling in the steep and tight trees, with a big pack, where fancy manuevering is so much nicer with more freedom of movement.

I sure as hell won't miss teh goofing around in rolling terrain I had to do with the TLTS. Just what you want to be doing after a dawn to dusk day with lots of elevation, messing around weith your TLTS going through few miles of touring terrain. That's when i'll be happy to stretch out with the good old fashion diagonal stride, throw a herring bone in to get up small skin-unworthy hills, and just generally pretend I'm nanson on a greenland exploration.

 

But it's all skiing, and I'll wait for you on your randanee gear.

[robert_Nielsen]

P.S. Maybe you could buy my size US 13 Lazers? Must be a big footer at 205.

 

cheers, bob

[kioti]

Those (or the Comforts) are what I would buy if I had the money to spend. Not the cheapest bindings out there.

 

Funny you say this. As of this year, the TLT Classics are the cheapest binding out there ($299). The Freerides are now $425 , for example. All binding prices went up, with the exception of Dynafits, which all went down. Go figure.

[flyingkiwi1]

I bought TLTs and Garmont Dynamites last year from ProSki on Aurora. The bindings are great, but definitely have a learning curve in terms of understanding what you have to do get securely into them. The boots are the best, most comfortable footwear I've ever owned.

[Fromage]

I use Scarpa Matrix boots on a DynaFit setup and they have worked great so far. The main complaint I have is the challenge of engaging the toe half of the bindings, but that is equal parts impatience and incompetence on my part. They are light, and the Matrix boots are pretty damn comfortable. And I haven't even thermomolded mine yet. If you want to try the setup I suggest you go rent some from Feathered Friends. They have DynaFits on K2 Shuksans and on Atomic TMX skis, and some larger sizes of Matrix in their rental fleet. That way you can try them for yourself before making a decision. It could affirm your hypothesis or save you from making a big mistake. Bonus- FF gives you the cost of the rental off your purchase.

[Nick]

Dynafit bindings, Garmont Megaride boots, K2 Shuksan skiis. Great combination.

[Bigtree]

Thanks for the informative responses - much appreciated. Note that I was noodling around in another string and folks there seem to speak highly of the Shuksan's.

 

Cheers.

[kurthicks]

I've got a set of TLT Comfort bindings with Matrix's on Atomic TM9 skis. They are a great (light!) touring setup, but the boots lack the stiffness to power all snow conditions. That said, I don't notice when I'm in the fluff....

[hubris]

"Dynafit bindings, Garmont Megaride boots, K2 Shuksan skiis"

 

This is what I ski. If I read your post right, you're not too concerned with skiing steep and deep lines are you? If you want to save bucks in this set up, go for "Hagen Tour Carve" skis, or another Hagen lower end product. If your new to AT, you might find a lot of your time is spent at lower elevations (it seems to work that way), and it might be a good idea to have your first skis be "rock skis". Unless we get a huge snow year that is.

[selkirk]

Slightly off topic, but how do BD Crossbows and Freerides stack up? There's a pair in the Yard Sale that i'm thinking about picking up but wanted to run it by the Peanut Gallery first since I've been out of the ski loop for a while. CHeers!

[Ziff]

BD crossbows (the year you are talking about) are the stiffest skis BD ever made. as a result, they were drastically changed. this comes direct from the BD rep I spoke with. great for ripping groomers but pretty crappy in the back and beyond, unless you love super stiff skis.

[iain]

This ain't the wasatch, who doesn't like stiff skis? The crossbows have identical dimensions to the Atomic R:ex/10ex/etc/etc and if I'm not mistaken are (or were) made at the Atomic factory. They seem pretty similar, minus the beta ride steez. As for the freerides, a good solid binding but heavy. The other less core diamirs are perfectly fine too.

[cj001f]

BD crossbows (the year you are talking about) are the stiffest skis BD ever made. as a result, they were drastically changed. this comes direct from the BD rep I spoke with. great for ripping groomers but pretty crappy in the back and beyond, unless you love super stiff skis.

Drastically changed They aren't that stiff, they aren't that fat, and they are damn fun out back of beyond. At least mine are. iain's right they are made by atomic - but less of the good bits than the rest of the atomic line. They ain't no Big Daddy. I had Freerides on the 'bows, now dynafits, and ski them with Lasers. The 187cm are a bit too much ski for the boot at high speed but still fun.

[iain]

Saw you on that big daddy group order. Have fun with those beauties, if you sort out the binding issues.

[kioti]

There are a TON of people on the Atomic TM:X, Kongur, whatever, and the crossbow is just as versitile with a better sweet spot then the atomics, IMO. The new crossbow was impoved to make it a pretty damn good all around ski for BC. Softer, but still relatively stiff, lighter (than everyone's precious TM:X even ).

[larrythellama]

no ski with a twin-tip should be considered a b/c ski. how do you plunge it when ascending steep slopes?

 

imo foam skis are for women and people with throw away incomes.

[kioti]

no ski with a twin-tip should be considered a b/c ski. how do you plunge it when ascending steep slopes?

 

imo foam skis are for women and people with throw away incomes.

 

I think you might be saying such a thing to get a rise out of us. I'd be happy to oblige.

Acrylic Core skis are relatively inexpensive (although BD does get you pretty good for their skis) A large majority of the "Women's" skis on the market are wood core (K2's Line, G3 Siren, Karhu's Line) Getting a acrylic or "Foam" core ski will save you weight, for the most part, and get you a ski that I've found holds it's flex longer, due to the structural design of many of the skis (Atomic's Beta Tech, BD's Torsion Bow)

 

The twin tip remark also seemed out of left field. None of the skis mentioned throughout this thread are at all a twin tip. I've used a few different twin tips and find that they do plunge ok, not great.

[Figger_Eight]

The only problem with Dynafits as backcountry bindings is that the heel locks down.

Edited December 9, 2005 by Figger_Eight