Hi all,

I tour mainly in central/eastern Switzerland, and I’m planning the Urner Haute Route this March (Andermatt → Engelberg, 4–5 days, ~1500 m up per day). I’m 192 cm, 85 kg, fit, and an expert skier. I do fairly technical tours up to AD+, D-. Most of the time, we deal with firm/bad snow here while touring- of course, there are exceptions with nice powder snow, but it's not the norm. On a powder day, I usually go to Engelberg for freeride.

Current setup: Black Crows Camox Freebird (6 seasons old) with Salomon Shift. I mounted the Shift back when this was my only freeride ski too. I’ve since bought Atris for freeride, so the Shift is now just extra weight on the uphill. Boot: Scarpa Maestrale RS.

Options I’m weighing:

1. Remount the Camox with an ATK Raider 13 Evo (~500 g lighter per foot) and keep the skis.
2. Buy new skis + Raider 13 Evo (or similar).

If you’d go with option 2, what would you pick for a ski that can handle soft snow, but is primarily stable and grippy on firm, technical terrain, and is light enough for several big days back to back?

Thanks!

I’m looking for the Raide forward lean mod for a pre 2024 ZGTP boot. They’re sold out everywhere online. Does anyone have one they want to sell me, or know where I might find one? Thanks!

Cashmere sweaters from Nordstrom rack. This one cost $87 in SLC. It’s lighter than merino wool, breathes better than a synthetic layer, doesn’t smell, feels amazing, wicks moisture, keeps super warm even when soaking wet, and drys faster than anything else that I’ve ever used.

I am sure some of you who have been around a while may be familiar with the BITS program run by the Alpine Club of Canada Calgary Section. For those of you who are not sure how to really get started in the backcountry, the BITS program helps advanced resort skiers and riders transition to safely exploring the backcountry and bridge the gap from managed ski areas to self sustaining backcountry touring. The program engages 90-100 participants supported by upwards of 40 volunteer trip leaders and tailgunners each winter season.

If you are local to Calgary, Edmonton, Canmore, Banff or Lake Louise, and want to advance your ability and skills to safely navigate the Backcountry, it might be a good fit for you. There are two information nights on October 22 and October 27.

Please note: The program requires an active Alpine Club Membership (~$45 peryear) and the program cost is $50 (which funds leadership development for BITS trip leaders). The Alpine Club is a register Not for Profit.

You can find the events posted on the Alpine Club Calgary Section Calendar.

https://calendar.acccalgary.ca/Event/Detail?eventId=7287

https://calendar.acccalgary.ca/Event/Detail?eventid=7288

Not sure if this post is allowed, but if not, feel free to remove. :)

Link to how it skiied: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DehXcQxx-1M/?psln=NXZxbWs1ZzFwZnlu

Finally getting to having a pseudo splitboard setup for really short laps (all I can get in my area), I know a lot of people don’t like these approach skis but I’m doing a maximum of 2 km of proper ascent a day. Figured that having two pairs of bindings suit me the best, so gonna roll with this until there’s really a problem!

- Union Rover carbon 100cm with a modified burton hitchhiker binding, strapped onto a dakine poacher 32L pack. Testing for any movement or jumps and they haven’t budged an inch. Honestly really happy with this downhill pack setup.

Rough riding for sure but not too shabby for Oct 14 🤔

We're 2 guys from eastern Canada with solid backcountry skills looking for recommendations for an itinerary, places we can't miss. We like backcountry and in bounds, lots of snow, We have good navigation skills and terrain reading abilities and are open to guided options.

We're aiming for the Hokkaido region.

Thanks all !

Dude was getting roasted in the comments. It was obviously not taken from today (most notably because the mountain's have been cloudy for days). Worse off, the location he's at isn't even in right now. Getting there might put your life in peril because of the extremely thin snowpack.

Why would someone do this? For the engagement? I couldn't imagine straight up lying like this for some likes.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/943696191756903

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for ski goggles that can incorporate my prescription directly into the lens, rather than an OTG setup or an internal insert. Has anyone found a reliable option for touring and backcountry skiing?
Thanks a lot

Hello beautiful folks. This is gonna be one of those advice-seeking posts with seemingly no correct answer whatsoever, but I'm gonna give it a shot since I'm kinda desperate, and the season is already on its way.

I'm based in the Balkans, in the rather underrated backcountry destination part of Europe that is the Republic of Bulgaria. Seasons around here usually arrive around mid-December and, if you milk the conditions enough, last through April. Pow-wise, it's not the greatest of destinations, but based on which mountain range you find yourself atop it may very well differ.

For the better part of my winter sport-ish life, I have been an avid snow/splitboarder, but due to reasons still unknown to this day, I've switched to the dark side as my quiver friends would usually state. I've been on skis for three seasons now, and I spend a rather medicore amount of time in the backcountry during winter. Last season, I went with Dynafit Backlight 88s and was heavily disappointed - partly due to myself and partly due to the skis being out of my league.

This season, I'm looking forward to buying my very own touring set. I've been on a huge lookout on sites like Sport Conrad, but nothing quite strikes me. Maybe the Hagan Pure 90 with its Pure bindings did. Level-wise, width wise, and price-wise as well, I think.

I'm looking for a set of skis AND ski boots that's going to perform rather average or okay-ish on the uphill, but be forgiving and handled with ease on the downhill in any condition. Maybe even rip some pow. As I've already stated, I'm rather amateur-oriented on skis as of right now (although I encounter zero issues covering good distances in varying conditions) and really want to make the most of it when skiing down, as well as when climbing up. Looking for something 163-165 in length, width around 85-95. Site advice on where to purchase from and get shipping to BG would also be nicely appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

Thought this was interesting. It’s a good illustration of why Colorado can’t have nice things in October.

The first map shows surface snow type for tomorrow (Thursday) morning, and the second shows Saturday morning.

Map 1: Green is new or decomposing snow; red is melting snow.

Map 2: Dark blue is depth hoar; light blue is facets.

Fortunately, most of this snow cover is super thin and will melt off since we’re only looking at a couple of inches. Still, it’s a gnarly picture of how fast the snowpack falls apart after these October storms. Higher elevation in the San Juans is a bit deeper, so there might be some lingering problems down there.

Hi! I was looking at various roller ski bags and atm the best one (imho) seems to be the K2 Universal

https://k2snow.com/it-it/p/universal-ski-roller-bag-ks240887?color=black

since it's both big enough for 2 pairs of skis, and also to pack inside various things. It also allows to shorten it by rolling the top. And finally it has some internal straps, to place 2 skis on the bottom, and 1 on each "side wall" firmly strapped.

I looked at other brands/models but they either are fixed size (so it's possible it dangle down if the skis are not long enough) i.e. Dakine, Evoc ... or they can be shortened but without any strap inside so if the bag is not packed i think the skis will move around... and we all know how airport staff handles bags... i.e. the DB ones, I like them, but the absence of the straps seems a big no-no for me.

Finally others like Thule or Osprey have some straps but only on the bottom, so they don't leave a lot of space to load other things apart from the skis.

Am I wrong? What are your opinions about roller ski bags? Alternatives worth considering?

For context I've a Dakine Split Roller 85, where i loaded in the ski boots and helmet (and all the clothing) last year, so loading things in the ski bag is more an utility than a real necessity, but if i'll go with a friend it can definitely be useful to have that space. A friend of mine have the K2 and i put inside the skis, poles, skins, crampons, ice axe and that's it, but he had A LOT of stuff... clothing, boots... a lot!

Planning on touring a lot this winter with a loose crew of friends who all have different schedules. Right now it's basically a group chat where someone says "anyone free Saturday" and it kind of falls apart from there. Figuring out who's actually in, what zone, who's looked at the forecast, who's driving, etc., gets difficult and I feel like I miss days because of it.

For people who get out a lot with a rotating group, how do you handle this? Shared calendar? Some app? Just a group chat? Curious what's worked for you.

Is 900 bucks for 75yds of 65/35 blend 100mm a good deal?

Hi everyone! My name is Bailey Swain, I’m a student at Mississippi State University, and my marketing class is conducting research on wilderness medicine. We would really appreciate your help by completing our survey! Your responses will help us better understand people’s interests and preferences regarding wilderness medicine courses.

Thank you for your time and for supporting our class project!
https://msstate.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ddjWTaALuDoG514

Sorry if this is the 16th repost on this question (I don't think it is).

Can anyone give any advice on experiences with both bindings?

I've rocked a pair of Ion 12s and have no complaints. I'm buying my next pair and can't decide between the two. The Zed's are considerably cheaper where I've seen them.

They'll go on a 100% backcountry dedicated setup. Weight matters, but not as much as performance - they'll be used on big lines, no fall couloirs. I love the performance of the Ions and I don't mind the weight at all.

But if there isn't much performance sacrifice with the Zeds (I'm talking 95%+ what I get from the Ions), I'll take the lighter weight at the cheaper price point.

All takes appreciated!

Edit: Thanks all! Like I said, I have had zero complaints with the Ions, kinda surprised to hear all the negative feedback. But its been a while since I evaluated alternatives. Checking out the ATK freeraiders.

As the title says. 120mm will fit of course but I am wondering if the brakes reach out to far and or 108mm will fit anyway. Thanks for tips!

Hi, I have the Line Mr pollard’s Opus 118 skis from 2014/15. I have them with an old griffon binding. I’m thinking about mounting a marker duke pt 12 binding I found for a good price and buying myself a hybrid boot.

In the resort I am an advanced skier. Never done touring. I use nordica speed machine 130 boots and am happy with the fit.

So what I’m currently thinking is

Nordica unlimited 130
Marker duke pt 12 (850g uphill) (1150g downhill)
Line Mr pollards opus 118 (2500g)

But, I know that the skis are very heavy about 2500g per ski. So with the binding I’m thinking that’ll be 3350g which feel like a lot.

I already own the ski and I want a ski 110-120 width under foot for Japan.

Is this weight way to much for touring? Have you ever toured with a heavy ski like this? What is your advice?

Oct 12, 2026 in the Wasatch around 10.5k elevation

Hi everyone, i was thinking about getting a pair of moment wildcat tour 108s and was wondering what length to get. I’m 6’2” (188cm) and 160lbs (73kg). I ski the east coast so i usually find myself wanting maneuverability in the trees, but i also ski pretty playful and like to find stuff to jump off of. My other skis are the pretty heavy k2 reckoner 112s in 184, and I’ve heard the wildcat tours ski pretty similar to them for less weight which is why i chose them.

Still looking for them