J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Ranchero_1979

Is pretty big compared to the ones in UK so should be fun!

Is a nice initiative to expand beyond the passes but fear will be meaningless. The reality is that is nearly all ski resorts you can cut your cloth as per your budget / desire.

Chamonix booked 29th Dec-5th Jan. Probably more of a climbing than a skiing trip but happy to have drinks if anyone is in town.

Liking the options you identified!

Depending upon your binding choice am not sure you need to worry about ski boot compatibility "Sole.ID – Marker Sole.ID allows Marker Authorized Retailers to adjust Sole ID equipped bindings to both ISO 5355 (Alpine) and ISO 9523 (AT) boot sole norms". I guess your first question then becomes do you want to have the option of using dynafit binding?

For Boots I guess you have 4 options:
Normal ski boot:- I have done many tours on Lange RX 120 (1-2hrs skinning) and never had an issue.

Downhill Hybrid (high cut, 4 buckles):- My brother has had good experience with downhill focused "hybrids" i.e. Lange XT 130 freetour which are compatible with any binding including dynafit. He has used these for everything including big days i.e. 7-8hrs uphill. The 4 buckle design and high cut also allows him to fully enjoy the downhill which I guess is the important part.

Hybrid (low cut, 3 buckles):- I previously tried Salomon Quest 120 and really didn't like them; no massive advantage uphill and just didn't enjoy the lower boot cut for the downhill. Hence I found myself reverting to the Lange RX 120. Other friends have tried Scarpa (bright orange model) and similarly never really enjoyed the downhill part. Basically for short tours I am willing to take a little extra and have slightly shorter strides.

Touring: Now spend a lot of time on Dynafit Magnum's which are just okay but have a very messy buckle and plastic shell design around the shin area. Of course they are great for going uphill and to be honest In powder I don't notice much difference. Take these on-piste, bumps etc. though and is just not a nice experience.

I guess my main point is that if you are doing only short uphill trips just be cautious with how much of a touring boot you really want, given that a normal ski boot covers a lot of bases.

Interesting question and that one that only you can answer. However if I interpreted your post correctly then I think you are heading in the wrong direction. Personally am very happy with my current setup which of course makes me biased (Head supershape Magnum/Lange; Dynastar Cham 97HM/dynafits/dynafit magnum; Kaste 108/Marker/Lange). Next on my wishlist would be a straight renewal of piste setup (getting pretty old), followed by putting Markers on an inbound powder ski as am convinced Markers release better than Dynafit bindings.

Boots:
From your above description; "short trips / twin tips"; is sounds like you are not really planning on ski touring or these would be short vs. day long / multiple days? If this is the case then you are almost definitely better off with a non-touring ski boot and non dynafit touring binding. Conventional boots certainly make skiing much easier than even the stiffest touring boot. I saw that you referenced weight quite a few times but if the majority of your day is spent going downhill I would not even have this as a consideration.

Offpiste skis:
As for width of ski I have moved from Kastle 108 to Dynastar Cham 97HM. The extra width of the Kastle has more disadvantages than advantages i.e. not good for skinning - weight/you can't follow tracks/difficult when gets steeper or hard snow; not great for lot of skiing e.g. non gladed trees, steep, hard etc. Even with deep powder I always found skiing 10% faster easier than taking the big beasts out. The fact that fresh snow means you are stuck to less steep slopes lends to this philosophy, just open up the turns to get more float. Hence for the fat ski I would not look to go much beyond 102. Don't understand the twin tip part as just going to be a pain with skins.

Resort skis:
As for resort skis I would go for a proper piste ski i.e. 80mm or less with a decent shovel which will allow you to carve, ski bumps, ski medium powder and chop. If you are going for 2 pairs of ski do you really need an all mountain ski. In trying to do everything my experience is that they end up being very medium! I also don't really understand why anyone would want to use twin tips in resort but then again have never tried to take off or land reverse in a terrain park. If you don't plan on that why would you have a skiddy tail with no support or power?

Sounds like you are in an enviable position so enjoy making the decision. Worst case you get it wrong and need to invest in more toys :-).

Have to say am not a big fan of aerials as a sport as seems to pose an unacceptable risk. So much going on, no time to to bail out and if it goes wrong then is your brain / spine taking the impact. Cannot even think an a good analogy; is pure madness.

We need a super wet autumn or is going to take forever to fill in the glaciers enough to make them safe to ski. Just hope there in no Indian summer stretching into October.