Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Winter Access Forum Skis in the backcountry.

I just found this thread. For the last few months I've been contemplating a winter Muir Trail trip and have been researching what would work best for me, considering everything from snow shoes to alpine touring ski, and finally settled on touring ski with Dynafit bindings and boots that "walk" well.

I am not really a skier, nor headed out there for epic downhill sking, but rather to cover the terrain most efficiently. The boots I found (on ebay, like the ski and bindings) are Scarpa F1 that work well with step in crampons and are among the most flexible AT boots on the market. The ski are a pair of Atomic Kailas, semi wide and not too long for my body size, set up with with Dynafit TLT bindings. I still need skins and see how my carbon hiking poles work with the setup, but based on what I am planning on, this appeared like the most versatile setup without being too heavy (Fritschi bindings)

The gear is still in the mail, so I had no chance to test anything yet but I will soon head out to the local hills to get a feel for what I am getting myself into. In April, I plan on a test trip in the Sierras before I head out for the full winter trip in 2012.

Sounds awesome Fishmonger! That's a life-dream trip for me as well. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress with your new setup. IMHO I think you picked some very good equipment. The boots you got will also makes transitions (uphill/downhill) faster and easier, I just hope they fit.

I second that. Nice gear choices, Fish. If you haven't used Dynafit TLT's touring before, you're in for a treat.

And, and as I've posted before, once you ski down terrain you used to hike down in snowshoes, you'll never leave your skis at home again!

Happy trails!

Fishmonger,

How do you like your Dynafits? I just picked up some TLT Vertical FT Z12's and am absolutely loving them! Replacing my freerides with them knocked off nearly 3 lbs - definitely helps on the up. I can't wait to get them up to Iceberg!

I have only tried them at the resort so far, plus for a no-skin attempt at cross country (talk about exercise!) and like them a lot. It takes a little getting used to to get the boots snapped into the front, especially when you try it in deep snow for the first time like I did. I have the Vertical TLT ST bindings, not super light, but I can't imagine going to a Fritschi style. With the ski this is still pretty darn heavy.

Hike mode with the Scarpa F1 boots is very comfortable - which for me is the priority, planning on that long trek along the JMT. The thing that's not so great is the extra weight I had to add to make the bindings safe for these flexible boots - adding the "shim" they require adds a rather significant amount of weight. I could save several ounces on each ski if I found a solution that supports the ball of the boot (so they don't flex in downhill mode and self-release in a simple compression). I don't have ski crampons and don't plan on using any (when needed, ski come off and I'll wear crampons on the boots), so I could probably put something permanent under the ball of the boots that weighs much less than the removable shim. On the other hand - by the time I hit the JMT in a year or two, I will probably get different boots that won't need the shim anyway.

I just disassembled the heel unit just to see how it all goes together and to check for corrosion and lube (bought all this used). All in good shape and I know now how to possibly field-repair and adjust everything. You only need two tools to get in there.

At the ski resort I managed to have the bindings open once in a fall, so I know they do work