If you only had 1 setup to bring on a trip.....

[JayBruce]

Seriously mad props if anyone does 5-day hut trips on 192atlas+duke combo.

[shasti]

Europe does not need something wider than 105 maximum 110 for a trip ski. Love my long skis but you do not really want have to be jump turning 190cm of ski in a 15' wide chute over nasty exposure. 99mm-105 is the quiver of one for Europe.

its huge ass terrain where the snow is not going to be friendly to you. Touring rig is a must so plates are a good idea. Shit gets tracked fast the cool thing is lifts go up everywhere so short skins = large rewards.

You don't want to be stuck on a pair of 120mm skis in Europe. If its like many periods in 2010/2011 you are going to be begging for some skinny rando ass things that let you go slay big vert. Face shots are a bonus .... You want to get white crap all over your face head to Japan or interior BC.

Thanks for this sqikunst. Hope to take 1st ski trip across the pond soon

[kix515]

I keep going back to the Praxis BC. I already ski it and love it in all conditions. Having the same pair of skis with Dynafits and Dukes seems redundant, but I'm not going to a plate system now. The 2 pairs of skis would serve different purposes as a BC with dukes is a great everyday Tahoe resort ski and would be perfect for a trip across the pond as far as I can tell.

[Schemeboat]

There are only 1.5 groomed runs at whitewater.

[MTslackcountry]

4frnt ehp..........

[arild]

I got the Whitedot Ragnarok for this season, but haven´t skied it yet, and is closer to 11 lbs without bindings. 143/120/130 dims (193).

[TheDoog]

I've been going through a similar debate with myself. I have two trips planned for the winter that entail 5-6 days of bc touring in Idaho and Utah with 2-3 days riding lifts. There may be a third trip to Tahoe in the works that would probably be mostly lift served for a weekend. My current setup is Katanas w/ Dukes which is way too heavy for 3 days of touring, but the ride is awesome. I have a pair of 185 JJ's on the way and am debating whether to put Dynafits or Dukes on them. I'm not really sure how I feel about the big twins for real bc skiing so I'm still looking around. If they can charge close to the Katanas they may become more of a resort/slack rig and I'll keep looking for a bc setup for the dynafits. Others I've considered for dual purpose w/ dynafits. Criteria being 105-125 waist, <9lb, rockered tips (prefer tails as well) and not a true twin (again prefer flat tails but a little early rise is ok)
Praxis BC - 180 seems short and 190 seems really long for true backcountry applications, but seem to serve the dual purpose of mostly touring w/ some liftserved
Volkl Nunataq- not much out there on these yet and not sure they're built to withstand the abuse of resort skiing, but the idea of lighter gotama-ish skis is intruiging.
Fatypus I-Rock - light, fat and available w/ a flat tail for bc utility. Never skiied them and don't know much about them other than the Fatypus propaganda
Coombacks- probably the most practical, but having been on them, they're not super exciting to ski
Edit: Maybe hybrid Wailer 112s should be on my list. Close to my weight limit and sound pretty sweet. Pures are a little too pricey

[shasti]

^^ I think the Praxis BC sounds pretty ideal, as far as the ski part of things goes, for your trip, as well as kix515s Euro trip.

I already have a similar shape ski (191 Movement Goliath), but when it is trashed, I will be looking at the Praxis BC or the Movement Trust to fit that "Do everything" slot that you want if you are only taking one ski on a trip and the conditions might be hard.

As far as the duke/dynafit dilemma kix515, you might want to use inserts. I think you can install them in the holes you have your dynafits in now, and then install a set for the duke, or whatever alpine binder you want to use. Cheap, easy, versatile, just make sure you're careful when installing them

[iscariot]

Ski:
186 4frnt EHP

Bindings:
Plum Guide
Solly 9-16 (metal, red)
Solyfit plate
Trekkers


Boots:
Dynafit EHP boot

OR

Lange FR 130
and
Garmont Radium/Shogun

[shasti]

^^^Why would you bring trekkers ?

[iscariot]

^^^Why would you bring trekkers ?

Slack country with alpine boots at resorts like whitewater, revy, kicking horse, etc...


The setup I described is one I already have in my current quiver. Trying to reduce the quiver though. Almost have the quiver of one dialed. Almost.

[shasti]

^^Nice work man!

Feel free to PM me if you want to team up in BC sometime, I think I will be there a lot this winter

[auvgeek]

Ski:
Boots:
Dynafit EHP boot

What is this boot of which you speak?

[JRiph]

Europe.

I have Do have 190 redeemers & 194 ragnaroks.

But when I have to take just one pair I bring my ''touring'' setup (184 Rossi Quad-B 100 and Fritchi FR+). fat enough for anything , edgy enough for no fall zones (Chamonix is one very big no fall zone, and sustained 1000-3000 ft couloirs at 45 degrees on hardpack is not the same as some short 60 degree bit of powder with a nice runout), sort of light enough to climb >5500 ft of vertical (yes I soo envied my mates on dynafits.. I also envied their much bigger lungs and nordic genes). And easy enough to ski with legs that are less than stellar after 5500 ft of vertical.

180-184 is about the sweetspot for big touring skies (allmost regardless of you own size) as that will still fit most tight places and is light enough to haul on a bootpack.

I pray that the yet to be released baby Ragnarok can take it's place when it gets too old so I can reduce the quiver to two again.
In europe you have to give up some float for not dying.. it is a good trade off !


while fun the whole hyper fat ski thing is getting stupid. I skied one 120 day season on K2 yellow AKlaunchers before and I never had complaints. If you did not float enough you where going too slow. or you where just stoked because it was soo deep.