Japan Newbie Touring Set-up Thoughts

[SUPERIOR]

Beast binding on a 115 waist pow ski with its rocker matched to side cut, skins, one pair of boots


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[ClarkleberryFinn]

Poll time. I'm headed to Hokkaido in early February. We'll be based in Niseko for a week and then Asahi-Dake for another week. We'll have a van in both places and will be willing to go looking for good snow/interesting alpine objectives if conditions warrant. I want to take one set-up and one pair of boots. My options are 184 Steeple 108 with Tectons or 190 Bibby Pro with Tectons. I have lots of days on the Bibby and like how it skies most conditions. The Steeple is new this year and has impressed me so far, but I haven't skied it in a wide enough range of conditions to really know it yet. My concerns are hauling the Bibby around on longer alpine days (if they materialize) and maybe being a little under-gunned on the Steeple if we get some typical Japow (don't know for sure that the Steeple gives up much to the Bibby, but my initial feelings are that it floats slightly less and is slightly less loose/surfy). I've read the thread and would take a Protest if I had one, but I don't, so I'm looking for thoughts from the collective. Bibby or Steeple?

I took Bibbys (Bibbies?) on my first Japan trip a few years ago. Wasn't terrible. I had Barons on them (and used Guardians on Down TD125s on my last trip) - personally I don't like the feel of tech bindings and only use them for 'proper touring' rather than short hikes to get to cool stuff, and you really don't need to hike 1000+m vert to ski deep untracked in Japan!

[Reformed]

Thanks for the input on ski choice. It's sounding like some Protests are going to find their way into my ski bag for this trip. I just re-read the entire Protest thread and am stoked!

[tonyp]

Hi,

I will be touring around Hokkaido end of this January (2019) for around 3 weeks with a bunch of friends, 90% touring, maybe rest in the resort.
I ski a 188cm Black Crows Corvus Freebird (109mm width) with a Fritschi Tecton 12 binding.
I'm 185cm (around 6") and weight circa 190lbs, I'm a really experienced skier, not crazy fast though and not doing any major drops.

This has been a setup that works extremely well for me in terms of touring and stability on the downhill.
Do you guys think it will be fine for my first Japan trip or should I try getting a wider ski no matter what for this trip?


Thanks,
Antek

[SUPERIOR]

I think you would be happy. To me, the ideal Japan sticks are a tad wider with both tip and tail rocker, but you are in the zone. Especially since 90 percent of your turns are touring.


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[skibrd]

Hi,

I will be touring around Hokkaido end of this January (2019) for around 3 weeks with a bunch of friends, 90% touring, maybe rest in the resort.
I ski a 188cm Black Crows Corvus Freebird (109mm width) with a Fritschi Tecton 12 binding.
I'm 185cm (around 6") and weight circa 190lbs, I'm a really experienced skier, not crazy fast though and not doing any major drops.

This has been a setup that works extremely well for me in terms of touring and stability on the downhill.
Do you guys think it will be fine for my first Japan trip or should I try getting a wider ski no matter what for this trip?


Thanks,
Antek

Praxis Protests

[2wheeler]

Hey Tonyp - I'll relate my Japan Experience, and you can decide. My first trip to Japan was on a set of Movements with a 94 mm waist. This was in 2002, when I thought anything over 90 mm was big enough. I had a great time, but I found it impossible to keep up with my friends who were mostly riding snowboards. The Movements also had a nasty habit of some tip dive in very deep snow. Many of the resorts on Hokkaido have fairly flat run outs and in deep powder it's nice to be able to stay on top and run it out.

Since then I've been back 8 times. I bought a set of Protests after a couple of trips and that solved my issues keeping up. At 122 mm wide they keep me on top when I need it, and are more fun than... just about anything else.

Who are you riding with and are you resort only or touring/cat/heli skiing? Are you going to ski off piste at resorts? I'm sure your ski will be fine, you just might need someone else with wider skis to punch a trail in the flats.

[Lord Thomas]

For what it's worth my wife and I both took BMT 122's with KP's for a 15 day trip last winter and thought they were perfect. Well behaved in the resort (no new snow for the first 3 days), and when it started coming down by the meter....well....they just kicked ass. Most of our turns were lift assist out of bounds, not proper tours. If we were to go again I wouldn't think twice about taking the 122's. We probably aren't going back in the near future so my wife is selling her 176's (doesn't do a lot of deep snow tours around home) but I'm keeping mine because I like them so well and will use them for the big dump tours. Width is your friend as a lot of Japan aint very steep.

My wife in the birch forest above Kanko. About 24" of new snow and the 122's on her feets

[trex_9]

Hi,

I will be touring around Hokkaido end of this January (2019) for around 3 weeks with a bunch of friends, 90% touring, maybe rest in the resort.
I ski a 188cm Black Crows Corvus Freebird (109mm width) with a Fritschi Tecton 12 binding.
I'm 185cm (around 6") and weight circa 190lbs, I'm a really experienced skier, not crazy fast though and not doing any major drops.

This has been a setup that works extremely well for me in terms of touring and stability on the downhill.
Do you guys think it will be fine for my first Japan trip or should I try getting a wider ski no matter what for this trip?


Thanks,
Antek

I used 193 blizzard gunsmokes with kingpins for 11 days of lift accessed touring in Japan around sapporo last winter and at 114 in the waist they were perfect even on waist deep + blower days. Bigger waist might add some more fun but on the days it wasn't as deep they played nicely. I'm 6' 195 for reference.

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[Kopi_Red]

Hi,

I will be touring around Hokkaido end of this January (2019) for around 3 weeks with a bunch of friends, 90% touring, maybe rest in the resort.
I ski a 188cm Black Crows Corvus Freebird (109mm width) with a Fritschi Tecton 12 binding.
I'm 185cm (around 6") and weight circa 190lbs, I'm a really experienced skier, not crazy fast though and not doing any major drops.

This has been a setup that works extremely well for me in terms of touring and stability on the downhill.
Do you guys think it will be fine for my first Japan trip or should I try getting a wider ski no matter what for this trip?


Thanks,
Antek

You'll be fine on your set up. Go there, have fun and enjoy the Japow!

[2FUNKY]

You'll be fine on your set up. Go there, have fun and enjoy the Japow!

Blasphemy. He needs all new gear to enjoy japow proper!

[Kopi_Red]

Blasphemy. He needs all new gear to enjoy japow proper!

Thy gear doth not the skier make.

[2FUNKY]

Thy gear doth not the skier make.

No whey.......

[detrusor]

I went w GPO’s great on and off resort setup.


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[skibrd]

Just ordered a pair of Protests and am hoping to be able to make Japan work, depends on my work schedule. I’ll probably mount them with Pivot 18s and v1 Cast plates. Most likely ,I’ll take my XT Freetour boots.

Hoping for late Jan/early February to be there.

[tonyp]

You'll be fine on your set up. Go there, have fun and enjoy the Japow!

Ha! This is what I needed. I don't think 6mm is going to make all the difference, and 109/188 is already a lot of ski (and btw the corvus freebird is a ski that I simply love to ski everywhere else!)

Thanks!

[skibrd]

Ok so Japan is just about set for me.

Question to the people who have been. If I’m taking of 196 Protests, do I need a pair of narrower skis? Sub 110mm?

Is it even needed?

[SupreChicken]

Ok so Japan is just about set for me.

Question to the people who have been. If I’m taking of 196 Protests, do I need a pair of narrower skis? Sub 110mm?

Is it even needed?

Nope. I’ve only been once, but literally every run was in deep, soft snow.

[Reformed]

Depends how comfortable you are with skiing Protests on firm conditions if you get the odd day without snow or how willing you are to tour for fresh if some effort is required to find the goods. I skied Protests everyday for two weeks that I was there and would take the same ski if I went back. Even the bigger tours had snow on big parts of them that I was stoked to have the protests for. The way I looked at it is most skis suck in wind blown alpine conditions. Skis that make it suck slightly less typically suck in pow, or at the very least are WAY LESS AWESOME than the Protest. Most folks don’t go to Japan in January to get their ski mountaineering game on. Big float in somewhat mellow terrain and skiing in the forest is what it’s all about. Protest does this so well!

[PlayItLeo]

Thirded. 10 days in Hokkaido last year and every run was on Protests. Even if I had brought another pair of skis, I wouldn’t have skied it. Even on days with no new snow.


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[skibrd]

Well that’s might be the first time TGR mags have had a unified voice! That saves me some room in my ski bag, and hopefully will keep it under 50lbs.

I know for ages I’ve been saying I’d take either v1 or v2 CAST system to tour on, but I’m seriously tempted to switch to G3 LT 12s for the trip.