Go shorter for touring skis?

[Hughwindlip]

What type of boot you are using matters and draws some guidelines for what you should get for skis. It’s a system that all needs to play nice.

I have a 190cm moment touring setup and couldn’t imagine going smaller on those. Skied with Hoji Free 130’s and tour wraps.

I want to get a smaller lighter setup for 20 mile days but this only makes sense if I pickup some 1000 gram boots as well. 180cm ultralight skis will feel terrible with a super stiff boot and honestly not very fun as you can constantly feel the ski limiting you.

A lighter, slightly shorter, ski paired with some lightweight boots sounds like a good call if efficiency matters. Skip this entirely if you’re using a boot over 1300-1400 grams.

For a single touring ski... just buy something that’s fun. You’re probably getting a couple hundred turns, might as well enjoy them.

Yeah I buy into that entire statement.

With a 1.5 yr old now I don't get to bang out weekends away on missions as much as I used to so I really value those 2-300 turns.

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[rod9301]

What type of boot you are using matters and draws some guidelines for what you should get for skis. It’s a system that all needs to play nice.

I have a 190cm moment touring setup and couldn’t imagine going smaller on those. Skied with Hoji Free 130’s and tour wraps.

I want to get a smaller lighter setup for 20 mile days but this only makes sense if I pickup some 1000 gram boots as well. 180cm ultralight skis will feel terrible with a super stiff boot and honestly not very fun as you can constantly feel the ski limiting you.

A lighter, slightly shorter, ski paired with some lightweight boots sounds like a good call if efficiency matters. Skip this entirely if you’re using a boot over 1300-1400 grams.

For a single touring ski... just buy something that’s fun. You’re probably getting a couple hundred turns, might as well enjoy them.

I have the same boot, my previous one was zero g tour pro 130.

People were trying to get me to buy the 110 free, saying that the 130 is too stiff.
I skied a few times with the free, and i don't feel it's too stiff. Vwerks katanas.

Under what circumstances do you think the boot would be too stiff?

I'm 176, expert skier

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[Tailwind]

A question that will help you conceptualize this: Why do ski boots flex? Why aren’t they just completely rigid when skiing downhill?

Ski boots are similar to suspension. They dampen impacts from the ski and also mute the skiers inputs into the ski.

Not a perfect companion but : What would happen if you took suspension with a spring rate for an f350 and put it into a Porsche? It wouldn’t drive well.

Lighter skis (and lighter skiers) ideally need softer boots to be paired with them. A Zero G 85 in a 175cm length doesn’t have a flex pattern, mass or overall length to properly flex a 130 flex boot. Wider, heavier, longer, stiffer skis need a stiffer boot to be paired with them.

For Katana’s the 130 is likely a great boot (stiff ski).

I have the same boot, my previous one was zero g tour pro 130.

People were trying to get me to buy the 110 free, saying that the 130 is too stiff.
I skied a few times with the free, and i don't feel it's too stiff. Vwerks katanas.

Under what circumstances do you think the boot would be too stiff?

I'm 176, expert skier

Sent from my Redmi Note 8 Pro using Tapatalk

[kalisto]

Ski boots are similar to suspension. They dampen impacts from the ski and also mute the skiers inputs into the ski.

Kind of get what you're saying with the car reference, but a vehicle isn't dynamic in its movement. It's a heavy chunk of metal that relies on suspension to move efficiently over terrain.

Your finesse as a skier IMO largely determines the type of boot you can use on a ski. I'm on maestrales RS on basically all my skis. 177 Rando skis and 185 pow skis and everything in-between.

The one time I miss my stiffer alpine boots is when I'm straight-lining chunder inbounds. Back to the car analogy, basically just driving the skis as hard/fast as I can. Relatively static in my moment relying on the boots to take the beating.

Touring... that rarely happens. I'm not often just charging through chunder and more often time than not skiing pretty good pow. Can get away with a lot softer boot for sure and still have a blast.

[stradissimo]

Lighter skis (and lighter skiers) ideally need softer boots to be paired with them. A Zero G 85 in a 175cm length doesn’t have a flex pattern, mass or overall length to properly flex a 130 flex boot.

This is just not my experience, at all. I have 178cm Zero G 85s. They ski far, far better with XTD 130s than with Scarpa F1s or La Sportiva Syborgs.
I’ve used all 3 of boots in San Juan blower, PNW hot pow and mank, and Muir snowfield corn. The XTDs always make the downhill more fun.
Granted, I weigh 145 lbs, so maybe I need beefy boots to get the skis to work, but they’re the skis I have.
Climbing balances the equation. It takes me an hour longer to get to Camp Muir with the XTDs than the Syborgs.

[1000-oaks]

Short is nice for Spring booting, less likely to catch tree branches and drag tails on boulders while on your pack. If you have a long rocky or steep dry hike out, catching your boots or rocks with your tails every few steps gets super annoying really fast.

At 5'9", you can scramble and move freely with 170's, which helps confidence when gripped on the way up.

[XXX-er]

IME skis that are not working are becuz i am not fat enough,

I can have a little leeway with a softer design but otherwise instead of my normal 165lb I need to be > 180lb or more to bend a 190cm ski into something that turns

sure height gives you some leverage but mostly a ski only knows how fat you are

[Boissal]

Short is nice for Spring booting, less likely to catch tree branches and drag tails on boulders while on your pack.

This. Some of the sketchiest moments I've ever experienced in the BC were getting pushed back on a technical climbing move when I rammed the tips of my big skis into a rock. I've modified my Salomon pack so the diagonal carry is more pronounced otherwise it happens all the time (and I keep clipping the tails with my boots).

Tgapp, I've offered you a brand new bucket of Nutella in another thread, you up?

[tgapp]

Tgapp, I've offered you a brand new bucket of Nutella in another thread, you up?

how did I miss that?!

and yes, I will prostitute myself for that diabetic chocolatey goodness. or trade coffee. or commit petty crime.


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[XXX-er]

if you wana go longer ski/ need the extra weight by all means ... Nutella