For the love of Ullr stop skiing your low tech bindings at the resort!

[detrusor]

Ortho trauma surgeon I work with claims most of his tibial plateau fractures are the result of tech bindings and soft lower cuff boots coupled with a low radius ski at the resort. I keep after him to write it up.

Can’t recall where I read it (probably here) but the incidence of acl injuries is actually higher with knee bindings. The prevalence is lower but that is irrelevant.


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[plugboots]

This odd inbounds hiking is a good thing in my mind. More healthy people walking around and more users funding touring gear R&D without more users in the easy access backcountry. It's like the public transportation of skiing, if everyone else does it, my quality of life goes up. And if they're patronizing local ski shops and donating some money to NWAC or whatever, holy shit it's a dream scenario.

Agree.

[toast2266]

This odd inbounds hiking is a good thing in my mind. More healthy people walking around and more users funding touring gear R&D without more users in the easy access backcountry. It's like the public transportation of skiing, if everyone else does it, my quality of life goes up. And if they're patronizing local ski shops and donating some money to NWAC or whatever, holy shit it's a dream scenario.

Agreed, but I still don't get it.

[toast2266]

Can’t recall where I read it (probably here) but the incidence of acl injuries is actually higher with knee bindings.

That seems like it has to be related to the type of people that are inclined to buy the knee binding. Every person I've seen on those things is an older gaper, which is a demographic that's gotta be at high risk for injury, regardless of what binding they use.

[snoqpass]

It’s not like anybody is skiing like Tanner around here

[hutash]

The uphill in bounds makes perfect sense if solo. It is just like going out for a run, good exercise but with the added bonus of a ski run. Safer then being solo in the trees, avi control etc. Sure it is not as nice a true touring, but neither is pounding pavement vs a trail run, and yet most of us run the streets for convenience.

[robnow]

To clarify for the OP Waxman, as he didn’t mention it (mtnlion alluded to it), he owns a shop in a VERY busy backcountry and resort ski town (AND happens to sell Black Crows). So I assume he’s coming from a place where he’s seeing a lot of binding pullouts coming back...and other such pin binding breakages from resort use.

Side note, my understanding, and not from him, is that the Freebird series from Black Crows are actually quite fragile.


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[bbrianburke]

This odd inbounds hiking is a good thing in my mind. More healthy people walking around and more users funding touring gear R&D without more users in the easy access backcountry....

agree 100%.

[Choucas]

The uphill in bounds makes perfect sense if solo. It is just like going out for a run, good exercise but with the added bonus of a ski run. Safer then being solo in the trees, avi control etc. Sure it is not as nice a true touring, but neither is pounding pavement vs a trail run, and yet most of us run the streets for convenience.

+1 on inbounds resort hiking being okay. I've got a week long touring trip coming up in the alps. I live in Vermont. How do I prepare? Climb as much as I can as often as I can. I usually do it by myself at areas. I don't want to go off into the woods by myself and take on the risk of things going wrong. Nice way to get a fitness hike and a (hopefully) nice ski down. People around if I end up needing help which has never happened, but hey, you never know. I do agree that touring gear is for touring. I don't often resort ski on my touring gear. If I do, it's a couple of mellow runs before or after a hike mainly to get comfortable with the different feel vs. my alpine gear.

[Powdurr]

I've skied Vipecs exclusively for the last two season in-bounds and out, all over Europe and at home in Sun Valley on ice, groomers, bumps, powder, etc. They've never "pre-released", or released at all for that matter. They are a pain getting in and out of, but they ski great and after two years of extensive testing, I trust them pretty much anywhere.

I was going to replace them with Shifts this year, but I've heard nothing but stories of inadvertent releases from anyone who skis them, so at this point I trust my pins more.

[Cocximus]

To clarify for the OP Waxman, as he didn’t mention it (mtnlion alluded to it), he owns a shop in a VERY busy backcountry and resort ski town (AND happens to sell Black Crows). So I assume he’s coming from a place where he’s seeing a lot of binding pullouts coming back...and other such pin binding breakages from resort use.

Side note, my understanding, and not from him, is that the Freebird series from Black Crows are actually quite fragile.


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Shit skis or shitty mounts? It's not like tech bindings are mounted with #6 screws.

I redline my audi everyday and beat on my vipecs for over 400 days every season

[ACH]

I have nothing to add to this landmark thread other than, this is exactly how it came up on the app, on my phone...

[gavinski91]

Doesn't mounting tech bindings on Black Crows skis void the warranty? Thought I saw that on here somewhere...

[sethschmautz]

I'll take a stab at this since I resemble some of the description. My gear and experience has varied significantly over the last 15 years of skiing - starting with a pair of black diamond crossbows with tri-steps and lazers and currently skiing a combo of TLT6Ps or Beast boots with Salomon MTN explores with Radical 2.0s or DPS RPCs with Beast 14s.

I really like the DPSes and have mixed and matched bindings throughout the years. Currently have inserts for beast 14s and Radical 2.0s for inbounds/slackcountry and mostly ski them with the beast boots. I feel like the boots and bindings ski just fine for my needs. The Alpine bindings I've had on there previously may have been a little better but they don't tour as well. :-) The holy Grail for me is finding a setup that allows for solid inbounds performance with some weight savings. I think the shift is based around the idea that others are looking for this same thing...but they weren't around when I put this setup together.

Sometimes I ski the MTN explores with my TLT6s inbounds. Usually the goal is skills building - trying to get a lot of laps to improve my performance on this setup for when I'm in the Backcountry. But sometimes it's because I'm skiing with my 6yo or 4yo and the 192 RPCs are just overkill.

In this chapter of life for me, with 3 kids, I feel pretty guilty leaving my wife another day on the weekend to go on a full day tour with friends. A lap or two inbounds is faster and safer and I even like going with friends in one of those groups because that's also my (adult) social life right now. :-)

Those are my reasons for skiing tech boots and bindings inbounds and for where I'm at in my skiing career, it's working okay for me.

All of us started at one point and bought gear that we probably didn't need at the time. That's part of learning also, I think. Thankfully for me there were many who continued to encourage me to go ski. I think that's my takeaway - to continue to encourage because they may a lot of fun to ski with.

Seth

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[JaytaeMoney]

Solo grape smuggling expeditions in lieu of going to the gym make sense, sort of. But a healthy majority of the people I see hiking inbounds are in groups. And I know that plenty of them have all the requisite gear and skills to walk around in the backcountry.

Skinning in bounds is quick/convenient and a great workout, find a new slant

[toast2266]

Skinning in bounds is quick/convenient and a great workout, find a new slant

Skinning out of bounds is equally quick, just as good of a workout, results in skiing pow, and doesn't involve going in the opposite direction as out of control gapers.

I'm sticking with my slant.

[SB]

Saw a nut case last Friday skiing Dfits with the toes locked out. I pointed this out to him and he mumbled something and other wise acted like he had not heard me.

Saw him later down the slopes toes still locked out on the main trail. He must ski them like that all the time. He was not skinning.

[mall walker]

Saw a nut case last Friday skiing Dfits with the toes locked out. I pointed this out to him and he mumbled something and other wise acted like he had not heard me.

Saw him later down the slopes toes still locked out on the main trail. He must ski them like that all the time. He was not skinning.

inbounds? lol

[XXX-er]

I think people don't know how to clear the pin sockets or under the springs on Tech binding so they get premature ejectulation and ski em locked out

I sometimes ride lift at the hill on lotus with Verts if thats the ski I want to use , they stay on my feet no problem/release when they should

but then I would only use them in pow conditions

I would not put verts on the redster double decks

[SB]

inbounds? lol

Yes, inbounds at the local ski hill.

I could not believe it but it was a powder day, 9" boot deep, and we wasted no further time on it.

[angler99]

This phenomenon has been going on since the Marker Duke. For every 20 sets of Marker Dukes you saw on the chairlift, maybe 1 of those people even knew how to put them in tour mode. The thing with the Duke though was people still used real alpine boots and the binding actually skied like an alpine binding with elasticity and a reliable DIN release. I now cringe when I see these same types of people on tech bindings in-bounds.

[TahoeJ]

I have nothing to add to this landmark thread other than, this is exactly how it came up on the app, on my phone...

Caught this at the same moment / post on my phone and got a pretty good laugh out of it.

[dgillis73]

This phenomenon has been going on since the Marker Duke. For every 20 sets of Marker Dukes you saw on the chairlift, maybe 1 of those people even knew how to put them in tour mode. The thing with the Duke though was people still used real alpine boots and the binding actually skied like an alpine binding with elasticity and a reliable DIN release. I now cringe when I see these same types of people on tech bindings in-bounds.

Yeah.... had one of these types come in last year with a heavy ass pair of liberty 120something underfoots, beat to shit old scarpas, and Kingpins. He was brand new to touring, and his buddy said that this would be a killer, do-everything, BC/Resort setup (his words, not mine). And to top all that nonsense off, he claimed to have never skied anything fatter than 95. Couldn't convince him that maybe a frame binding, or something else entirely might be better for him, because his "buddy who tours every weekend" told him this was the right stuff. I guess you just cant help everyone, sometimes better to just wish them luck

[BFD]

I am actually glad all these people are at the ski areas. The backcountry might get crowded at least the parking.

[TheK12]

I have nothing to add to this landmark thread other than, this is exactly how it came up on the app, on my phone...

perfectly encapsulating the thread