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Light is Right - My custom backcountry set up ..

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  • Light is Right - My custom backcountry set up ..

    I have decided that what I want to do is to push the limits of the how light I can go with the touring kit and the Condor .. the lighter the better , as long as I can control my Condors in all conditions . From my previous posts you guys know that my lightest and most comfortable plastic backcountry boots are my Garmont Excursion backcountry telemark boots , these are almost like leather boots in their comfort factor , they are low cut have only two buckles have a hard plastic around the bottom of the boot , an extremely soft tounge and soft plastic around the cuff .a vibram hiking sole , and bellows in the forefoot to allow natural flex ..
    Here is a pic of the Garmont Excursions compared to my Full Tilts..



    I have used the Excursions in the backcountry with the ALPs but never with the Condors .. I tried these boots out at the ski area earlier in the week on the Condors using poles ( the poles help with turn initiation with these soft boots) and they worked great , so it was time to take them to the backcountry. What makes me able to use a touring kit with these boots is Bill's original radiused heel piece with telemark cable attachemts integrated with custom sole plate for the Receptor and using a wide Zero or Line FF pro front bale and a Line FF pro ( or Zero lever )on the Receptor toe piece . This was one of the origiinal prototype designs for our BTK kit. Here is the set up with telemark cables attached and skiboard crampons attached.


    The interesting thing about the radiused heel piece is that I did not feel it provided enough lateral movement control on the toe of narrow toed boots like traditional ski boots like the Full Tilts and the raised side walls of the current BTK touring kit provide much better lateral control , but on my modified excursions the radiused heel piece is perfect . I have amputated the duck bill and sides of the telemark boot so it fits exactly the radiused heel piece when used as a toe piece so there is no movement on twisting , so it really is a custom job but works perfectly .
    Here is a pic of the crude custom amputation job on the front duck bill of my telemark boot .

    The soft boot is a joy to climb with and brings me back to the days when I was in leather boots

    Here is the set up in climbing mode with the front lever used as a heel elevator
    .

    These were boots that I had bought but gathered dust because they were not enough to drive even my Hagans or Marauders or 120s when mounted with telemark free heel bindings. But when locked down for the descent in a traditional skiboard binding and with poles to help a bit with unweighting and turning they are all the fire power I need .

    Here is the boot locked down in descent mode. Telemark cables and climbing skins are easily removed and stowed in the pack for the descent .



    This set up is the best mix of touring ease and downhill control of any set up , long ski , or skiboard that I have used. A backcountry trip is mostly about the tour and most of the day is spent climbing or travelling on the flat . A lightweight flexible low cut boot is heaven .. the problem is that usually those boots do not give you enough firepower to control the skis necessary to descend difficult terrain . With the Excursion , locked tight into rigid skiboard binding and used with the nice flexible wide bodied Condor I finally have a touring and downhill set up that maximizes the ability of a boot like the Excursion to descend difficult terrain . This last Sunday I descended a mix bag of very steep ice , and steep crud with complete control Also , this last weekend we had the most difficult climbing all year . It was white knuckles driving in ski crampons into boiler plate hard ice , hanging by a thread and knowing that if you fall it is an immediate slide down 1500 vertical of ice .. , my boot DID NOT torque out of the binding thank god .. ultimate test all around of gear . Going out we crossed the flat echo lake and i felt like i was on leather boots and cross country skis and what usually is an interminable slog was actually quite fun .
    My personal backcountry set up is now clear to me ... ! Custom modified Excursion telemark boots , Condors , Receptors with zero or Line ff pro bales and levers and Bill's custom radiused heel plate and sole plate .. The best of both worlds , ultimate lightness going up and more then adequate control going down ..!

    Here is some information on this boot ....


    As many of you know I was a telemark skier for many years. I have now gone full circle I climb with a lightweight telemark boot , in a telemark type binding with telemark cables on a lightweight floaty snowshoe like skiboard. . But when I am ready to go down I turn my telemark boot around and lock in to my skiboard binding on the highest performance skiboard on the planet and shred any and all terrain and any snow with great control . Right on ! My motto is telemark for the up and skiboard for the down !

    Interestingly if you watch the end of the video you will see an explanation of different telemark bindings . our backcountry touring kit basically simulates the function of the Voile switch back , it provides a free pivot mode with cables for touring . For the descent rather then lock the front plate of the binding down from its pivot mode , we just turn our boot around use the free pivoting toe bar as a heel bar and lock the front of our boot down with the front lever of our skiboard binding providing total lock down for the descent . .

    disclaimer: please understand that there is no currently available backcountry touring kit to allow the use of telemark boots or alpine touring boots for skiboard touring in the backcountry. The current BTK kit allows fantastic touring performance for boots with regular downhill soles or hardshell snowboard boot soles but not for the other boots because of the width of the toe . My rig is a custom jury rigged one off design with a one of a kind custom sole plate with custom radiused bale and a wider front bale stolen from a Zero or Line ff pro binding , both placed on a lightweight Receptor base plate . The boot itself cannot be used as is and the front "duckbill " part of the telemark boot needs to be amputated to fit the binding ! but I think this set up points toward the future when a Backcountry touring binding to allow the use of Telemark or alpine touring boots can be developed .
    Boards :
    Blunt Xl, DLP, Spliff, Condor, Rockered Condor , Slingshot, Sherpa, Icelantic Shaman
    Boots
    K2 BFC 100 Grip walk sole , Dynafit CR Radical AT boot, Ride Insano Snowboard boots
    Bindings:
    Zero Pro Non release Binding
    Modified Receptor Backcountry Bindings (Bill Version and Slow Version)
    Spruce Riser with Attack 14 GW /AT binding
    Custom Risers with Fritschi Backcountry Bindings (Jeff Singer version 1, Bill version)
    Rocker and Sbol Soft Boot Bindings.

  • #2
    Jack, in the video touting the garmont boot, the speaker refers to how much "power" the garmont boot has compared to other boots...what other boots is he talking about? Regular alpine ski boots or some other style of backcountry-specific boot?

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Bill View Post
      Jack, in the video touting the garmont boot, the speaker refers to how much "power" the garmont boot has compared to other boots...what other boots is he talking about? Regular alpine ski boots or some other style of backcountry-specific boot?
      LOL Bill , power is all relative. ORS is a cross country specific store and they carry Nordic backcountry skis and boots. So their most "powerful" boot is the wimpy plastic Excursion Boot which is absolutely the wimpiest plastic boot on the planet ! and nothing like Alpine ski boots. He is comparing them to leather backcountry boots ! Here is a nordic backcountry page that has pictures and explains the other backcountry boots that ORS carries . By the way the leather boots with skinny skis was the way I USED to try to descend the slopes I am now doing with Condors and Excursion boots , so you can see that for me this is a huge power boost for turning !

      http://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/Dirt.../bc-boots.html

      Here is the range of boots that ORS carries .. all leather or leather/plastic except for the Garmont Excursion and G rex kid's boots . the only all plastic boots they sell
      http://www.orscrosscountryskisdirect...ski-boots.html

      The fattest and burliest backcountry ski that ORS carries is the Rossignol BC 125
      specs 123/95/120 millimeters available in 165 and 175cm lengths which is signficantly wider , by the way , then any of the other skis they carry .

      ps. driving the Condor with lightweight Excursion boots does take a little adjustment in technique ..
      Russell Rainey in his initial review of the Excursion boots had this to say

      "If you know how to ski lower, lighter, more flexible boots then these boots can be skied just about anywhere.
      Turning lower, lighter, more flexible boots does require you to ski out of your ankles more than your knees. They also require more foot steering. For years, I have watched my buddy Tom Turiano ski some incredibly steep and difficult slopes with his lace-up Merrell doubles. Tom has made more first ski descents than anyone in the Tetons, and most of them were on his lace up boots. The point is that light boots can ski much more than many would have you think. Big, tall, stiff plastic boots are not always necessary, and for me, skiing lower, lighter, more flexible boots is a more intimate and freeing experience."


      Lowell Skoog has written about skiing in plastic climbing boots and much of what he says applies to skiing in a flexible plastic tele boot like the Excursions :

      "I've never read a description of how to ski in climbing boots. So
      I'm going to try to write one. Maybe other climbing boot skiers
      will come out of the closet and help me whip these flabby ideas into
      shape.

      The first step in learning to ski in climbing boots is to adjust your
      expectations. You can't expect to ski the backcountry in climbing boots
      the way you ski the lifts in full alpine gear. I can ski just about any
      hill in climbing boots that I would ski in my alpine boots, but I do it
      a lot slower. Soft climbing boots require a different stance than stiff
      ski boots. I think a lot of skiers who try climbing boots give them up
      before making the necessary adjustments in attitude and technique.

      The second step to ski in climbing boots is to adopt a centered
      stance that's a bit lower in the knees than usual. If anything, err
      on the side of leaning a bit forward. It's good to apply a little
      tip pressure and feel some resistance against the front of your
      boots, although in climbing boots, you won't feel much.

      In high-backed ski boots, it's common to shift your weight back and
      forth as you move through the arc of the turn. You can't do that in
      climbing boots. You have to maintain a centered stance, or at most,
      limit your movements between the centered position and slightly forward.

      To complete turns while skiing slowly, you need strong rotary turning
      skills and a bag of supplementary tricks. Most of the turning power
      near the end of the turn comes from applying edge pressure to the front
      half of the skis. In really bad snow I sometimes do a segmented turn
      where I push, push, push with the knees to bring the turn around as a
      series of little corners. The start of the turn is helped a lot by what
      Lito Tejada-Flores calls dynamic anticipation. That means keeping your
      upper body facing down the hill as you finish one turn and "wind up"
      your trunk for the next one. After planting your pole, you unwind your
      trunk, which helps drive the skis into the new turn. The pedal hop turn
      (hopping off the uphill ski) is a good way to clear both skis off the
      snow during the unwinding phase. Driving the new outside hand forward
      can also give the start of the turn a boost.

      In good snow a lot of these extra tricks can fall away. Once you
      master a centered stance you can make carved, rebounding turns with
      a quiet upper body just like an alpine skier in full downhill gear. "
      Boards :
      Blunt Xl, DLP, Spliff, Condor, Rockered Condor , Slingshot, Sherpa, Icelantic Shaman
      Boots
      K2 BFC 100 Grip walk sole , Dynafit CR Radical AT boot, Ride Insano Snowboard boots
      Bindings:
      Zero Pro Non release Binding
      Modified Receptor Backcountry Bindings (Bill Version and Slow Version)
      Spruce Riser with Attack 14 GW /AT binding
      Custom Risers with Fritschi Backcountry Bindings (Jeff Singer version 1, Bill version)
      Rocker and Sbol Soft Boot Bindings.

      Comment

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