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 .
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 .
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