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Today I had the great pleasure of testing out a new product from Spruce . Jeff Singer is planning to offer the Spruce Sherpa mounted with the top of the line Fritschi touring binding, the Fritschi Freeride Pro. Jeff is direct mounting the Fritschi Freeride Pro on the 2011 Sherpa . The Freeride Pro is mounted using boat building epoxy with glass fiber filler reinforcing the screw holes. When Jeff told me about this I thought this would be a bomber mount . Jeff has torture tested the set up on his lab bench and the screw holes hold on extreme torque tests.. but Jeff is a stickler for not offering any product without field testing and needed a field tester , so I became a willing volunteer . The idea was for me to torture test the rig and then return it to Jeff with my comments. I really don't need another rig having a nice two plate mounted Frtischi Sherpa custom mounted by Jeff but I was really interested in seeing and riding his new rig . Well , here is the bottom line after riding this thing today ... there is no way Jeff is getting it back . Jeff and I cut a deal and my check is in the mail to Spruce headquarters...
Here is the rig ... . the online graphics do not do the new Sherpa justice and with the Freeride pro on top . the rig is really sharp ! Binding is center mounted on the Sherpa
But a pretty skin is no good if the guts are not there . First I know the Sherpa inside and out having ridden it for two seasons . It is a superb longboard that can be ridden poleless skiboard style in pow and steeps .. . and yet can also be ridden skier style with poles. But I have never used the new 2011 improved Fritschi Free ride pro and was anxious to see what the improvements were like . Also the backcountry package that Jeff will offer has enough room for a direct mount B and D ski gear Fritschi crampon mount that the purchaser can add himself . Here are details on that aftermarket crampon mount which will work fine on Jeff's Freeride Pro /Sherpa backage.
http://www.bndskigear.com/fritschicrampons.html
When I mentioned to Bill here on SBOL forum that I was getting a direct mounted Fritschi/Sherpa rig from Jeff , he immediately understood that there were 4 unused insert holes that could be pressed into service as a crampon mount . He whipped up a pair of cool crampon plates for my rig and overnighted them to me in time for my initial field test trip . Thanks Bill ! I needed to amputate a little bit of plastic on the rear riser of the Free ride pro to free up the rear insert holes ,but this was no problem and Bill's custom crampon plates completed the new rig . Whether Bill's prototype crampon plate will be offered commercially through Spruce will be something Jeff and Bill will need to decide but I can tell you I , for one , am sold , it is a bomber crampon plate and avoids having the user do any drilling work on his board himself .
Ok on with the test ... on the trail ...nice warm sunny day . south facing slopes , kind of crusty this morning but I am hoping for corn snow . as the day progresses .
Right off , I notice ,one of the nicest features of the 2011 new improved Fritschi Freeride Pro . Unlike Fritschi 's of years past , the current Freeride pro has a pivot point set further back and causes , much less of the tippy toe effect of Alpine touring bindings and allows a more natural stride . The binding itself is super beefy with plastic riser plates front and back a maximum Din setting up to 12 , and a nice feature that prevents inadvertent release of the rear touring lock lever when the board is decamberd such as in moguls . In truth , this binding is a burly ski resort binding , that is also a very efficient and light weight touring binding , the best of both worlds. It is superbly matched with the Sherpa and is a perfect binding for the most powerful Skiboard on the planet. !
Here I am applying B and D Skigear Crampons with pre drilled holes on to Bill's crampon mount and tightening them down with his nice thumb screws.
On the climb , with crampons helping provide excellent purchase on the somewhat slippery and steep morning snow .
I have discovered that the best way of testing binding mounts for the Fritschi binding is to do a difficult steep climb ... you can really torque those front screws on the Fritschi binding like crazy , climbing with a high position heel elevator ,stomping into the snow edging and missteping off the the heel elevator by mistake .. I did all that and more today ,, crampon worked like a dream , and I checked all screws after the trip , all screws rock solid tight .. I will continue torturing testing the rig this season , but I anticipate no problems and am completely confident in recommending this rig to others.
Here we are topping out at the summit ...
yours truly ....
man behind the lens .. .my neighbor , Jeff, Jeff was an avid skier in the past but has not skiied much at all in recent years. A couple of weekends ago I had Jeff try out my Spruce 120 and Sherpa with my Spruce pro prime riser and he was hooked feeling the Sherpa was going to be his ride . He was eager to try backcountry riding for the first time today .. he fits my son's size 12 ski boots , sole size 351 , but his sole size was too long for my other Sherpa ... so I loaned him my son's summit maurader that is mounted with Fritschi explore long bindings that fit his ski boots
Now for the descent , the warm sun had nicely softened the snow into wonderful easy to ride corn.. . Here is a view downhill ...
The reward for the long climb .....
More information about the new 2011 Fritschi Free ride pro
More information on the Sherpa ( pictures are worth a thousand words )
making like a skier today on the Sherpa
skiboarding on the sherpa : .
steeps at Squaw Valley .
sherpa in backcountry pow
Here is the rig ... . the online graphics do not do the new Sherpa justice and with the Freeride pro on top . the rig is really sharp ! Binding is center mounted on the Sherpa
But a pretty skin is no good if the guts are not there . First I know the Sherpa inside and out having ridden it for two seasons . It is a superb longboard that can be ridden poleless skiboard style in pow and steeps .. . and yet can also be ridden skier style with poles. But I have never used the new 2011 improved Fritschi Free ride pro and was anxious to see what the improvements were like . Also the backcountry package that Jeff will offer has enough room for a direct mount B and D ski gear Fritschi crampon mount that the purchaser can add himself . Here are details on that aftermarket crampon mount which will work fine on Jeff's Freeride Pro /Sherpa backage.
http://www.bndskigear.com/fritschicrampons.html
When I mentioned to Bill here on SBOL forum that I was getting a direct mounted Fritschi/Sherpa rig from Jeff , he immediately understood that there were 4 unused insert holes that could be pressed into service as a crampon mount . He whipped up a pair of cool crampon plates for my rig and overnighted them to me in time for my initial field test trip . Thanks Bill ! I needed to amputate a little bit of plastic on the rear riser of the Free ride pro to free up the rear insert holes ,but this was no problem and Bill's custom crampon plates completed the new rig . Whether Bill's prototype crampon plate will be offered commercially through Spruce will be something Jeff and Bill will need to decide but I can tell you I , for one , am sold , it is a bomber crampon plate and avoids having the user do any drilling work on his board himself .
Ok on with the test ... on the trail ...nice warm sunny day . south facing slopes , kind of crusty this morning but I am hoping for corn snow . as the day progresses .
Right off , I notice ,one of the nicest features of the 2011 new improved Fritschi Freeride Pro . Unlike Fritschi 's of years past , the current Freeride pro has a pivot point set further back and causes , much less of the tippy toe effect of Alpine touring bindings and allows a more natural stride . The binding itself is super beefy with plastic riser plates front and back a maximum Din setting up to 12 , and a nice feature that prevents inadvertent release of the rear touring lock lever when the board is decamberd such as in moguls . In truth , this binding is a burly ski resort binding , that is also a very efficient and light weight touring binding , the best of both worlds. It is superbly matched with the Sherpa and is a perfect binding for the most powerful Skiboard on the planet. !
Here I am applying B and D Skigear Crampons with pre drilled holes on to Bill's crampon mount and tightening them down with his nice thumb screws.
On the climb , with crampons helping provide excellent purchase on the somewhat slippery and steep morning snow .
I have discovered that the best way of testing binding mounts for the Fritschi binding is to do a difficult steep climb ... you can really torque those front screws on the Fritschi binding like crazy , climbing with a high position heel elevator ,stomping into the snow edging and missteping off the the heel elevator by mistake .. I did all that and more today ,, crampon worked like a dream , and I checked all screws after the trip , all screws rock solid tight .. I will continue torturing testing the rig this season , but I anticipate no problems and am completely confident in recommending this rig to others.
Here we are topping out at the summit ...
yours truly ....
man behind the lens .. .my neighbor , Jeff, Jeff was an avid skier in the past but has not skiied much at all in recent years. A couple of weekends ago I had Jeff try out my Spruce 120 and Sherpa with my Spruce pro prime riser and he was hooked feeling the Sherpa was going to be his ride . He was eager to try backcountry riding for the first time today .. he fits my son's size 12 ski boots , sole size 351 , but his sole size was too long for my other Sherpa ... so I loaned him my son's summit maurader that is mounted with Fritschi explore long bindings that fit his ski boots
Now for the descent , the warm sun had nicely softened the snow into wonderful easy to ride corn.. . Here is a view downhill ...
The reward for the long climb .....
More information about the new 2011 Fritschi Free ride pro
More information on the Sherpa ( pictures are worth a thousand words )
making like a skier today on the Sherpa
skiboarding on the sherpa : .
steeps at Squaw Valley .
sherpa in backcountry pow
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