Just finished a terrific end of season week in Val Thorens, including a couple of days guided off-piste down some of the easier routes (Sans Nom, Lac du Lou and Planchette).  I did this on alpine kit but for next season I hope to get some AT kit to enable me to access more terrain like this.  Unfortunately as an AT virgin I don’t know where to start, so any advice that can be offered on bindings and boots and stuff will be much appreciated:
What would be a good binding to get for a newbie?
Should I also plan on getting AT boots, or can I live with alpine boots?
For skis I’m thinking about something around 80-85mm underfoot (Movement Sparks perhaps, or maybe stick with the Volkl Karmas I have).  Is this a sensible ski choice for an AT introduction?
I know almost nothing about skins - what should I look for?

Thanks

Rob

It depends what sort of touring your will be doing. Maybe a combo of lifts and touring? Or just self propelled ascent? And on the sort of conditions you tend to encounter, do you aim for powder? Or maybe the spring skiing? If you are going to steer away from the lifts, I would go light.  I started off on fairly heavy gear “Bandit 3x / Diamir Fritchi’s” and came to regret it. I don’t spend much time on lifts now and am very happy on my lighter gear (Trab Piuma’s / Dynafit TLT’s), my boots are Scarpa Matrix, these seem to be great general purpose boots, I would recommend matching boots (stiffness / weight) to the skis. For instance these boots work great with the Trab’s, I also have a much stiffer and heavier pair of touring skis, the Trab Stelvio’s, I struggle with my Scarpas with these skis, I suspect a stiffer boot would help.

I came across this advice for skins recently, seems pretty good. I’d never heard about hot waxing skins before but may give it a go, I’ve suffered quite badly with balling skins this spring.

http://www.backcountryuk.com/skins%20advice.htm

Definitely a combination of lifts and touring, at least for now.  I’m very (i.e. totally) inexperienced in the backcountry and for the time being will be looking to ascend only as far as getting some decent routes away from the lift-served off-piste, either by skinning or boot-packing.  I hope that I’ll be able to get a mix of powder and spring snow, and as I won’t be getting into serious ascents I’m not looking for superlight kit.

Thanks for the link about waxing skins.  So much to learn about this whole business…

Then I’d look at heavier “freeride” kit, bigger heavier skis are easier to ski on when the snow is less than perfect (almost always!), many people use their favorite all mountain skis and a set of Diamir Fritchi’s or Naxos etc. You could use your piste boots to start with but most people give in in the end and buy touring boots. I bought a book recently which you will find invaluable.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Backcountry-Skiing-Touring-Mountaineering-Mountaineers/dp/1594850380

This website (pistehors) has lots of good info, as does http://www.wildsnow.com/

Hi Rob

Glad you enjoyed VT and I see you’ve been getting some good advice. Nothing beats AT gear for touring , even if some of you guys have done some good stuff on foot. I’ve been using Dynafit binding since around 2000. I have two skis - a skinning (67mm underfoot) Atomic TG10 and a fatter Atomic Sweet Daddy (80mm) underfoot. I would suggest around 80mm, not so much for powder but for the varied conditions you will find touring. If you go much wider you will find climbing harder as well as traverses. However many “experts” seem to be opting for around 85mm - there is a new lightweight Dynastar ski that is around this width and weights well under 3kg. A ski that is relatively straight will grip better on hard snow - that is why I opted for the Sweet Daddies.

If you are doing mixed lift/ski touring then the Diamir bindings are probably better. The main disadvantage that the Diamir’s have apart from weight is a pivot point well in front of the toe - this makes conversion (kick) turns harder especially when it is steeper. Naxo’s solve this problem but with a more complex pivot system that has been prone to failure in the past. The Silvretta Pure range are similar to the Diamirs but with a more optimal pivot point. They also had some early reliability problems but these seem to have been solved. I’ve toured on the Pure’s and found them pretty good performance and weight wize. Beefier is the Marker Duke - but it is heavy and really for people oriented to off piste who will do a few hundred metres climbing, it might be of interest to you but once you get the touring bug you may not look back.

I find Colltex skins work pretty well. Cut or buy skins that are shaped for your skis. You will find that some wider skis with round shovels cause problems for skin attachment which is why manufacturers like Dynafit now have their own skin fitting systems.

The thing with the Duke is that it’s so heavy, it makes sense for someone who’s trying to get just one pair of skis for everything. If you’re not constrained by that then proper touring bindings are the only way to go.

The newer Dynafits, like the FT and ST look very liveable with to me, I’ve some TLT speeds which are very minimal but in practice I use Freerides pretty much all of the time. Obviously, if you’re looking to use Alpine boots then you’re looking at something like the Freeride though.

The real problem is getting a match between the skis and boots, some of the softer touring skis will be totally overpowered by a stiff pair of Alpine boots. In turn, AT boots like the Endorphin or Axon etc, really only work out with stiffer skis. Personally, I’d go for AT boots, I use my Megarides daily and they’re great mostly unless you’re on really hardpack.

I see Sport Conrad have some package deals on a whole range of skis that look pretty suitable.

It seems to be true that almost all serious ski tourers make the journey to Dynafit Nirvana and never look back. I’ve used the FT’s on a pair of skis borrowed from Dynafit and with the Dynafit boots with the little grooves on the front lugs and as you suggest they are really easy to use. However not everyone is happy skiing about resorts on such a minimalist set-up although I think the release is pretty good in general. There is some video here to demonstrate:-

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4531544969682445506

Rob, if at all possible, get skins that are pre-cut to fit. I found the process of cutting skins and sealing the edges time consuming,a PITA, and quite difficult as well.