I’m about to put togther a set of light ski touring/mountaineering gear based on dynafit bindings (all my current stuff is based on Dimair bindings with quite heavey skis). I’m looking for an all round ski that can cope with diffiuclt conditions, steepish slopes (40 degrees or so) and is good at sideslipping(!), I reckon skiing powder is pritty easy compared to the other types of snow conditions that you can get on tour, as I’m into multi-day tours I tend to ski conservatively and so keep the speed down. There seems to be a huge choice, butI’ve been given recommedations for three skis - Dynafit Manaslu, Dynafit Mustagh Alta Superlights or Movement Logics - living in the UK its almost impossible to get to try any of these and my experience in Europe is that trials are difficult anyway - does anyone have experience using any of these skis?

Remember that Dynafit are going down the “insert” route. Both skis have inserts for heels and toes so you need the longer adjust of the Comfort/FT/ST binding which immediately adds some extra weight you may not be interested in. I think Dynafit’s marketing group is triumphing over reason here myself. The inserts themselves add 50 grammes per ski

I’ve skied the Mustagh Ata and it is a really good ski but they have had some delamination issues, all handled under the Dynafit guarantee (and beyond in some cases). Not a ski for steep icy conditions or short radius turns, ditto for the Movement Logic.

I think the Manaslu is too wide for most European skiing conditions. I would consider something in the <90mm range and personally for your needs would look more for 80-85mm underfoot. There are days when 90-100mm is nice: crusty snow, superlight powder but I’ve not seen such light powder conditions to justify such a ski for touring in France since Dec.2009. Otherwise you meet such a range of snow from hardpack to ice to mank to powder all in the space of 1000m of vertical. You need a ski that can hold an edge on traverses, zip round near mogul conditions in forest trails, cut through crud and turn in heavy powder. I’m personally not traumatized by crust as you can normally traverse to better conditions.

I would also consider the 7 Summits and variants (Guide etc) which is a great all purpose touring ski with not too much side cut and I’ve seen some good deals. It can be had with or without inserts (1435g/178cm/80mm waist without inserts, it loses 2mm around the waist with inserts but is lighter). In a similar vein the Dynastar Powder (82mm - 1435g/178cm) and Movement Iki are probably slightly more versatile than the 7 Summits.

I’ve seen the Powder for under 400 euros which is a good deal for a good ski once again made in the Arve (Chamonix) valley and this would almost certainly be my choice.

davidof - 24 February 2011 10:41 PM

I think the Manaslu is too wide for most European skiing conditions. I would consider something in the <90mm range and personally for your needs would look more for 80-85mm underfoot. There are days when 90-100mm is nice: crusty snow, superlight powder but I’ve not seen such light powder conditions to justify such a ski for touring in France since Dec.2009. Otherwise you meet such a range of snow from hardpack to ice to mank to powder all in the space of 1000m of vertical. Y

i read on wild snow the other day where Lou called the recent trend in large ski’s an “avalanche”.
of course i’d love a big ski in my quiver (110ish underfoot), but how often you’d use it in Europe i don’t know.  like you said Davidof, the ability to ride different terrains is so important.  Even on good tours you come across a poor section, or tight tree run path back to the lift/carpark

i think the k2 wayback (?), their 88mm underfoot model seems to be popular in europe, scotland and north ameraica.

and if your questioing dynafit bindings, the new diamir eagles looks quite nice and easy to use.

Davidof, thanks for the reply, useful infromation. The 7 summits and the powder both look interesting and I’ve found both with Dynafit ST bindings for around 600 euros. I was interested to see what you said about the Dynafit inserts - although they seem to have some advantages if you want to change out the binding (I can’t imagine doing this though. I have heard of the inserts ripping out. Seems a strange marketing ploy to restrict the sale of the skis to one type of binding, even if it is the one you produce!

davidof - 24 February 2011 10:41 PM

I think the Manaslu is too wide for most European skiing conditions. I would consider something in the <90mm range and personally for your needs would look more for 80-85mm underfoot. There are days when 90-100mm is nice: crusty snow, superlight powder but I’ve not seen such light powder conditions to justify such a ski for touring in France since Dec.2009. Otherwise you meet such a range of snow from hardpack to ice to mank to powder all in the space of 1000m of vertical. You need a ski that can hold an edge on traverses, zip round near mogul conditions in forest trails, cut through crud and turn in heavy powder. I’m personally not traumatized by crust as you can normally traverse to better conditions.

Having just done a couple of trips with my 98mm Black Diamond Verdicts I totally agree with David. I bought them in a more optimisitc mood, and in Whistler, where it’s no suprise that they excelled (and seemed to be the ski of choice amongst patrollers). My last 2 trips were entirely on hard packed conditions, and I have to say those wide skis made life hard. Although not as hard as it must have been for the skandie kids I kept seeing on massive spatulas, side slipping down moguls and boiler plate. It didn’t seem to slow them down much though, but it wasn’t pretty. If my wallet allowed I’d probably go for something skinnier too. I love the Verdicts in the right conditions, and I am very far from loathing them, but they’re not perfect Euro skis, drop 10mm from the waist and I think they’d be fine.

And on a more flippant note, isn’t there a law that Dynafit users must be able to show they have the lightest possible rig at all times? Think of the grams you’ll save by getting a narrower ski.