All mountain / touring ski hybrid

[Canis_lupus]

Got a backcountry setup for fairly cheap recently and have been debating getting into touring. I have some armada 86s and was thinking of getting a pow ski that I could use for touring as well as in the resort for out of park stuff. Any suggestions? I'm thinking around a 110 underfoot but also not sure what the best underfoot would be for touring.

**This thread was edited on Aug 6th 2021 at 9:15:09pm

 

[dant02]

If ur looking for like a 50/50 pow/touring ski, I’d say 110ish is a pretty good spot to be at. Would you prefer a more directional ski or a full twin tip?

 

[Canis_lupus]

If ur looking for like a 50/50 pow/touring ski, I’d say 110ish is a pretty good spot to be at. Would you prefer a more directional ski or a full twin tip?

Preferably twin tip I’m thinking I won’t be doing too much switch stuff by I feel it’d be good to have

 

[dant02]

I would say K2 reckoner 112, moment deathwish, J Skis metal, or Faction CT 3.0 would be good options. Other possible options could be armada jj 116 UL if you want to go wide, or Icelandic nomad lite if you want to go skinnier. But other people might have other suggestions too

 

[junior1derful]

sounds like you would enjoy the line vision 108 with shifts

 

[ericforman]

Like vision 108 is awesome. Word of warning - there is no touring binding that is close to an alpine binding for resort skiing. They are all much more expensive, less durable, and some (pin bindings) are MUCH less safe while others (shift) are probablyish less safe. Cast and duke are probably similar safe wise but again cost + moving parts.

imo if you are an aggressive resort skiier and don’t get gear for free it 100% does not make sense to use the same setup in and out of bounds. Skis are pretty cheap comparatively.

 

[SupremeChairlift]

I use 4frnt devastators with Cast as my do it all set up and I really like it. 108 underfoot and the weight is just heavy enough that I feel it performs inbounds while not being too much of a burden while touring.

 

[.nasty]

Can attest to the awesomeness of the vision 108, I have a pair with Tecton 12's and it's my favorite touring setup I've ever had. I am always surprised at well it skis at speed being so light. I don't go anything over 110mm for touring these days, if you can't ski even deep snow on a 108mm waisted ski....

 

[animator]

Like vision 108 is awesome. Word of warning - there is no touring binding that is close to an alpine binding for resort skiing. They are all much more expensive, less durable, and some (pin bindings) are MUCH less safe while others (shift) are probablyish less safe. Cast and duke are probably similar safe wise but again cost + moving parts.

imo if you are an aggressive resort skiier and don’t get gear for free it 100% does not make sense to use the same setup in and out of bounds. Skis are pretty cheap comparatively.

No this isn’t true. The Shift and the new Duke PT are fine for resort skiing. I beat the shit out of my Shifts 2 seasons ago in the park and they held up fine. The new Duke is disturbingly overbuilt so it’ll handle resort skiing just fine. You could always go with a CAST system too OP and that REALLY holds up.

 

[ericforman]

Shift costs $550 and duke like 700? Sth2 costs like $230. I really don’t think shift is gonna hold up half as long as an sth2 but ymmv

No this isn’t true. The Shift and the new Duke PT are fine for resort skiing. I beat the shit out of my Shifts 2 seasons ago in the park and they held up fine. The new Duke is disturbingly overbuilt so it’ll handle resort skiing just fine. You could always go with a CAST system too OP and that REALLY holds up.

 

[animator]

Shift costs $550 and duke like 700? Sth2 costs like $230. I really don’t think shift is gonna hold up half as long as an sth2 but ymmv

I’m aware of what the prices for those bindings are, I didn’t know you could tour on STH2s? Must be a new update to the binding for this season

 

[TRVP_ANGEL]

I use 4frnt devastators with Cast as my do it all set up and I really like it. 108 underfoot and the weight is just heavy enough that I feel it performs inbounds while not being too much of a burden while touring.

I did this with the older model of devastators and couldnt go up the bunny hill ?

 

[Canis_lupus]

I would say K2 reckoner 112, moment deathwish, J Skis metal, or Faction CT 3.0 would be good options. Other possible options could be armada jj 116 UL if you want to go wide, or Icelandic nomad lite if you want to go skinnier. But other people might have other suggestions too

Appreciate it

 

[Canis_lupus]

Like vision 108 is awesome. Word of warning - there is no touring binding that is close to an alpine binding for resort skiing. They are all much more expensive, less durable, and some (pin bindings) are MUCH less safe while others (shift) are probablyish less safe. Cast and duke are probably similar safe wise but again cost + moving parts.

imo if you are an aggressive resort skiier and don’t get gear for free it 100% does not make sense to use the same setup in and out of bounds. Skis are pretty cheap comparatively.

I mean two pairs of skis and two pairs of bindings seems pretty pricy rather than the alternative.

 

[Canis_lupus]

No this isn’t true. The Shift and the new Duke PT are fine for resort skiing. I beat the shit out of my Shifts 2 seasons ago in the park and they held up fine. The new Duke is disturbingly overbuilt so it’ll handle resort skiing just fine. You could always go with a CAST system too OP and that REALLY holds up.

Thanks, I think a hybrid binding is the move to not break the bank but then again I don't know much and I'm concerned about the reliability.

 

[animator]

Thanks, I think a hybrid binding is the move to not break the bank but then again I don't know much and I'm concerned about the reliability.

If you want one set up that can you can tour on but also ski inbounds pow/park, CAST or Duke PT are your best options. Both weigh around the same and function almost the same. CAST obviously you have the Pivot 15 or 18 a la base, so it’ll definitely hold up. Duke PT is touted as, “heavy,” but it weighs the same as CAST lol, so don’t listen to weight wienies who say it’s too clunky. It’s designed for aggressive skiing whether that’s human-power accessed or lift accessed. One setup to rule them all, those 2 setups are your best bets.

 

[Canis_lupus]

If you want one set up that can you can tour on but also ski inbounds pow/park, CAST or Duke PT are your best options. Both weigh around the same and function almost the same. CAST obviously you have the Pivot 15 or 18 a la base, so it’ll definitely hold up. Duke PT is touted as, “heavy,” but it weighs the same as CAST lol, so don’t listen to weight wienies who say it’s too clunky. It’s designed for aggressive skiing whether that’s human-power accessed or lift accessed. One setup to rule them all, those 2 setups are your best bets.

Curious why you left out shifts? Are CAST and Duke PT just better overall?

 

[animator]

Curious why you left out shifts? Are CAST and Duke PT just better overall?

No not inherently, “better,” just beefier. Shifts have had their fair share of issues and would probably not stand up to heavy park stuff. I skied mine a fuck ton in the park but mostly jumps, I don’t think high impacts like rails would be very friendly to them.

 

[junior1derful]

No not inherently, “better,” just beefier. Shifts have had their fair share of issues and would probably not stand up to heavy park stuff. I skied mine a fuck ton in the park but mostly jumps, I don’t think high impacts like rails would be very friendly to them.

I would agree. Shifts are built pretty delicate relative to normal bindings. My shifts have been fine for jumps but I wouldn't trust them for heavy rail usage. I have double ejected out of my shifts doing high speed carves as well as charging in variable snow and bumps. Not ideal. For reference my suggested din setting is 7 on paper but I have them at 10.

 

[Canis_lupus]

No not inherently, “better,” just beefier. Shifts have had their fair share of issues and would probably not stand up to heavy park stuff. I skied mine a fuck ton in the park but mostly jumps, I don’t think high impacts like rails would be very friendly to them.

I would not be skiing the park at all with these skis. Strictly all mountain bc stuff

 

[animator]

I would not be skiing the park at all with these skis. Strictly all mountain bc stuff

That’s my b, when you said, “in resort for out of park stuff,” I saw, “in resort and park stuff.” That being said, CAST and Duke PT are still gonna be better. Like dude said above, Shifts have been known to have release issues when skiing really hard. Even the Salomon team primarily ski the MTN Lab (one of the guys I work with skied with Cody Townsend when he was doing the 50s project and he skied Mt. Washington in NH, and apparently Cody said he’d take the MTN over the Shift in almost any situation).