all around touring bindings?

My bad. Just double checked that and you are correct. The original Guardian was not 9523 certified. I missed the update in the Warden.

Getting the right AT bindings is a tough call.
The Dukes, Guardians, etc are bomb proof but super heavy and not great for big days. I demoed a pair of dukes and i thought the heal lift was crap and mickey mouse. Any binding you have to take off to free the heal are kinda shit IMO.
Might as well use trekkers.
My point? Unknown, been boozing

Doh

Getting the right AT bindings is a tough call.
The Dukes, Guardians, etc are bomb proof but super heavy and not great for big days. I demoed a pair of dukes and i thought the heal lift was crap and mickey mouse. Any binding you have to take off to free the heal are kinda shit IMO.
Might as well use trekkers.
My point? Unknown, been boozing

Doh

stay away from the docks.

Getting the right AT bindings is a tough call.
The Dukes, Guardians, etc are bomb proof but super heavy and not great for big days. I demoed a pair of dukes and i thought the heal lift was crap and mickey mouse. Any binding you have to take off to free the heal are kinda shit IMO.
Might as well use trekkers.
My point? Unknown, been boozing

Doh

I think the ALL AROUND touring binding is an oxymoron, so the skier needs to decide where on the continuum of skiing up hill they will be skiing and pick the right gear to do it

Most people have to take skis off to put the skins on so freeing the heel is just one lever to move

I have never used trekkers but that just sounds wrong

I can't help but blurt it out…

I've been involved in the ski industry for more decades than I wish to admit. Either as a competitor, a sponsee, an athlete, in product development, in marketing, in engineering, in testing - in many many capacities. I only say this because to me?? This whole front side vs backside vs back country vs slack country vs freeski vs freeride….it's all just a bunch of horseshit for the most part.

The products - not all, but most - being designed today and marketed to a specific performance niche are just make-overs of already existing gear with some tweaks. They're not made to be pushed into the physical/environmental niche - they're made to be pushed into the psychological niche of the consumer. The consumer runs the show (or, their dollars, at least) - and since skiing has had its peaks and valleys (no pun intended) - went dead with snowboarding, came back due to snowboarding with the parabolic ski, then went dead with the half-pipe, then came back with twinners (thanks Brothers Mike and JP (RIP) and JF), then went dead on race courses only to come back as fatties and do-alls, moguls died down, cliff drops ramped up. It's all just finding the next mental landscape to exploit in the collective mind of the consumer. Fucking electric socks?!?!?!?! Give me a fucking break people…. Just "leave"!!

The 'core riders and skiers know their shit - and know what they need - and have gotten their jobs done on the gear they've had for years….some decades. Improvements are just another form of mass marketing - yes - some of it is kickass; but since when did everyone really start wanting to "earn their turns"?!?!?! It's horseshit. It's "fashion". Those who have earned their turns sure as shit know what they want and how to get it. And for the record - I'm not a skinner, nor a free-heeler….I just bootpack my ass to whatever ridge is necessary through lung and limb and don't care about the cardio kill. It's just me, call me old school. Whatever. It works, and costs me "nada" to convert :)

/rant over.

SO, just buy some ski boots …the red ones?

whats your favorite brand of tall T?

Can I have your autograph?

Do you want mine ?

I can't help but blurt it out…

I've been involved in the ski industry for more decades than I wish to admit. Either as a competitor, a sponsee, an athlete, in product development, in marketing, in engineering, in testing - in many many capacities. I only say this because to me?? This whole front side vs backside vs back country vs slack country vs freeski vs freeride….it's all just a bunch of horseshit for the most part.

The products - not all, but most - being designed today and marketed to a specific performance niche are just make-overs of already existing gear with some tweaks. They're not made to be pushed into the physical/environmental niche - they're made to be pushed into the psychological niche of the consumer. The consumer runs the show (or, their dollars, at least) - and since skiing has had its peaks and valleys (no pun intended) - went dead with snowboarding, came back due to snowboarding with the parabolic ski, then went dead with the half-pipe, then came back with twinners (thanks Brothers Mike and JP (RIP) and JF), then went dead on race courses only to come back as fatties and do-alls, moguls died down, cliff drops ramped up. It's all just finding the next mental landscape to exploit in the collective mind of the consumer. Fucking electric socks?!?!?!?! Give me a fucking break people…. Just "leave"!!

The 'core riders and skiers know their shit - and know what they need - and have gotten their jobs done on the gear they've had for years….some decades. Improvements are just another form of mass marketing - yes - some of it is kickass; but since when did everyone really start wanting to "earn their turns"?!?!?! It's horseshit. It's "fashion". Those who have earned their turns sure as shit know what they want and how to get it. And for the record - I'm not a skinner, nor a free-heeler….I just bootpack my ass to whatever ridge is necessary through lung and limb and don't care about the cardio kill. It's just me, call me old school. Whatever. It works, and costs me "nada" to convert :)

/rant over.

You can boot pack in waist deep snow. I will skin up. Also, if one is new to the sport, asking questions is kind of relevant.

But, I could rip on my old Rossignol Roc skis and I even had some Spalding Skis too. And those were dad's garage sale specials I had to learn on.

The tech is excellent but head spinning. The only downside is it took years to carve turns and bomb runs in powder and now anyone can do it.

You can boot pack in waist deep snow. I will skin up. Also, if one is new to the sport, asking questions is kind of relevant.

And therein lies the paradox. I'd not be skinning up jack if I was already in waist deep pow :smokey:

inbounds was alot more fun when you could ski freshies all day even if you had to do it on skinny 205s

now its a shit show of line ups and racing for your fresh stash. id rather tour than deal with the gong show.

Its still like that^^ up here but that is the other thread

What I find difficult is that just like with mtb tires I don't have the resources or time to try all of them and have to rely on friends/internet/mags… I've skied a lot with my freerides (multi day tours, out of bounds etc..) but now that it's time to change would like something new BUT it needs to work and wont just buy shit to buy it. BTW I have alpine trekkers for my oldest with an old pair of skins and it works great (she started skinning at 9) she complains about the climb but forgets about it once we go down just the two of us. It's the best now that she can come with me. Well that's when we are not racing… that takes so much time!!! But she's getting fast on the boards, specially in trees!

I run beast 14s on dynastar chams. skied them inbounds and they were fine but not as good freerides which i ran exclusivly for 6 years… but they were pretty close

tech climbs so much better than frame bindings I would have a hard time going back

j

I can't help but blurt it out…

I've been involved in the ski industry for more decades than I wish to admit. Either as a competitor, a sponsee, an athlete, in product development, in marketing, in engineering, in testing - in many many capacities.

I can't believe you are a pro - I am soooo much better than you.

Unless I had a seasons pass, or was seriously short on cash… I don't understand why you'd get Dukes/Guardians/etc.

Are you heading up for the day unsure about whether you'll ski inbounds or go for a walk?

If I'm doing an inbounds day, I'm on some regular clamps, if I'm going for a walk, I'm on my pin binders…