New Winter Gear?

Anybody else picking up new winter gear? 

I'm ditching the sticks and going back to a board. I just haven't been able to put in enough time on the skis to get my skills to where I want them to be to be able to have fun. I pick up a great deal on the new K2 Ultra and some skins to match for under $500. I'm thinking about springing for some Phantom hardboot bindings too as I'm keeping my Dynafit boots. Anybody here have experience on them?

No changes to the ski/boot quivver for me this winter. Might try to find some Kingpins or Tectons (depending on gen 1 issues uncovered this winter) on sale this spring. Picked up some new Arc'teryx outerwear on a deep discount from Atmosphere.ca to replace some aging stuff that wasn't working well.

Bring on the snow.

Unsure. Appears after every Comor location screwing me out of a Salomon Derby 147 last season I don’t know what look at now. Been eyeing NOW bindings for a few seasons maybe I’ll pull the trigger on them. 

If my gfs knee is good she’s probably picking up a pair of DPS for dumps and maybe a J Skis for piste.

Oh yeah I need a new beacon. 

And to find out of my current Sick Stick has the splittable core. And maybe look at the new Sick Stick, Yes 420 or maybe a Slash board

Posted by: syncro

Anybody else picking up new winter gear?

I'm ditching the sticks and going back to a board. I just haven't been able to put in enough time on the skis to get my skills to where I want them to be to be able to have fun. I pick up a great deal on the new K2 Ultra and some skins to match for under $500. I'm thinking about springing for some Phantom hardboot bindings too as I'm keeping my Dynafit boots. Anybody here have experience on them?

Haven't tried this set up you speak of. Hard plate-molded boot is so much different than using the traditional set up. Have you tried a hardplate board setup before?

Need this season: New Beacon( Mine is 8 years old, it works but luckily never had to use it),  Helmet.

Would like: Avi-airbag pack, new skis ( lighter touring skis), gps watch.

Posted by: bux-bux

Haven't tried this set up you speak of. Hard plate-molded boot is so much different than using the traditional set up. Have you tried a hardplate board setup before?

Need this season: New Beacon( Mine is 8 years old, it works but luckily never had to use it),  Helmet.

Would like: Avi-airbag pack, new skis ( lighter touring skis), gps watch.

No I haven't tried hard boots yet, but will be modding my boots as well for a better snowboard feel. The primary advantage to hard boots on a split board is for the uptrack  as you use Dynafit toe pieces and put the plate bindings in your pack. Way better articulation for the climb up, way lighter and much faster transitions. What I might do is pick up an extra set of sliders and see if I can create my own interchangeable toe piece so I can run soft boots with reg bindings or the hard boots with tech toe bindings. I know someone who just picked up a manual milling machine and the project idea is cool enough that he may let me have some time on it to monkey around on it.

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: bux-bux

Haven't tried this set up you speak of. Hard plate-molded boot is so much different than using the traditional set up. Have you tried a hardplate board setup before?

Need this season: New Beacon( Mine is 8 years old, it works but luckily never had to use it),  Helmet.

Would like: Avi-airbag pack, new skis ( lighter touring skis), gps watch.

No I haven't tried hard boots yet, but will be modding my boots as well for a better snowboard feel. The primary advantage to hard boots on a split board is for the uptrack  as you use Dynafit toe pieces and put the plate bindings in your pack. Way better articulation for the climb up, way lighter and much faster transitions. What I might do is pick up an extra set of sliders and see if I can create my own interchangeable toe piece so I can run soft boots with reg bindings or the hard boots with tech toe bindings. I know someone who just picked up a manual milling machine and the project idea is cool enough that he may let me have some time on it to monkey around on it.

My experience with a hardplate was a raceboard I had a few years back. You get mega power turning due to higher pressure from the stiffer set up. I would get tired faster because you have to work harder. Also felt really constrained the way I was attached. Have to say I never really tried it in the powder, would just tear up the groomers all day.  From a touring perspective it makes total sense. Just the stiffness of the boot off piste would concern me. I tour and have toured ( Ski) with lots of split boarders and none of them have this setup. I would research it on the snowboard forums before taking the plunge.  Cheers

I already got way too much ski gear, just about every category (except for maybe a 100-110 under foot alpine charging setup) so nothing planned but the deal always comes along and i end up with another pa

Not  a boarder but the Hard boot touring setups I have seen use soft/tired old AT boots and they soften them up or leave the tongues out

Was at MEC today fondling the Voile V6 and dreaming of in and out.

Can't decide how to mount them though.

Do I stick w/Switchback X2 use the fuckbills that work in ever other pair of skis I own or go tranny?

Looking at the airbag packs. Man that shit is expensive. Arteryx battery kit is 1700.00 - Bottle system from other places is 1000.00
The question is what is your life worth? Plus my life insurance doesn't cover backcountry skiing. MTB is OK tho

My friend skied with the Arc'teryx pack all last season, it is an impressive piece of kit. The price is eye watering but I am considering it in the next few years. We are very conservative in our touring decisions but extra insurance never hurts (and not letting that insurance impact your risk assessment).

Posted by: bux-bux

My experience with a hardplate was a raceboard I had a few years back. You get mega power turning due to higher pressure from the stiffer set up. I would get tired faster because you have to work harder. Also felt really constrained the way I was attached. Have to say I never really tried it in the powder, would just tear up the groomers all day.  From a touring perspective it makes total sense. Just the stiffness of the boot off piste would concern me. I tour and have toured ( Ski) with lots of split boarders and none of them have this setup. I would research it on the snowboard forums before taking the plunge.  Cheers

I plan to mod my boots pretty extensively, including changing the buckle position and cutting/drilling out the boot.. There are a fair number of reviews out there of the phantom bindings as the consensus seems to be that for back country boarding hard boots are the way to go.

http://www.phantomsnow.com/shop/parts-accessories/boot-mod-kit/instructions

split board.com has dome info on hard boot setups

Just wish it and the deal comes along at the ski swap, 450$ for an almost virgin pair of 185 Cochise with Barons which is a hard charging ski in the 100-110 underfoot class .