June 16, 2011, Alpental experiment
6/16/11
WA Snoqualmie Pass
3011
3
A few years ago i sawed the toe off of my old tele boots (see below) so that i could use them as AT boots and most importantly so i could comfortably hike in them for those long approaches in the summer. I got a pair of Emery Chrono AT bindings from a friend a while back and mounted them on my old Tua Cross-Rides. This set up works very well with my sawed-off tele boots but again, the best part is i can hike for miles in bliss. I used this set up last year about this time to ski in the Goat Rocks wilderness for four days.
But... I would rather be tele skiing! So it occurred to me the other day, why not try using these sawed-off boots in my tele bindings! I tried it at home and there was just enough toe to be held down in the binding. I could certainly feel the lack of resistance when dropping a knee, but it seemed workable.
So... today i went the Alpental to test it out. There is still a path of snow all the way up from near the patio. I skinned up about 600 feet to test them out. The sawed-off tele boot worked! No question about it, i have to really have my ass under me but it worked and was really fun skiing. To make sure, i skinned back up to just below the entrance into Upper International. The skiing was great, about two to three inches of soft snow on a firm base. (Of course, it is a ski area.) The set up worked well unless i got too wide in my stance, otherwise it was easy skiing even in the bumpy places.
Great day out!
But... I would rather be tele skiing! So it occurred to me the other day, why not try using these sawed-off boots in my tele bindings! I tried it at home and there was just enough toe to be held down in the binding. I could certainly feel the lack of resistance when dropping a knee, but it seemed workable.
So... today i went the Alpental to test it out. There is still a path of snow all the way up from near the patio. I skinned up about 600 feet to test them out. The sawed-off tele boot worked! No question about it, i have to really have my ass under me but it worked and was really fun skiing. To make sure, i skinned back up to just below the entrance into Upper International. The skiing was great, about two to three inches of soft snow on a firm base. (Of course, it is a ski area.) The set up worked well unless i got too wide in my stance, otherwise it was easy skiing even in the bumpy places.
Great day out!
This could get moved to Random Tracks eventually, but whateva. I've seen some earlier posts and I applaud your innovative spirit. I have to wonder, are you poor as a church mouse, a cheapskate of Scottish descent like myself, a Mormon trying to put eight kids through college ;), or merely an all-American iconoclast who loves to go it alone?
I used to have a pair of those Garmont Veloces, and they are soft to the point of being flaccid with good cable bindings and midfat skis. (I sold mine to a ski-jorring TAY-er last winter.) Have your boots ever released from your AT bindings? A rigid sole is usually needed to stay in any binding without tech fittings.
And did you come out of your tele bindings when you weren't directly over your ass? Skiing on duckbills, I have torqued my boots out of my bindings 1-2 times a year, almost always on a steep slope. Ski leashes control that better than ski brakes, but it's even worse when the boot goes through the oval formed by the cables and a hapless freeheeler has to pry his boot out of his cable rig on a 40-degree pitch.
There is a manufactured equivalent to your rig: NTN. It's expensive and not perfect for touring, but this platform really carves. My boots worked great for sustained hiking and booting on St. Helens last weekend.
You sound like a knee-dropping true believer and we should tour together. We have friends 8)
I used to have a pair of those Garmont Veloces, and they are soft to the point of being flaccid with good cable bindings and midfat skis. (I sold mine to a ski-jorring TAY-er last winter.) Have your boots ever released from your AT bindings? A rigid sole is usually needed to stay in any binding without tech fittings.
And did you come out of your tele bindings when you weren't directly over your ass? Skiing on duckbills, I have torqued my boots out of my bindings 1-2 times a year, almost always on a steep slope. Ski leashes control that better than ski brakes, but it's even worse when the boot goes through the oval formed by the cables and a hapless freeheeler has to pry his boot out of his cable rig on a 40-degree pitch.
There is a manufactured equivalent to your rig: NTN. It's expensive and not perfect for touring, but this platform really carves. My boots worked great for sustained hiking and booting on St. Helens last weekend.
You sound like a knee-dropping true believer and we should tour together. We have friends 8)
BTW David -- I did the same thing to a pair of old T-Race boots -- based on instructions given in the old original Russel Rainey HammerHead bindings mounting instructions VHS tape. Not only do the rounded off duckbills offer easier walking and cramponing -- but when used with HammerHeads there is a quasi-disaster release -- in that when you fall backwards the rounded duckbill will pull out of the toe piece more easily than a stander duckbill. On two occations I experienced this type of release from my HammerHeads and was quite glad for it.
Of course the rounded off duckbills don't work very will with 3Pins or bindings without a full toebar and you get a little less help in flexing the bellows.
Of course the rounded off duckbills don't work very will with 3Pins or bindings without a full toebar and you get a little less help in flexing the bellows.
Telemack, I am a cheapskate and my last name is Walker. I also like to tinker with what i have and not buy more stuff. Lets do ski together!
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