Mar 02 2016

Technique: Keeping Meidjo’s tour mode locked

Fixing the red stub bumper to keep Meidjo in tour mode.

Fixing the red stub bumper to keep Meidjo in tour mode.

One of the annoying flaws with Meidjo is the occasional tendency for the red function stub to pop over the bumper that it rests against when touring. This causes the entire spring-box assembly to be put into turn mode and will inevitably allow it to hook onto the 2nd heel of the boot. The net result is the wonderful resistance free tour mode reverts to a high-resistance free-heel mode as the spring-box hooks onto your boot and you are forced to stop and reset the red stub so the touring hook holds it down — until it pops into turn mode again without your permission.
Keep making backcountry turns

Feb 29 2016

1st Look: Lange’s XT Free Tour AT Boot

Lange finally adds tech inserts to the XT Free Tour. Lighter, AT worthy with better ROM, but skis like a Lange.

Lange finally adds tech inserts to the XT Free Tour. Lighter, AT worthy with better ROM, but skis like a Lange.

Ever since Lange first entered the Alpine Touring market with the XT I’ve only had one question. Not how well it skied, or how well it fit but when would it come with tech inserts? When parent Rossignol inked a deal last year to put a Look label on a Dynafit Radical the writing was on the wall. At the 2016 SIA show in Denver Lange unveiled the Lange XT Free Tour with genuine Dynafit inserts.

First impressions say it was worth the wait because Lange didn’t just put tech fittings in their existing XT; they knew that would land in the market with a thud, as in ooof, that’s a heavy AT boot. Lange went back to the drawing board.
Keep making backcountry turns

Feb 22 2016

First Look: Meidjo’s Low Tech Heel option

 

Meidjo now offers a low-tech heel for full power parallel turns.

Meidjo now offers a low-tech heel for full power parallel turns.

This year Meidjo offers the option to quickly lock the heel via a low-tech heel. Key to this working in harmony with a telemark binding is the ability for the locking tangs of the heel to retract so they do not interfere with free heel functions. With Meidjo this is achieved by allowing the U-shaped bar of spring steel to retract, not the entire heel unit as done with some AT bindings – G3’s Onyx, Fritchi’s Vipec, or the Marker Kingpin.
Keep making backcountry turns

Feb 14 2016

Interview with Mitch Weber – Telemark Tips founder

Note: (Updated 28mar16: Since republishing this article Mitch Weber passed away March 26, 2016. Cancer was the culprit.) This interview first ran in Telemark Skier Magazine #8 in 2006, near the peak of the websites popularity. Since then Telemark Tips and the associated forum, Telemark Talk ceased publishing on the world wide web. The forum was relaunched in 2014 under new ownership.

Mitch Weber rippin' tele's in the Wasatch.

Mitch Weber rippin’ tele’s in the Wasatch.

For tele to break through to the next level, all of us in the freeheel and backcountry skiing media need to refocus, away from the prior emphasis on the mobility aspects of our gear, and instead do a much better job of letting everyone know how much fun we have making telemark turns, they will then see that they want to be a part of it.
— Mitch Weber

Keep making backcountry turns

Feb 11 2016

1st Look: Carbon Sender for Hucksters

A-Sender from Kitten Factory skis.

Carbon Sender from Kitten Factory skis.

If you make a habit of skiing hard and landing big airs Look’s Pivot binding is back from retirement for a reason; no other binding offers as much elasticity in the heel to absorb landing forces as it does. Period.

For backcountry huckers there’s a new adapter plate that fits in Pivot bindings for touring. Indie ski maker Kitten Factory’s familiarity with handmade carbon fiber skis spawned a related project: the Carbon Sender, a lightweight carbon fiber plate molded to fit in a Look Pivot binding. Two climbing posts at the back level your stance when skinning, while the toe of the boot is held by a pair of pins mounted to semi-rigid walls of carbon fiber similar to Dynafit’s DNA binding, except KF adds a manual clamp that prevents the pins from letting go when stomping an icy traverse.
Keep making backcountry turns

Feb 08 2016

1st Look: Scott Superguide Carbon

Scott Super Guide. Mostly unchanged for next year, except the buckles, which can be held open so they don't relock when you're not looking.

2016 Scott Super Guide; mostly unchanged for 2017.

Generally speaking new converts to the world of alpine touring come from the ranks of hard snow chargers where only stiff boots can hold up to such abuse and terminal velocity. However, wild snow comes in many more textures and flavors. With so much more variety, a boot with a progressive flex is preferred to mere stiffness, if only to be able to detect the subtle textures, especially the kind associated with crusty muck. Which is why experienced AT skiers will appreciate Scott’s Super Guide AT boot.
Keep making backcountry turns

Jan 31 2016

Review: Voile’s Revelator Splitboard

Voile ups the ante with the Revelator splitboard.

Voile ups the ante with the Revelator splitboard.

The Revelator has made some very favorable impressions right from the start. Light, stiff and very responsive, this board upped the ante with top-notch construction and superior performance. The first thing I noticed while setting up the board was how light it felt (Pawlonia Wood Core). Most split setups can easily be twice the weight of your normal board so right off the bat I knew I might like this.

The next standout was the new Voilé Channel Puck System, which vastly increases your stance options. Using the Alignment Guide (on your initial binding setup), you’re able to slide and angle the pucks (within reason) up and down the channel to fine-tune your stance fairly quickly.
Keep making backcountry turns