The Skintrack Podcast
Backcountry Gear Pt1
All right. Oh, well, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for coming on. How are you today doing? Good to be here. Good. All right. So the goal with this podcast is we wanted to go into gear and discuss what we're going to be using this season. So let's start with skis. What are you planning to use? Well, I picked up here the Armada Locator 112 and then the Armada Locator 96. So that's what I'll be using this year. So are you hoping to get a spring ski or is it? Is that your full collection? 96 is gonna be the spring ski and 112 is gonna be the powder ski essentially. So 96 is both a daily driver and a and a spring ski. I'll probably daily drive the 112 in law. I'm a big fan of skiing, big skis. I mean, big skis equal more fun, right? Yeah, that's true. That's essential, in my opinion. But yeah. So what made you decide between the locators? 'Cause there's a lot of other series out there with similar weights. 'Cause they're cheap, nubkin. I just heard lots of good things on the locator series. I just heard lots of things about everything, especially the 88s, the 104s and the 112s, and the locator lineup. So I kind of figured, well, 112 is sweet. I want a big ski, skiing power spot. I like a ski that skis power well, equal more fun, right? And then the 96 was sort of like a, had a hammer from the ski, but the rest of the series is really solid. I might as well get this ski. And I'm kind of a fan of matching setups. I mean, plus the price was really good on all of these overall. It was kind of a last minute decision, like, to buy everything, but yeah. How much did you end up paying for the two? $700, $40, I think it was like, $380? Geez. $4? No. I think it was like, it was like $3, $80. I'm like that for the 112s, and then the 96 to be like $20 ish bucks cheaper. So it came in $700 for the total. And how did you think about your sizing across the different lessons? That's the one thing I was kind of concerned about with the locators, is I do for a bigger ski. So this last year I was skiing on a Wonder Alpine, Intention 108, and 182 length. However, that is also more, that's a minus seven, minus eight mount ski. So it's fairly progressive in the mount point, which means it does a lot of tail, less tip. So the locators here are mostly about minus 10, I believe. So my reason with that is I can go 180 on that. It'll be a little better for the uphill, shape of the weight, more manageable, and more conditions, but it's still going to probably ski in terms of just length, pretty similar to the Wonder Alpine, just in terms of its total tip playing. And I've skied 180 before in a resort skiing, just two seasons ago, so I was maybe like one or two inches shorter at that point, but I really enjoy asking you to get a really charged heart limit. And what did you get for, what size did you get for your skinny ski? 178, such as the same sort of size line on it. And is that just because that's what they offered, or is that a specific decision? It's kind of what they offered. It doesn't make sense for like a skinnier ski anyways, it's more proportional, and you know, you want something a little less for going off those uphills. And ideally the skiers in that decision are not going as hard on you as long as a ski for, but yeah. And what are your, do you have like kind of rules? Like for me, I don't go over around 15, 60 grams for any ski in my entire lineup. Did you have a vision like that, or didn't really care? This year I was kind of going for the lighter side, just to sort of try it out. Who knows, maybe I'll jump back on 900 grams skis again, to be honest, like depending on how much I like these, maybe I'll realize yeah, the light is right. Maybe I'll be like, oh we can go a little lighter, we can push a little more, maybe be like, actually, you know what, we'll go heavier. So it's more just like a, I went more middle of the road weight, just to sort of see, well this test is that, we'll sort of try something different. So that's kind of what I'm going for. I think that's still skiing really hard. How I found last season, these don't charge as hard as you always think you were in the backcountry, but we'll see how it goes this year. Nice, and then for bindings, because that's, I feel like you got to think of skis in terms of bindings, boots, and the ski itself. Especially in backcountry for it to all work fluidly. So what are you doing for bindings? Uh, not 100% the side. Yeah, I, and I have my son, A.T.K. That's why I had my first hair torn in bindings. I will say this 100%. I had no issues putting over 130,000 feet of veronam, human power, plus a 20k of a resort. No issues, they're at least consistently, they're light, they're lightest in this class of binding. Uh, they don't really have to be simplistic for all the features they offer on my bike. Uh, really it's just like the best binding out there. Like, in a version of what we've arranged about A.T.K. and I like really, I believe that A.T.K. is the best binding out there for ski torn, like on solid pin bindings like that. So that's what we're doing. Like, you didn't have like, that's like Nicholas Shremer, obviously, who, you know, he shreds, he rides A.T.K. only. So if he can shred that hard on those, I can shred less hard on those. Yeah, exactly. And I love how you threw in the, uh, 20k of resort. Let's throw in a disclaimer at all costs, do not ski pin bindings. No, no, no, no, it's good. It's good. If you actually look at Cody Townsend to this the other few weeks ago, I can't remember what, these are all the ones that blistered podcasts. But he was saying that the only time it really does make sense for you. I actually know it's Nikolai who said this himself, is to get used to your gear. And in our audition, I skied the resort a few days, not because I had to, is because I wanted to sort of see how, I wanted to get comfortable doing terrible conditions on it. So I could go to the backcountry and really trust my gear. So A.T.K. bindings are the binding of choice for your touring skis. But what do you have specific models or weights lined up yet? Yeah, probably, I'm going to go to the 3/8 or 15 Evo. So that one's like just how the burlap 20 make. It's the heaviest one, I think it comes in that 420-ish grams. This season, they made it out of the weight. They did, they changed on the, like the base, like next to the mounting plate. They changed that to full metal. It's hollow in some parts. But it had a little bit of weight in the 3/8 base, it was a little bit earlier. So I skied on the 13 Evo last year. Uh, and I really loved it. I don't know how to issues, but I've probably, we'll try something just a little heavier. So you have the freighter feels and have the higher din for, you know, bigger airs. Just like, going a little faster, a little harder. And then I'll probably put the 13 Evo on my skinnier ski. You just get like, I love that binding. It works so well. A.T.K. shades, we obviously doesn't have a freighter spacer. This still is all the same, like, component, like design components of the 15. In that sense, the shades weight, I don't need a freighter spacer on the 19th seasoner foot. I'm not going to go in that hard. Like, I just felt I had only really charged hard, like, you know, airs, cliffs, that sort of stuff on powder days anyways. So, yeah, I did a 15 Evo on the 12 and the 13 Evo on the 19th season. I'm also looking, I'm definitely going to be getting the updated version. So they haven't really changed much other than cooler colors, which I like. I like matching colors and stuff. It's kind of fun to do. And, just like, small tweaks to A.T.K. is great at that. They always tweak their stuff, like, really small, like, all the time. That was crazy, actually. Like, every year, something changes every small binding it seems like. So, why on the skinnier ski? Why did you decide to just get a, another freerader instead of something like, "Oh, I could get a cool R12 Plus," which is essentially the same DIN. I could do that, but there's more heel elasticity. It's just going to be overall a burlier binding in sense. And it's like, I will, I do turn it down in spring conditions hard pack. But I still like the rips, super she turns down big faces at like 40 miles an hour. I still always thought I want to find a thing to do that on just, it's a daily driver ski, in a sense as well. Like, I'll still take it out and do not really stuff with it, just less gnarly than the one 12. So, that's why, if I do something skinnier, like, if I were, let's say like, in the overall Armada locator lineup, like the 88, I would definitely put like a cool R12, like the new SL one on there, just because that is lighter, it matches heel a better, but also ski like that gives you a way where I kind of feel like, in terms like overall ski, you can kind of afford to do a lighter binding because it's not going to limit your ski's potential. Okay, that makes sense. And then to, I feel like we've covered bindings pretty well. Yeah. So, what would you do for skins? Because I feel like it's a combo. So, for me, I'm going to put like a pro S glide on my lighter skis because I know it's going to be longer and flatter, and then like a free pro on my fat ski because it's a little more packable. And then like a climb 2.0 on my daily because it's harder wearing. So, yeah, personally of skins, I'm a Mocha fanboy, I'll just say that. Like, I don't think I'll ever do anything different. That is so solid. I mean, I say when doing anything different, I only accept that as I ever get like a ski trap ski I probably would do. The ski trap skin to parrot that, which is made by contour, I think. Just because there, those are really great at the skis, is that like a skinnier ski. Like that matters a little less, like a wide fat ski from just like everyone I've talked to. But also because it's a proprietary skid test system, which apparently on the ski trap is like the best on the market. But aside from that, Pooka, except for me it's kind of a price. It's right, I try to get like a good setup for a good price. But skins are one of those things where it definitely matters a lot. They can't last a while as well. You can kind of afford to do the $200 skin rather than like, how much can I save on it and like say maybe a hundred bucks, but you have terrible skin. Or does the skin, that's not what you wanted. I'm kind of bathed right now between, which is a climb pro-esque glide, which is the Pooka blue skins or is a free pro, which is the pink skins. On the skinnier ski, my 96 I'm definitely doing the blue skins. So the pro-esque glide is just because, and what Pooka says, that's their best in terms of grip, glide, and weight. Not as light as the free pro 2.0 is not as good glide, but there's a better grip on there. So it works really well around the skin for basically all conditions when the skin is good for. I'm debating between the pro-esque glides or the free pros on the 112s because that'll be skiing more on powder. But like I said, I'll probably take that out on more days and just powder days. Okay. So it's like, I could go with the, with the, something that has better glide for powder. It'll be really nice and efficient because also powders can't work out grip for your skin track. So I've found myself on the bottom of the skin tracks on good snow days. So maybe I want to go with the grip of your skid and sacrifice a little bit on weight and glide. But it's still, for, is overall qualities and combinations the best out there? And yeah, it's not as packable, but also, the outer days you're at a bigger jacket. You put the jacket on the top right in my room to fill in your bag with a slightly less packable skin. So I don't really care too much. That makes sense. Um, and then I feel like the next part of it is going to be boots. What are you looking at for boots? Obviously, boots are one of the tricky things where fit is the biggest factor in a boot. But I went to, I'd say we both go on this, the best ski shop in the world. Yeah, shout out to Skimo Cara. Yeah, Skimo Cara. I went there. They have tons of boots. Great people. I went there. I was like, "Hey, can I try on some Technica?" They had this UOG Tour Pro. Arguably, best do in this quality. So they consider it a free ride boot. But I think the only thing at 400 grams. Like, for something that has 50 degrees of range of motion, it has a non-grip block sole. So it's meant for like, it has like a full rubber sole. So you can't eat on certain resort blinds, but that's not as for anyways. Uh, yeah, 400 grams, 50 degrees range of motion. And it's probably the truest, like, flexing, like 130 boot out there from what everything I've listened to. And red and research on it. There were a few. There were issues that obviously it wasn't the most efficient boot in the free ride category. But this last year they dropped the new, they kind of overhauled the entire boot. They dropped over 100 grams. And most of it was in the shell, I believe. So the liner kind of stayed, like, still pretty beefy. They gave another 5 degrees range of motion, not a 60 degrees range of motion. And yeah, they dropped 100 grams. They made the main pivot more durable. So I kind of had a brainer for me, especially because I have really narrow feet. I definitely like European feet. Uh, like skinny, you know, not really long. I just have small feet overall. Uh, so technically their boots kind of are the skinnier side. And probably like that, 300 grams, it's going to walk really well. Best out of any period of view, I can get sandy on it. Uh, but it has to be light, really efficient, durable. It's a form of whole boot. So it cringes a little bit more finicking, you know, other options out there. But I'll take a minute sacrifice per lap to have better ski quality and really push it. So I feel like a boot that that's that heavy, it's fine for like the 112 and probably your daily driver too. If you get like a, like a proper skinny ski, like a ski trap or the locator 88, would you downsize your boot, like get a lighter boot or is that not impossible? How well it actually walks. I mean, people have chosen that boot for some of the biggest ski matter emissions world. I mean, uh, some of the, like the person on load say was done in the older version. I think actually two engines ago of this, of the, uh, the zero G tour pros. So you're thinking if it was on Everest, I can ski it wherever I'm going to ski it. If it's light enough for me to do an 8,000 meter peak, uh, very fast and charged it hard. Like real quick speaking, I mean, they were just charging to lose a cooler hard. Uh, yeah, it's going to get enough for me. And I think it's going to walk just well. And I'm not the big, I don't always need a skinny ski, but in the future, I probably would do like a lighter weight, open up ultra light. I'm saying. So there's something around a 1200 gram as opposed to a thousand. Yeah. Uh, the new kilo, I tried a Scorpius CR2 before. It's kind of weird fitting boot. I would probably try it on a few more times to see if I actually can make it work. That's why I try not to generally work with me, but it is a skinny boot. So it technically shouldn't work for me. But yeah, there's options out there. Like, you know, Scarpa F1 XT, like any of those. There's also options out there for a smaller boot, but also as price boots are expensive. And yeah. So. [BLANK_AUDIO]