This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web. We have fun here, come on in and be a part of it.
anrothar wrote:The lightest possible skimo setup you can get(skis/boots/bindings) is about 5.5 lbs.
Wow - that's insane. Is that just the mountain running stuff, or is that actual up/down?
I really think though, at this point, you are going to converge on minimum weight between Nordic and Alpine REALLY quickly. I mean 1/2 to 1 lb is a HUGE change.
There's an uphill only race at the beginning of this, but it's followed by an up/down race that really shows the ridiculous speed of these guys. They're definitely compromising on the downhills, but if you lose 1 minute on the descent to someone on 1 lb heavier gear, you're probably going to gain more than that back on the climb. The end of the video also shows several good examples of them skating with skimo gear.
anrothar wrote:The lightest possible skimo setup you can get(skis/boots/bindings) is about 5.5 lbs.
FWIW I've been putting together an AT setup this winter:
Dynastar Cham 80 skis (114/80/102) - ~1300 grams Brand new on craigslist for $225
2014/15 Vipec Bindings - 470 grams Got these on closeout - 60% off for $275 shipped
Scarpa Maestrale boots: ~750 grams Haven't bought yet but will end up getting retail from a local boot fitter just to make sure I get the right size and get fitted. They retail for $628 (ouch!)
So total weight per foot for my "budget" setup is going to be close to 2520 grams or 5.5 lbs before skins.
That rando stuff is crazy light if it can get to 5.5 lbs for both feet!
I kind of question how much mountaineering you can do in those boots, especially since they don't fit crampons and have next to no insulation!
Really curious how these superlight 65mm waist skis do on real conditions as well. Those videos seemed to show them skiing down green to blue groomers.
I've seen some skimo (back when it was just called randonee) where they were skiing some steeper stuff in the alps. Some guys were doing OK, but a lot looked pretty rough on the descent... and I mean rough, like I've seen beginners skiing black diamonds better. Seems to not be the easiest stuff to ski, but I also tend to think maybe you don't really need to be a very good dh'er to be good at skimo.
I get the feeling of what anrother says where these races are not necessarily won or lost on the dh. You can be pretty sloppy and you might lose a minute on the dh section, but it's REALLY easy to lose a minute on the up being not as fit or not having as good a gear.
HBS wrote:I kind of question how much mountaineering you can do in those boots, especially since they don't fit crampons and have next to no insulation!
Really curious how these superlight 65mm waist skis do on real conditions as well. Those videos seemed to show them skiing down green to blue groomers.
I'm no expert on skimo, but it's my understanding that people focused on speed found out many years ago that the fastest way to cover ground in the mountains, on skis, was to take short, steep ups and long 'gradual' downs. The gear and techniques they used have evolved to suit that. Here's a less tracked out/packed out course:
Here are a few guys on a slightly more technical tour on slightly heavier gear, maybe 6-6.5 lbs.
And here's a longer video, 18 minutes, of a few guys tackling the Hard Rock 100 course in winter.
The downhills in those first two videos remind me of triathletes on bikes - obviously very strong on the uphill but give them anything twisty on the down and watch the carnage. When I raced road bikes we called them "try-athletes".
Compared to my similarly sized(49) Rossignol BCX9 at 1043 grams. I'm pretty psyched to see that I took 725 grams off of each boot with my chopping job and the lighter liners. Dynafit Speed Superlight toepieces I'm using only weigh 160 grams + screws for the pair, vs 530 grams for a pair of NNNBC magnums(assuming with screws). 354 grams lighter per foot, about 3/4 of a pound, than a burly nnnbc setup.
I'm impressed that combined weight of ski and binding is about dead on for Asnes and Dynafit's listed weights. It's 25 grams off, not including screws and the difference between my 210cm ski and the 200cm Asnes' weight is based off of.
