Lhartley wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 13, 2025 8:54 pm

Do those double as fish stringers? Very nice

Musky leaders!

I have Rabb 68s with Xplore bindings and Alfa Free boots and used this setup for the past couple of years to uphill at Steamboat in Colorado. It's a little different than your situation - 2,100 ft of climbing on blue runs. Your setup should be fine, but you'll need skins and leashes. Should definite...

Happy owner/user of Asnes Rabb68s in Colorado here. I have a couple different widths/lengths of X-Skins and use them as adjustable waxless bases, with the benefit of being able to take them off entirely for longer downhills. I started out waxing them, but always felt the wax dragging on the downhill...

I agree that the time to swap out the flexors is not significant, especially if you happen to be stopping to swap out skins at the same time. Interestingly, I accidentally did an experiment this winter while uphilling inbounds at Steamboat. Forgot to swap out the free flexors at the top. Had a great...

I switched to the Alfa Free this season (from the Alaska XP), and definitely noticed some heel discomfort at first. I found putting band-aids on the hotspots helped a lot, as did wearing thin liner socks that gave an additional layer for the hot spot to slide against. I also found keeping the boots ...

Take a look at the Arcteryx Beta pants. Unlined shells with full side zips for ventilation. Short of finding something with a crotch zip, full side zips are probably as much ventilation as you can get.

I have the older Beta AR pants, which just have thigh zips. I really like them.

You should at least consider an Asnes ski with an X-skin as a substitute for a ski with a waxless base. You can modify the grip with different lengths/widths of X-skin, and take it off altogether for downhills. Doesn't solve the cost issue that you mention, though.

I've been wondering a 3-D printed heel plate for Xplore soles, that fits the negative space in the Xplore heel, could increase the rigidity of the boot/binding system during turns.

Very interesting. My OCD went into overdrive at the thought of an adjustable cleat, similar to cycling shoes. Lots of adjustability when combined with a binding with easy fore-aft adjustment built in.

I can't remember exactly what I paid for my Rabb68s last year, but it wasn't $699. Pretty sure it was either $589 or $599.