That's pretty impressive, 3 runs on microdot is way harder than I want to work.
How was the hoar frost with those cold temps? I haven't been checking the avy report but I can see there probably will be deep instability when I get up there in a few weeks.
Powder touring ski options
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lowangle al
- Posts: 2742
- Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:36 pm
- Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
- Ski style: BC with focus on downhill perfection
- Favorite Skis: powder skis
- Favorite boots: Scarpa T4
- Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.
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Baaahb
- Posts: 106
- Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2013 11:03 am
- Location: Tahoe, Teton Valley
- Ski style: free heel, touring to turning
- Favorite Skis: Boundless, Rossy BC-125, Voile Vector, BD Converts......
- Favorite boots: Alpinas, Excursions, T-1's
- Occupation: Correcting people on the internet
Re: Powder touring ski options
A bit late to this thread but...having skied Tahoe for decades perhaps I can contribute.
If you're skiing more than a few inches of fresh, a wider ski will help you go faster, not slower, due to less sink.
If the snow is firm (spring conditions) with an inch or two on fresh, you don't need any float. People will skate ski across the Desolation in firm spring conditions. So you need a few pair in order to enjoy going out in all conditions.
If I'm going to spend any time touring in more than a few inches of soft powder (ie breaking trail) I will opt for my Rossignol BC-125's. These skis have relatively poor downhill performance compared to beefier alternatives but for light touring they rock. I ski them with 3-pins and leather. Being light (the skis, not me), I can also tour fairly rapidly with them on a groomed or firm surface (not in set track -- way too wide for that!)
If you plan to tour by yourself on fresh snow, you want to go wide.
Side cut slows you down when kick and gliding. It does help turning on groomed surfaces, but to turn in powder having a softer ski is much more important. I try to avoid significant side cut skis.
If you're skiing more than a few inches of fresh, a wider ski will help you go faster, not slower, due to less sink.
If the snow is firm (spring conditions) with an inch or two on fresh, you don't need any float. People will skate ski across the Desolation in firm spring conditions. So you need a few pair in order to enjoy going out in all conditions.
If I'm going to spend any time touring in more than a few inches of soft powder (ie breaking trail) I will opt for my Rossignol BC-125's. These skis have relatively poor downhill performance compared to beefier alternatives but for light touring they rock. I ski them with 3-pins and leather. Being light (the skis, not me), I can also tour fairly rapidly with them on a groomed or firm surface (not in set track -- way too wide for that!)
If you plan to tour by yourself on fresh snow, you want to go wide.
Side cut slows you down when kick and gliding. It does help turning on groomed surfaces, but to turn in powder having a softer ski is much more important. I try to avoid significant side cut skis.
Re: Powder touring ski options
Hatcher Pass conditions:
It has been low avy risk as the deepest layers from oct/nov are almost completely gone (it was 58 degrees in mid december with rain). 2 recent big snow storms were very dry cold temp snow and a long period of consolidation. Hoar frost has not been a problem as it has been very dry. Temperatures at hatcher havent gone above 20F and have mostly been -15F to 10F for over a month now. Temps were single digits even when it snowed. It is finally supposed to warm up to 16-20F by the end of next wk.
Dry loose possible on slope angles of 35 degrees to 40 degrees. There are still cornices at the top of very steep ridges but they are very obvious. Overall, it has been very good skiing but very cold temps. We need more snow as hatcher is very tracked up. It will be hard to find open fresh wild snow (I quickly discovered that any untouched areas had hidden rocks and breakable wind crust).
It's been a great season...I have skiied 28 days since October and I have only used my AT setup once for 2 runs to test out my uncomfortable plastic boots.
It has been low avy risk as the deepest layers from oct/nov are almost completely gone (it was 58 degrees in mid december with rain). 2 recent big snow storms were very dry cold temp snow and a long period of consolidation. Hoar frost has not been a problem as it has been very dry. Temperatures at hatcher havent gone above 20F and have mostly been -15F to 10F for over a month now. Temps were single digits even when it snowed. It is finally supposed to warm up to 16-20F by the end of next wk.
Dry loose possible on slope angles of 35 degrees to 40 degrees. There are still cornices at the top of very steep ridges but they are very obvious. Overall, it has been very good skiing but very cold temps. We need more snow as hatcher is very tracked up. It will be hard to find open fresh wild snow (I quickly discovered that any untouched areas had hidden rocks and breakable wind crust).
It's been a great season...I have skiied 28 days since October and I have only used my AT setup once for 2 runs to test out my uncomfortable plastic boots.
Re: Powder touring ski options
After spending some time in various conditions on the FT62, my conclusion is that these skinny skis are heaven when the powder is perfect even when steep and deep. They just glide through the powder and effortlessy turn...they are blazing faster than I need coming downhill. They are horrendous when the conditions are bad (breakable crust with soft snow underneath, hard icy wind/sun crust, hard crud, etc). The S112 does not ski as gracefully on perfect conditions but does better on less than ideal snow and gets you down the mountain when conditions are bad. The FT62 as expected does better than the Sbounds on the flats for k&g.
If your Ingstad skis anything like the FT62, I would reserve it for the best days and get something like the S112 or wider for all other days (which may be most of time, depending on how much and when you ski).
If you have a need for speed or if you are breaking trail, then you want a wider ski but they won't turn like an Asnes and they won't be light like an Asnes (which breaks trail just fine since it is so light and tips are rockered).
If your Ingstad skis anything like the FT62, I would reserve it for the best days and get something like the S112 or wider for all other days (which may be most of time, depending on how much and when you ski).
If you have a need for speed or if you are breaking trail, then you want a wider ski but they won't turn like an Asnes and they won't be light like an Asnes (which breaks trail just fine since it is so light and tips are rockered).
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treehugger
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2019 10:08 am
Re: Powder touring ski options
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Last edited by treehugger on Wed Mar 25, 2020 5:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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treehugger
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2019 10:08 am
Re: Powder touring ski options
Thanks for contributing. I would agree and yes I will need a few pairs to cover varied conditions. (Although letting my wife find out I'm already planning my next ski while the ones I just bought are still in the mail wasn't advisable). Still I think it is important to think about future purchases and how they will compliment or overlap.Baaahb wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2020 11:46 amA bit late to this thread but...having skied Tahoe for decades perhaps I can contribute.
If you're skiing more than a few inches of fresh, a wider ski will help you go faster, not slower, due to less sink.
If the snow is firm (spring conditions) with an inch or two on fresh, you don't need any float. People will skate ski across the Desolation in firm spring conditions. So you need a few pair in order to enjoy going out in all conditions.
If you plan to tour by yourself on fresh snow, you want to go wide.
When I started this post I was looking to understand whether there was a XC touring ski that was good in powder. From what I've learned the Ingstad fits that discription but that certainly doesn't make it a powder ski. I don't think any of the skis I've considered really are good powder skis that can provide enough float. To get into an actual powder ski is going to require a heavier tele set-up that I'm not really committed to yet. It comes down to making choices and thanks to the help of this forum I realized what I want is a wide XC not a skinny alpine ski. I'll definately get some very wide skis at some point and then decide the inbetween stuff.
Another picture of the ridge from the other day (post are better with pictures)
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treehugger
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2019 10:08 am
Re: Powder touring ski options
WOW There may not be a perfect ski for everything but the Ingstad BC is the perfect ski for me! Totally cured any of my onset gear acquisition issues. This is the quiver killer for me.
We (finally) got 6" of cold dry powder on Sunday at lake level and up to 12" at the resorts. Not a major storm and a quick warm up but allowed me to try out ski in various powder conditions for the last few days. It's amazing how the tips rise towards the surface when striding in powder. Not going to bother with covering all the points well documented on this site but yes every positive review is true. Only issue is that a waxless might be more practical for the typical quickly warming conditions. Been using 45mm mohair skins a lot, which are amazing, can't believe how well they glide even downhill. Without them I would feel like an idiot getting wax ski in CA. Yes as recommended they are a mandatory accessory. In the cold dry snow, blue (only wax I could get) with glide wax is really quick. I just received some polar and variety of other waxes that I'm sure will extend the conditions in which I will get to appreciate magical glide of a wax ski. No regrets getting wax version.
Just want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences!! This has been a great experience.
We (finally) got 6" of cold dry powder on Sunday at lake level and up to 12" at the resorts. Not a major storm and a quick warm up but allowed me to try out ski in various powder conditions for the last few days. It's amazing how the tips rise towards the surface when striding in powder. Not going to bother with covering all the points well documented on this site but yes every positive review is true. Only issue is that a waxless might be more practical for the typical quickly warming conditions. Been using 45mm mohair skins a lot, which are amazing, can't believe how well they glide even downhill. Without them I would feel like an idiot getting wax ski in CA. Yes as recommended they are a mandatory accessory. In the cold dry snow, blue (only wax I could get) with glide wax is really quick. I just received some polar and variety of other waxes that I'm sure will extend the conditions in which I will get to appreciate magical glide of a wax ski. No regrets getting wax version.
Just want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences!! This has been a great experience.