Alpine Touring vs. NTN (and perhaps other options) - looking for thoughts on a new setup

[lowangle al]

if you are not intending do make tele turns, going with an AT setup is a no brainer. you can get lighter boots with far greater ROM which will make your touring more enjoyable, or at least a bit easier...

I didn't read the whole thread so sorry if it was mentioned but if the OP likes and wants to continue with the xc part of it I don't think AT will work.

[lowangle al]

I would also consider 75mm. It would be a lot cheaper than NTN and people have been doing P turns on it for a long. A T4 on the S98 would be a good set up if you wanted to give up NNNbc, or get another more Alpine type of scaled ski. If you go too heavy on the boots combined with an active binding you may loose what you liked about the lighter gear.

[Stephen]

I have been going through somewhat the same equipment thought process.
Maybe @westslope has already seen my thread:
https://www.telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4269

There are several aspects of this to consider, and then tradeoffs and compromises to be made.

The process is a bit frustrating, because, to move forward, one does, in the end, have to give up one thing for another.

Maybe I’m mistaken, but I don’t think what I want exists.
And even if it did, it wouldn’t be ideal for all the conditions I would want to ski in.
Which is why we tend to end up with more skis than we might have expected.

Right now, I’m looking at:
Scarpa TX Pro, Voile V6 BC, Meidjo 3

With that, I get a lot of what I’m looking for, but give up:
Glide on low angle exits;
Feeling of light freedom when I don’t need all that horsepower;
Ideal glide for the few times I might do lift served skiing.

If I switched to a flat base ski, I would have better glide when I wanted it, but would have to deal with skins or sidestepping or whatever every time I come to a little bit of uphill, and the transition for downhill, and then back again.
If all I was using them for was to skin up for a good distance, and then ski down, without too much of a flat approach or exit, flat base would be the way to go.
I hate having to make compromises…

There were times last year when I was on wax skis and my ski partner was on WL skis.
He would often end up having an easier time of it for a lot of the day, but on the way out, I was effortlessly way ahead, just feeling the magic of gliiiiddddiiing on snow.

[lowangle al]

Stephen, I would put my widest waxed alpine ski up against the skinniest single or double camber scaled ski given the same boot binding combination on rolling terrain. It's the big boots and bindings that slow you down, not ski width.

[Stephen]

Hi @lowangle al.
I’m not sure what you mean with reference to ski width — ski width isn’t really on my radar as a major consideration.

I think the Meidjo 3 is the lightest, or close to the lightest, telemark binding.

The TX or T2 boots are for sure heavy.
The TX Pro is about half a pound heavier than the T4, per boot. And, more restrictive.

To me, it seems like it all comes down to maybe three things:
1. The mix of terrain skied;
2. The skill of the skier;
3. The kind of experience the skier wants.

Then, it’s just assemble the components based on the skier’s desired experience.
Two different skiers can easily come up with very different setups for the same use-case.
No right or wrong in that.

Some setups would seem ill advised for certain uses — the setup I outlined above for skiing long distances, across flat terrain, in deep snow, for example.

I’m not trying to justify my current idea of what I think I want.
Heck, I’m not even sure about it myself.
I guess at a certain point, it’s just “Well, lets see what happens.”

Random stream of consciousness , FWIW…

[westslope]

Just now seeing the additional feedback. Thanks guys.

I am interested in getting more competent at the telemark turn on my existing NNN BC setup. Most my friends are alpine skiers so figuring out xcd / telemark turns on my own through trial and error. As a pretty advanced alpine skier, it has been a humbling and sometimes painful process

It seems that once you go plastic (boots), gear gets more complicated, heavier, more expensive and less capable in rolling/flat terrain. After reading posts here and elsewhere I've decided that if I go plastic it would definitely be AT gear. More than anything that decision is driven by my alpine background and wide selection of AT Gear on the market. I'm leaning toward a scaled Voile ski with tech bindings and a light AT boot. I think that setup combined with my NNN BC setup would round out my backcountry interests pretty well. Will need to save my pennies...

That leads me to my final question. Is there a non-plastic setup that would roughly equal the rolling/flat terrain capability of my current setup (NNN BC/Alaskas/Sbound 98) but provide a significant improvement in downhill capability? I know that a 3 pin setup (and maybe others I'm not familiar with) would provide incremental downhill improvements but I like my current setup and I don't think I would change it out for anything less than a significant improvement in downhill capability. Thoughts?

[Montana St Alum]

I know that a 3 pin setup (and maybe others I'm not familiar with) would provide incremental downhill improvements but I like my current setup and I don't think I would change it out for anything less than a significant improvement in downhill capability. Thoughts?

It's been a while for me, but my recollection is that a 3pin-cable is way more capable than NNN.
Others here would know more than me, for sure.

This is a quote from lowangle al earlier in this thread:
"I would also consider 75mm. It would be a lot cheaper than NTN and people have been doing P turns on it for a long. A T4 on the S98 would be a good set up if you wanted to give up NNNbc, or get another more Alpine type of scaled ski. If you go too heavy on the boots combined with an active binding you may loose what you liked about the lighter gear."

I think this about sums it up.

[Tom M]

The T4's on a set of 98's is a great combination as a modest step up from NNNBC for XCD. I highly recommend them if you can get a good fit on the T4's. For this particular boot, I've always recommended that you get a fitting and purchase them from REI because of their great return policy. I skied two generations of T4's over about a 6 year period using just simple 3 pins on XCD skis as well as with switchbacks on downhill skis. I finally had to give them up because of blister issues, but that is an individual thing. I know of many others who have never had problems with the T4s. I like the concept of them so much that if Scarpa ever redesigns them, I'll be the first to jump on a new pair just to see if my feet can get along with them. That being said, I'm planning on trying out the new Alfa Free Boots and Xplore binding this winter on a new set of Sbound 98's if I can get my hands on a set of the boots / bindings. I'm hoping that they will be a more comfortable but offer similar control as the T4's. Time will tell.

[Montana St Alum]

****

[Montana St Alum]

I didn't realize you're the Tom M in these videos:

Interesting.

Do you change out plates between up and down?
https://braasport.no/blogg/first-test-o ... -off-track

They are light.


I guess this is an earlier thread:
https://www.telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=41790