For the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail:
- Something like a Voile Objective/Endeavor and Scarpa T4 boots with 3-pin bindings would suit the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail just fine, in any kind of reasonable conditions (including hard-packed and fast, which it usually is these days).
- It's not a full-on 'downmountain' trail like the Wright Peak Ski Trail, or the Thunderbolt Ski Trail down Mt Greylock in MA or the Bruce Trail off of Mt Mansfield, etc.
- As I mentioned, there are lots of people who ski the Avalanche Pass trail in metal-edged skinny skis like Alpina Discovery, Rossignol BC-65, etc. with NNN or NNN-BC boots. With that kind of a setup you'll do more side-slipping, side-stepping, stemming, etc. than if you gear up with something beefier.
- I used to ski it in my Fischer Rebound skis with HD Mountaineer 3-pin bindings and Asolo Extreme boots, and I would enjoy the heck out it. I talked a friend into skiing it on Madshus Eon w/ 3-pin bindings and Garmont Excursion boots. He had a blast, even with fairly thin cover.
For the Mt Marcy ski tour:
- I've skied Marcy to the summit and back twice. I've skied to Indian Falls and taken the skier bypass trail three more times.
- I've skied it with Voile Vector BC skis, Switchback X2 bindings and Crispi CXP (3-buckle) boots. Climbing skins are recommended, and I'd say mandatory. There are parts that definitely require them, and the trail keep going relentlessly up once it starts climbing, so climbing skins will make for a more enjoyable day. That said, I see a lot of people skiing Marcy in AT setups these days. That's been the trend...
- I would not recommend skiing Marcy with anything less than a good 2 feet of snow depth at 3000 feet elevation. Conditions are everything. - The skier bypass trail has a lot of boulders and pinch points between rocks. Many of those moguls you see are formed around boulders. It's not terribly steep, but it does get narrow. Wait for deeper snow. The tour becomes a lot more enjoyable.
- While you can't simply ignore avalanche warnings, you will stay pretty much out of avalanche danger as long as you stay on the trails, both the hiking trail (Van Hoevenberg Trail) and the ski trail bypassing the hiking trail up high.
- You can usually extrapolate avalanche conditions in the Adirondack High Peaks from the Mt Washington Avalanche Center bulletins. (
https://www.mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/). If there's high avalanche danger in Tuckerman Ravine and the Gulf of Slides, then there's usually avalanche danger in the alpine zones of the Adirondack High Peaks (including Marcy). You can also ask about conditions at the trailhead, in the ADK High Peaks Information Center (
https://adk.org/high-peaks-information-center/). They're
very conservative there. If there's known avalanche danger they'll tell you about it, for sure.
- Conditions on the summit can often be windblown and very icy, so definitely bring microspikes or crampons and make sure to practice getting them on and off your ski boots, before you go. You don't want to get to the summit and find that your crampons won't stay on your boots.
- Except for those rare days when conditions are calm and peaceful, you will want to stop and put on your windproof clothing before you break out into the alpine zone. That's usually done down in what they call "Romper Room", which is the first section of trail below treeline.
I hope that helps.
