AT (alpine touring) gear
November 2, 2011
For those who want to get into backcountry skiing without the need to learn telemark, there is AT equipment. It has been popular in Europe forever but is only now making big inroads in north america. It is also called Randonee (pronounced Ron don nay) which some say is French for "Can't Telemark". The stock reply is that Telemark is Norwegian for "Can't Ski". As far as I am concerned all sliding on snow is good and I recently purchased a set of Dynafit AT bindings. Dynafit is the most advanced, lightest, and most pricey of the various AT brands. To truly appreciate it's cleverness you have to see it. The best resource for reading about it is Lou Dawson's wildsnow.com page. While I have seen people use it for years, especially on my annual May trip to Mt. Hood's above the lifts terrain, I have not yet skied it myself. Will report when I do. Meanwhile this thread is open for comments, additions, and contrary opinions. AT gear is step-in and DIN releasable. I have seen it used at Whitegrass occasionally and will be doing so myself to get it dialed in before taking it to bigger terrain.
Posted at the request of John L.
Denis,
Have you used your AT boots yet? Where did you get them? I'm curious about the downhill performance of AT boots. I know of at least one Ski Center person who uses AT boots exclusively, both resort and backcountry.
Also, does anyone know if the Dynafits could be mounted on the Fisher mounting rails? PJ?
I have used the boots for about 5 yrs. with my one alpine setup which has Marker bindings. They are Dynafit boots, an expiring model that I got on the internet for $179. I can't stand alpine boots because of their stiffness and difficulty getting in and out. Lange race boots did this to me. After years of making perfectly good parallel turns on tele gear whenever I wished, it seemed that the soft forward flex of a tele boot was no impediment; I can lay down railroad track trenches in them just as well as in alpine boots. You won't see AT boots on the feet of World Cup racers, but at my level there is no problem. I know from teaching that many alpine skiers are in boots that do not allow them a functional flex at the ankles. The AT boots do allow that and are a lot more comfortable than alpine boots with DIN soles. AT boots have lug soles and no shop will indemnify them with alpine bindings. However you see race coaches using them all the time for the comfort factor. They spend a lot of time standing alongside race courses. They use Marker bindings because the way the toe releases with Markers is not significantly affected by the lug sole. I have set my own bindings empirically since racing days 25 yrs. ago and am comfortable doing that.
"Also, does anyone know if the Dynafits could be mounted on the Fisher mounting rails? PJ?"
NO. Perhaps possible with a Franken Kluge but I wouldn't do it. Skis with mounting rails are evil for a backcountry skier. Denis (not PJ but playing him for the moment.)
Skis with mounting rails are evil for a backcountry skier.
Extra weight? Reliability?
Ooooo! Ooooo! Can I play too?!?
Big negatory on Dfits and rails.
BTW many AT boots have swapable soles, vibram and DIN.
I have a rig mounted with Dynafit bindings and Scarpa three buckle boots. Used it to ski the Haute Route a few years ago. Prior to that trip I hadn't skied Alpine for a dozen years. Awesome setup. Light on the way up and able to handle anything on the way down (on that trip from 4 feet of powder to rocks with an icy glaze over them).
BTW many AT boots have swapable soles, vibram and DIN.
Can you get Dynafit fittings & swapable soles?
Can you get Dynafit fittings & swapable soles?
Yup, my Dynafit Titans have the AT soles with tech fittings and the DIN soles without. Several other brands, Black Diamond for one, have boots with this option.
If you are smart about the boot/binding combo you use its really not nessesary to swap the boot soles anymore. I used my Titans with the AT soles in my Solly 920 clamps last year with no problems. The adjustability of the binding is key.
Molding new Intuitions in the AT boots happy stoke.
Is she going to steal your stuff?
I have a ski friend whose wife wears the same size boot. Poor guy.
Nope, she has all her own gear. All my stuff is way too big for her any way so I am safe. ;-)
I have a ski friend whose wife wears the same size boot. Poor guy.
That's how I pick the SO's. If they can't fit a 298-306 shell...laters.
EDIT: Yes, yes, I still have nightmares about the 317mm episode.