Alpine Touring Gear

Recent Alpine Touring Product Reviews

Marker Griffon 13

Great overall binding. Good range of DIN, price to performance, light-ish for an alpine binding, and looks good. Suffers from an imprecise feel, and creaking with soft snow wedged in the binding. I mounted my 2018 pair on a set of K2 Marksmen, to use in various B.C. resorts. I used them for three seasons, before buying a new pair of 2021's to mount on some Blizzard Rustler 11's. Both times I've used a pair of Lange RS 130 with them, in 29.5. I've skied 200 days total, doing everything in the resort,… Full review

Leki Vario XS

Leki's Vario XS four-season poles are designed for kids, but are fully functional on trail or in the snow. Adults or children who use poles in the 80-110 cm (31-43") range will find these two-piece poles are easy to adjust both for length and strap position. Leki's HTS 5.5 aluminum balances strength and weight, making the Vario XS a four-season pole that can adjust for growing children.   Leki Vario XS  The Vario XS replaced the Leki Vario Jr. SpeedLock and, while aimed at younger hikers and skiers,… Full review

Asnes X-Skin 58mm Mohair

A lightweight, short skin that integrates with Åsnes skis via dependable locking system. Gives a solid kick and moderate climbing power while still allowing some glide on easy terrain, at 1/4 to 1/3 the weight of a full-length skin. Small enough to fit a pair in a chest pocket. Ideal for hut-to-hut trips, and good skiers can take them to the summits. As backcountry or mountaineering skis have gotten bigger, skins have followed along. My full-length skins for my biggest skis, G3 Finder 107s, weigh… Full review

Leki Guide Lite V

For this review, I'm going to break the Leki Guide Lite V ski pole into each of its components and go over each one separately, since I have some very mixed feelings about the pole. Pole Body The main body of the Guide Lite V pole is a two-piece, all-aluminum construction adjustable from 110 to 140 centimeters. The construction of the pole itself is more or less what you'd expect from a high-end ski pole designed for backcountry skiers. Due to its all-aluminum design, the Guide Lite V is slightly… Full review

Black Diamond Compactor Ski Poles

Lighter, faster, and easier to use than other poles, yet worries about durability linger. Despite the worries, I really like these poles. Summary: From Black Diamond: "The aluminum compactor pole adjusts between popular pole lengths and uses an internal Kevlar cord to instantly break down to packable size and redeploys in a flash. One, rock solid, point of adjustment means you can keep moving instead of being the one always fiddling with your poles." I trek on my ski poles. Or maybe I should say… Full review

Scarpa F1

Looking for a lightweight, flexible AT boot which I can fit a wide foot into following some foot surgery. Very accommodating thermal fitting options, including a mold-able outer shell I had to sit out last year's season here in Colorado due to extended recovery following bone spur removal surgery. Nevertheless, I'm back in the saddle so to speak and am looking to expand into the AT realm. Following doing a fair bit of boot research and getting good advice from a Scarpa rep I spoke with I chose the… Full review

Volkl Attiva Aurora

"Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman" just like SECRET deodorant used to be! Ha Ha. If you read my intro and thought "Oh no, he's reviewing women's deodorant", you'll be sadly mistaken. In fact, I'm reviewing a pair of alpine (downhill) skis. Full disclosure: I'm a 6'1" and ~230lb adult man who proudly and confidently rides this pair of Volkl women's skis. I'll start with a little backstory for context: in the fall of 2014, I was not yet an alpine skier. I had attempted to ski on ONE… Full review

G3 Expedition Skins

Decent traction but a bit less glide than other brands. Tip metal loops need RIVETING to stay attached! Tail clips are fine. My G3 Expedition skins are 10 years old but still work OK even though getting worn down a bit and needing seasonal re-applications of glue. My gripe is that the metal loops (which must be sized for your wide or narrow ski tips) tend to let go when the self-glued skin that doubles back to hold them lets go. I had to rivet my loops in place. Newer style "tip pockets" may be… Full review

Marker F10 Tour

Light-ish frame style tour binding for the rest of us. My first tour bindings. I ski 80% in bounds so solid downhill performance is important to me and I also need to watch my weight because I also go on dawn patrol and up mountains on occasion. I had heard that these rattle, but saw none of that.  Marker makes several frame-style tour bindings and I was not ready to shell out the coin for bindings that release at 12 and weigh more than the skis they are attached to. Plus I don't need that much… Full review