Ski and Binding Quivers for the Backcountry

Disclaimer: I'm lucky if I ski 10-20 days a year. While I ski every year, and the proportion varies, maybe half of that is backcountry on average. I have much less disposable time than skis. That stated, I love a well-made pair of skis (or boots, or skins, or poles), and they do have a positive impact on those days sliding on snow.

Low on the Vallé Blanche in 2011

Photo © Sylvain Ravenel

 When I first skied in Chamonix, I had graduated from the old rust-colored Garmont boots to their better blue cousins. But what really moved the needle was my graduation from some old skis and bindings to my first pin binding setup. The old ones were now 20+ year old Black Diamond (likely made by Atomic) 'randonee' skis, which were actually very stiff, narrow, kinda heavy skis with Silvretta EZ-Gos on them (I still use them for approaches in climbing boots.) The 'innovation' was a Dynafit TLT Superlights on a truly lovely pair of Trab Stelvio skis. Not picking up an extra pound with every step was pretty transformative, and when a few years later I moved on to the Dynafit TLT5 boot with it's butter-like walk mode, I was sold on the transformative power of lighter weight gear. And because I was and am an avid reader of Dane's blog, https://coldthistle.blogspot.com/, I started learning more about them, and my go-to resource since then, Jason and the team at skimo.co in SLC.

I could still ski on the Stelvios and the TLT superlights with those TLT5s, and sometimes do. I had a decent pair of Ascension skins from BD fitted to them which are still going strong about 15 years later. One thing I did not buy with them was a leash. My first time off the Midi I almost lost a ski right at the top in high wind. Never again. I understand the convenience of brakes, and the logic of shedding skis in an avy, but had I missed the 20 klicks of the descent I would have been very unhappy. I improvised some leashes with thin cord at Snell Sports right after taking the train down from Montenvers and then went and got some proper freaking leashes (ATK, Dynafit, whatever the credible folks make.) I will ski with brakes happily at times and with nothing when appropriate, but would not be skiing those Stelvios today had I not recovered a split second gust which could have easily taken one away. And another thing. I was up in Tucks for the spring (aka the silly season) with my then pre-teen. We were being joined by a very solid partner Mr. Max White https://www.thisismaxwhite.com/ approaching us from lower down Lunch Rocks. He started hollering as a group of 2 adults and 4 kids younger than my guy were crossing below Lobster Claw. Max was yelling because a runaway ski was looking to make a kid kebab. Fortunately the group hustled along, and the hoards saw it too, so nobody was hurt. But I still like leashes.

However, I have not been able to resist the profusion of amazing skis the market and some very special craftsmen and women have brought us over the past decades. After the Stelvios I was looking for a ski with more rocker and sidecut. I might claim that was because I knew what I was talking about, but that would be a lie. I had read extensively about the Denali by Dynafit, and liked what I read. For me the 99 mm waist would be a powder ski, comparatively, and some duder convinced me to go with 184s, almost as tall as me. Fortunately I do generally ski them in powder, and so the length has not been an issue, but Andrew McLean once told me that 180 is about as long as you want to maneuver on a steep powdery kick turn, and generally he's correct, unsurprisingly. That ski does turn like a dream in a bit of soft snow, and is surprisingly able to navigate hardpack, on piste, Tatra-style grabber slush and lots of other stuff. And they are remarkably light, especially with the TLT Low Tech. I do not always feel as secure on those bindings as I would on one with more mass, but situations where I lock the toe are the same across all bindings (it's steep, it's hard/chattery, you better not fall,) so I think the weight tradeoff is worth it, even if I have generally rocked heavier bindings on my skis since then.

Andrew McLean on Kessler during a dreadful snow year (2012) 

Photo probably © by Mike McGurl

Once I had a chance to take advantage of skis that were 80 mm or 99 mm in the waist, it was pretty easy to choose: the former generally suited the east, the latter the west. I was hooked, and not due to skis that felt hooky. In spite of detuning skis and tuning skis aggressively, which I enjoyed until my son surpassed me and took over most of those duties (he won't let me touch them much anymore...such a perfectionist,) I did discover the perils of too well-waxed skis at times. Once camping with Andrew we ended the day on a flat shelf heading to the tent, and my freshly waxed boards made for a hilariously slow progress on about 150 feet of terrain I could barely move across with a 6 inch shuffle. And more recently said son waxed our approach skis so well we almost ended up in low orbit descending Pitchoff North Face in climbing boots...

After that, I have more of a Q&P approach when the goal is to tune approach skis (see the legendary Doug Coombs Quick and Painless ski tune.) And it's largely to preserve the ski that I tune, except for edges, because I don't yearn to go crazy fast. And my son still won't let me near the tools I accumulated over many years because I do such a half-assed job compared to him. I even had the chance to compare his tune side-by-side with a very well-respected shop, and his blew them away (in fairness theirs was largely machine made.)

In the years that followed I wandered a bit, getting some very short mountaineering skis I've rarely used (Atomic Ultimate 78s with Low Tech binders) and a nice pair of Moment Vertex (basically a lighter Stelvio with some rocker) which introduced me to Plum bindings. The Plum Guide has been a mainstay for me and the family for a while, and while I have zero issues with the Dynafits I own, I do like the burliness of the Guide, even though I managed to ski off the toe latch once (pilot error) barely avoiding a new skier at Jay who turned into me, but not before clipping off said latch. I have those same Guides on a pair of Black Crow Navis Freebirds, which are a classic big ski mountaineering ski I love to use in Jackson or anywhere you get real powder to play around on. If I need a bit more ski, I use their Atris, which I have in a crazy 189 cm length due to a bro deal from Max and mounted with Shifts, which are inelegant but perfect as I use them primarily on piste and sidecountry. 

More recently I have gone back to Trab, getting a pair of their Magico skis with a Hagen/ATK Core 10 binding. It is a beautiful setup, especially for light/fast missions and mountaineering where you want <90 in the waist and <180 in length. It also boasts the only skin system which rivals that of Dynafit's own version of remove from the tip, and appears to me to be a bit more secure. While limiting your skins to that ski, the proprietary tip or tail attachment of the Dynafit or Trab Attivo is well worth a look, especially as the hips have never been so flexible in my case. I have also used race tip bungees and like that system for lighter setups and quick transitions. Speaking of skins, when I'm not using the proprietary type I like Pomocoas, and have some Mohair for the Navis which are perfect, maybe a bit heavy compared to their pink cousins ('Free'?) which Toby sports on his Corvus Freebirds, but fine for me over the years.

Now I have been contemplating the gap between my 85 mm Magicos and the 99 Denalis....something wicked this way comes.

 The Eyes Have It

I recently responded to a Redit post on this, so I thought I'd share it here too. The original post is at: Alpine Eyewear.

I use a combination of lenses and prescription glasses and have significant myopia and astigmatism, and need progressives/readers. 

I disagree with the 'you don't need Cat 4' comment: why would you take the chance? Yes, Cat 3 are in fact fine most of the time, but play it safe and you never, ever want snow blindness. 

Here's what I run: alpine climbing is generally lenses with the exception of overnights. For lenses I have Acuvue Oasys with Hydraclear Plus, and can clean them daily. I like Julbos over that, either a darkening sunglasses (Reactiv, Cat 0-3) or if on glaciers Cat 4s. If it's overnight I'll consider a prescription version of the Julbos, or sometimes bring both. 

For rock climbing I prefer prescription progressives, and most often a standard optician sunglass is fine at low elevations, or clear on a gray day, but sometimes the Julbo Reactivs. I can see granular details needed especially when placing trad gear or figuring out footwork. 

Toby on The Empress, Chapel Pond Slab, Adirondacks, 2024

For backcountry touring, I like lenses, and take tiny folding readers (2 pair, they can get lost...) I like my old Zeal sunglasses or for the down goggles. Same setup for on piste/inbounds skiing. I have used both outfits like SportRx and Julbo to grind high quality lenses and find that Julbo is my first choice, but both are good. In the US SportRx is faster, although Cat 4s take longer. Julbo's US service team is excellent too.

Topping out on Mineville Pillar, Adirondacks, 2025 (c) Tom Lannmann

Great Day at The North Face of Pitchoff, Adirondacks, 2025

Another Jacket? New Pants too??

Yes, and a new pant system, and and and. Those who know me well, know that I have very poor impulse control for getting new kit. Fortunately this does not extend to other areas of life (much, anymore), thanks to years of hard earned experience and sobriety. So when I got a new Patagonia M10 jacket and pants this past year and this year, it was not such a shocker. What was shocking is how good these simple pieces are for what I use them for, alpine and ice climbing.

Topping out on Mineville Pillar in the Adirondacks, photo (c) Tom Lannamann

First, the pants. I got these first because I read about everything Colin Hayley writes on the subject of tools for alpine climbing (Colin Hayley on Layering). He's annoyingly and consistently right, which is not surprising given the number of miles he has on his odometer and his intellect.  The latter seems healthy and high functioning in spite of some youthful indiscretions of his own admission (who has times for psychedelics anymore anyway...) When some years ago he started writing about pants patterned on martial arts pants, or the old Gramicci gusseted crotch ones, I was interested. These were the best for high stepping and the kind of mobility climbing of any kind requires. And the M10 pants live up to that.

Some observers have asked if these relatively baggy pants don't get caught up in crampons. Not at all, and normally my pants are a patchwork of Tyvec tape (see above link.) They do exactly what they are supposed to do, and roll up into the size of a small (1-200 ml) water bottle. Jacket is similarly compact, maybe a 500 ml water bottle and much less weight. They are both masterpieces of brevity. Two chest pockets on the jacket and a two-way zipper for all your venting needs. A great hood which works well over a helmet and/or balaclava, and wrist cuffs which can go over or under gloves and mittens. Pants with a zipper to pee through, a thigh pocket, loops for attaching boot bungies, and a nicely rubberized waistband with no drawstring. It's as close to a perfect setup as I've ever had. 

I run warm and thought it was going to be too hot without zips to dump heat from the pants, and had the same concern for the M10 Jacket. Not so. Under the pants thus far (a cold winter in the northeast) I wear just a pair of Nano-Air pants (more on these to follow) and have never overheated in below freezing temperatures. As Mark Twight wrote, if it's above freezing and you're going alpine climbing, go home (most of the time.) I have skied with full kit and not overheated. I do shed the jacket on approaches, and for hard leads I just use it over a long john top and remove my mid layer (also Nano-Air). I'd probably shift to long johns under the pants for temperatures straddling freezing. It's a dynamite system and I have been tweaking mine for years. This beats other solutions by Patagonia, dead bird, TNF, Norrona and many other very fine manufacturers. I still use my tried and true Beringia setup for skiing, both touring and resort, but otherwise I'm all-in with this setup.