#166

Over the past few years we have see quite the increase in both customers and other people through our various channels in the search for the the most lightweight ski possible for Telemark skiing.
As the Telemark bindings have become more efficient for touring with bindings like LYNX, Meidjo, & TTS…people have looked to match their newfound bindings with lightweight ski options. BUT is that a good idea?
Today I’m going be discussing the topic of lightweight Telemark equipment. What to understand and how to inform your purchases.
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[@thomaskushner5728]

You compared weight to the maestrale XT, which is a pretty beefy AT boot. I'd be more interested to compare the tx pro with the maestrale RS. The RS is a 3 buckle boot as opposed to the XT which is 4 buckle. The RS is a sturdy enough boot to ski very hard while still being considerably lighter than the XT. My hope is that the upcoming scarpa boot(whenever it gets released) will be a 3 buckle boot with great range of motion, rather than another 4 buckle boot. You should also note that range of motion is an equally important feature(if not more important)

[@jasonwooden]

Keeping my fingers crossed too! There was a tele article on Outside mag today, written by a ski tester. He claims a lighter tele boot is on the way in the next couple of years. Says AT gear has plateaued and now the manufacturers will turn their attention back to tele. He predicts the new boot will lead a revival of tele in the backcountry. Could be right!

[@jasonwooden]

Breaking! Voile just announced on the Backcountry podcast they are adding a tele-specific mounting plate to their Hyper line!! SO stoked! I guess that means there is a market for lightweight tele gear after all. Hey Scarpa, you paying attention??

[@FreeheelLife]

Been seeing this for a few years behind the scenes so will be interesting as it comes to market. - Madsen

[@gkam33]

Thanks Josh!

[@FreeheelLife]

You bet! - Madsen

[@matthewhoffer5116]

Love the stoke Josh. We need a more touring oriented NTN boot with a better range of motion in the heel for touring and a breathable liner like Solomon uses. Meidjo 3.0 paired with K2 Wayback 96 and 106 have been working out great for me the past 3 seasons. 96 for firmer days, 106 for powder days. I clock almost 100 days a year. I broke one pair of 96 in BC last year, K2 warrantied it. Stoked to try the new Dispatch 101 this year. I’m 5’7 175lbs and charge.

[@jasonwooden]

Great discussion! Josh is a former Telemark Free Ride competitor, and spends many days a season shredding knar at Alta. These are environments where the tele skier should choose a hardwood core/heavier ski. As a more conservative skier, primarily seeking BC pow and corn, I feel like I'm able to get away with light-weight skis. I've been skiing the BD Link 90 with a paulownia core for a couple of seasons, using a NTN-tech binding of my own design (with a 22 Designs 6-hole pattern) without any problems....so far (knock on paulownia). That said, I personally would not mount a brand-new pair of $800 Voile Hyper Mantis with the Lynx and hit the skin track. There are many light-weight AT skis on the used market for under $250 sans bindings that you can experiment with, and not cry if a binding pulls out (as long as you can safely limp it back to the trailhead). But I'm here to tell you, shaving just a couple of pounds off each foot is a game-changer. My Voile V8-Lynx-TXpro w/skins come in at a whopping 10 lbs per foot! Toss in a little sticky snow and I'm slogging over 20 pounds on my feet up the skin track. Uggghh. Last season I did an 18-mile traverse with this set-up and my quads were absolutely toast by the end. Wrong tool for the job, but what is a telemark skier to do?? The Link 90s (in the same length as my V8s) knock an amazing 3lbs off that total and I really wish I had used them instead. Now if I could just get lighter boots! Actual TX Pro numbers (not advertised) are in order. My 29.5s are over 9 lbs /pair (maybe all the sweat in my liners make the difference? ). For comparison, my kid's Atomic Backlands (comparable AT boot) in the same size are 6 lbs / pair. His total skin-tack foot weight with Blizzard Zero-G 95s+Dynafit Radicals+Skins is 15 lbs vs my 20lbs! Oh what we put up with for our tele turns.

[@edrickert7807]

Had to look up the core of my lightweight sick day tourists. Happy to say I’ve been proving that it’s the mount that matters! Lightweight balsa has been holding up for three seasons cranking turns on outlaw x. 👍

[@jbrody11]

Yeah, but you know that old saying... 1 hamster on your foot is like 5 on your back.

[@jasonwooden]

LoL!! This comment deserves more likes!!

[@FreeheelLife]

I've never personally bought into the idea of that, but like is said in the pod, to each their own. - Madsen

[@jbrody11]

@@FreeheelLife Just joshing with you, Josh. I'd be stoked to have 5 hamsters in my pack. Cutest transitions ever!

[@seanmurphy7684]

I have ripped a Lynx out of a Dynafit Beast 108 (Arcing GS turns on groomers inbounds... that's on me). Replaced the Beasts with Voile V6 BCs for a nice low angle powder lap setup that can also handle a few inbound laps and have had no problems since :) My "lightweight" setup is F1s, TTS, mounted on Faction Agent 1.0 ski found on heavy discount (1450G @ 178CM, Koruba woodcore, but feels burlier than the old Beasts). I think the rest of the weight savings I can get are by swapping to a more minimal race style tech toe, and trying to find a ski that's lighter but still won't blow up. Fingers crossed some old skimo race skis show up on craigslist soon!

[@jasonwooden]

I found Skimo skis to only be good for Skimo. Take a look at the Voile Objective or something similar, love mine.

[@seanmurphy7684]

@@jasonwooden yep, those are definitely on my short list, as well as the dynafit blacklight 95. I've been very impressed by my V6's so far.

[@jasonwooden]

@@seanmurphy7684 yeah, Voile has some magic pixie dust they sprinkle into their ski lay-ups. Never skied a bad one.

[@donsigalet7620]

Change that to metal over hard wood mounting area eg G3 Seeker

[@donsigalet7620]

Get a ski with metal at mounting area

[@donsigalet7620]

Change that to metal over hard wood mounting area. eg G3 Seeker