The Future is Here

Just as Mark Twight, Steve House, Rolando Gariboti and others ushered in the era of fast and light, single-push alpine mountaineering with mind-blowing repeats and enchainments of routes all over the world, ski touring and ski mountaineering sit at the threshold of a similar breakthrough.

Due to the rising popularity of ski mountaineering racing, the industry has responded by engaging in a surge of technological breakthroughs in equipment and materials. These breakthroughs have then trickled down to the more modest touring sector creating a whole new quiver of superlight boots, skis and bindings. This equipment, combined with the skills developed while racing on ridiculously light gear, has created an environment where exceedingly long tours and traverses can be completed in previously unthinkable times.

Both ski mountaineering racing and fast and light climbing have inspired the development of related equipment such as packs, stoves, crampons and even food that further contributes to the progression of this admittedly fringe sport. Indeed, practitioners of the discipline admit that half the fun of completing these tours is getting the gear dialed to perfection. Margins of error are, of course, narrow and undertaking these lightly-equipped efforts are not for the faint of heart. One must approach any effort involving these Spartan techniques with eyes wide open for if something goes wrong, the consequences may be severe. Thus, route conditions and weather must be optimal to maximize chances of success and reduce objective risks as much as possible.

Of course, using stupidly light gear to do crazy things in the mountains is not necessarily new. As an aspiring mountaineer and skier, I remember having my imagination captured by reading about Ned Gillette, one of the greatest adventurers of our time, circumnavigating Everest in 1982 on what amounted to light touring skis equipped with 50mm racing bindings. Given the fact that he and his partners spent much of the time above 20,000 feet, the rest of the gear was not "light" by today's standards but the fact that he did it on the ski equipment that he did was truly cutting edge for the day and testimony to his visionary quality. Truth be told, when asked if he would ever travel in similar terrain on the same gear I believe he said, "No!". 

Unfortunately for all of us, Ned was murdered in Pakistan in the late 90's while doing another crazy trip with his wife. If he were alive today, I think he would celebrate the development of today's new touring gear. Whereas he understood the value of lightweight skis and boots for covering ground rapidly on skis in the mountains, he also lamented the downhill control this same gear failed to provide.

Oh how things have changed. It seems that all the big players in the industry have stepped up with lightweight boots to enter this growing market. Dynafit, La Sportiva, Garmont, Scarpa and some smaller custom producers (Pierre Gignoux) all have boots of carbon fiber or carbon/plastic hybrids available to those willing to kick down the substantial coin needed to own a pair. There are some durability issues that have arisen that makes taking them deep into the wilderness a little sketchy but hopefully these bugs will be worked out with future editions. There is a nice comprehensive review of the boots here.

Dynafit, once the sole ruler of the light alpine touring binding world, lost its patent on the so-called "tech binding" and now faces stiff competition from several manufacturers looking to grab their corner of the race and "fast and light" market. Skis, of course, have followed suit with many available here and in Europe with plenty of foam and carbon fiber to go around. Durability, once again, becomes a big issue and consumers must be fully aware of the risks here. Ski Trab, a long-time player in the rando race world, remains the gold standard in terms of performance and durability of a 164 cm ski with a 64 mm waist. Stupid light is the only way to describe their World Cup model and they must be lifted to be believed. The fact that we can rip down mogul runs and reasonably navigate boot top powder on them in skimo races is testimony to their versatility. I'm not saying I'm getting rid of my wider powder skis but for long-ass traverses, these little skis are more than up to the task once you get your mind around the idea of what you are actually doing on these toothpicks.

So what, exactly, is being done on this gear? First of all, we've been racing hard on this stuff for several years. Although the sport is relatively new to North America, it is a full-blown World Cup sport in Europe with races every week throughout the Alps and Spain. There is sponsorship money to be had and a modicum of notoriety for the best performers. Even doping is seen at the highest levels.

In addition to the one-day races, there are several multi-day stage races that further test the endurance and skills of the athletes. Even with these events covering dozens of kilometers and upwards of 10,000 vertical meters, they are still relatively contrived events with course markings, fixed ropes and reasonable avalanche control.

More impressive is the adventure skiing that is now taking place using this gear. One need not look any farther than what happened recently on the quitessential ski tour of the world, the famed Haute Route from Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland. The normally 8-day traverse covering 111 miles and 27,500 vertical feet through he heart of the alps from charming mountain hut to hut was completed by a pair of French skimo racers in a stunning 20 hrs 28 minutes! Holy crap! Do you have any idea how BURLY that is??? Hard to even fathom. This article recaps it nicely. For you Francophiles out there, you can catch a video and interview with the participants here. 

Talk about exploring the limits. Well, you don't have to cross the Atlantic to find similar madness going on closer to home. Recently, Jared Inouye and partners Bart Gillespie and Andy Dorais completed the coveted WURLOS (Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Link-up On Skis). I don't really know the history of this traverse but with all the backcountry skiers in the Salt Lake area I'm sure it's rich. Nevertheless, doing it in a single push is rare, indeed, and from what it sounds like, it has never been done the way these guys did it recently. Jared covers the route and all the gory details at length in his blog. It took a few recons and at least as many stubborn attempts to finally pull it off. The stats look like this: 28-30 miles, 16,300 vertical feet up, 17,300 down, 14 11K foot peaks ascended, 21.5 hours. Ouch! Aside from crossing a ski area or two, not a hut or re-supply in sight. Nice work, boyz!

I have a feeling that the maniacs up in the Great White North (um, Canada) are up to similar antics and scheming as we speak. My Teton-oriented brain is certainly connecting the dots. So, what's next? Well, the sky's the limit really. The gear is about there (durability issues notwithstanding). Certainly there is no shortage of athleticism in the skimo world. We just need some vision, perhaps a GPS to get through the night, enough cajones to take on the project, and the right conditions. We get to make up the rules as we go which means, for now, there are no rules. Cache food or not. Use friends to help break trail over sections or do it all yourself. Tag the summits or go around. Your call. Just tell it like it is afterwards if you want us to know about it. Or keep it to yourself. And remember, one-piece Lycra suits are optional but recommended because, well, uh.... they just are. Get after it! - Brian

Comments

[Jared]

Hey Brian. Well-written article. Thanks. Partners were Bart Gillespie (pro mountain bike racer turned skimo racer) and Andy Dorais (climber/collegiate track runner turned skimo racer).

I have full confidence in my skis and bindings. Boots? Not so much. But think about where we were 5 years ago with the first generation F1. The DyNA blows the F1 away in my mind, and it looks like next year Scarpa will have the Alien -- no bellows, carbon cuff, big ankle articulation, light weight. Garmont's offering looks suspect since there is no cuff lock mechanism. The carbon boots are for racing, and I don't trust them for hardcore ski mountaineering.

Skimo gear has definitely filtered down to the normal, everyday tourer in Europe. My impression is that the euro ski touring crowd understands and embraces the fast and light. -- in Andorra, I walked into a shop that sold tennis raquets, golf clubs, alpine ski gear, Dynafits, Trabs, ATK, and rando race suits! In the Wasatch or North America for that matter, it's hard to find skimo gear. And when you wear/use it, people look at you funny. People are surprised to know that you can ski on 164 cm 64 mm waisted skis. Of course, the ski culture is quite different here than it is across the pond, but there is no reason why we can't join in the fun and liberating style of covering lots of ground and lots of vert.