It is fairly terrifying to trust a strip of fuzzy fabric to keep you from careening backwards down a steep, snowy ski hill while trying to climb up it. That fuzz鈥檚 friction is all I could think about the first time I splitboarded up Steamboat, Colorado鈥檚 blue runs at seven a.m. while my family was still nestled in their beds in the condo nearby. I had only ever splitboarded once before on demo gear, so I was putting a lot of faith in my new skins affixed to the bottom of my that I鈥檇 just bought myself for Christmas.

For the uninitiated, a splitboard is a snowboard that splits into two halves (that almost look like skis). Attach climbing skins to the bottom of each half, and you can walk uphill; when you get to the top of your climb, rip the skins off and reconnect the board into one piece to snowboard downhill like on any regular snowboard. Most use splitboards for accessing backcountry powder, but they can also be used inbounds at resorts that allow uphilling. Though I鈥檇 ski toured (walking uphill on skis) a few times, I鈥檓 a terrible downhill skier and have been snowboarding for 20+ years.

My new toy had me giddy at the thought of getting in a workout while going uphill, and carving sweet turns on the down on my preferred type of plank. I like to say a splitboard is the of winter equipment, an analogy my younger son doesn鈥檛 appreciate as much as I think he should.

That first morning in Steamboat, I鈥檇 intended to go up the easy, green-run route for a bit and turn around. That was the plan, but my inner endurance junkie spotted a fit guy heading up a steeper route, and so I followed. And when he disappeared over the crest of the hill, I continued to follow. I ended up climbing a second steep run, praying to God, Mother Nature, and the Patron Saint of Reliable Gear that I鈥檇 both affixed my skins correctly, and that they鈥檇 grip the snow as I climbed and traversed.

Miraculously, the skins did what skins are supposed to do, the fuzzy side grabbing hold of the snow and giving me traction. (Skins remind me of petting a dog in the wrong direction of their fur; it鈥檚 the wrong-way 鈥渇ur鈥� that takes hold.) I managed to make it to the Thunderhead Lodge after a 1.7-mile, 2,119-foot climb that left me both exhausted and exhilarated.

At the top, I got a call from my doctor that I hadn鈥檛, in fact, torn my MCL from trying to tackle my teenage son in my kitchen a week prior (I got an MRI the day we drove to Steamboat). I had KT Taped and braced my knee for the morning skin up, but the wobbly knee had contributed to my worry, making reliable skins even more critical. It was going to be a great day!

That morning, and on a few more outings, I struggled a bit with transitioning my board from two climbing planks to one rideable snowboard. I had to pull off the sticky skins, stick them to the plastic strip they come attached to (more experienced splitboarders than I skip this step and stick skins to each other), and shove them in my pack. I then had to convert my bindings (which I鈥檇 also gifted myself; I was really good last year) from walk- to ride-mode. This involves sliding the bindings off their base鈥攁 rather ingenious contraption鈥攖o face sideways for snowboarding downhill rather than forward, as they do for walking uphill on the split planks. This step was smooth, only because the two guys at my local shop spent hours sanding down the base for me. (Spark鈥檚 website says setting up the base for a smooth glide might require someone to 鈥渟and lightly.鈥� The extra sanding could have been due to an alignment set-up issue.) And yes, I owe Matt and Mason at Epic Sports a case of beer.

But there was some futzing and swearing during the transformation of the system during a snow-dump of an outing, when I just wanted to cruise the powder after my climb and couldn鈥檛 efficiently get the board connected. Four clips connect the board in the middle, but it can be challenging to get the two pieces aligned perfectly so there鈥檚 no middle edge to catch.

As I sweated and swore, I reminded myself that frustration is just part of learning how to use new gear, which is good and healthy. Neuroscience has told us that learning new skills can ward off memory loss and dementia, give us confidence, and contribute to our overall happiness. Besides the thrill of learning to trust the skins on the steeps, and the satisfaction of mastering the challenge of assembling my bindings and transformer board, I got an additional reward from my new skills: making buttery turns in untouched powder before the lifts start spinning.

As a 鈥渟easoned鈥� (a euphemism) gear reviewer and adventure athlete, being challenged to learn a new setup, system, or toy feels especially rewarding and healthy. It鈥檚 put me to the test in an area I thought I had mastered long ago: outdoor gear.

The next challenge is to take an avalanche awareness course before I hit the backcountry and ride out-of-bounds terrain beyond low-angle slopes in the trees. I might enroll in one this spring. But so far this winter, these new toys鈥攁nd figuring out how to use them鈥攈ave put a powder-eating grin on my face.

The post My New Splitboard Sometimes Frightens and Frustrates Me鈥擳hat鈥檚 One Reason I Love It appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The year I moved from beachy San Diego to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, Colorado, I decided to learn how to skate ski. All the endurance athletes around here are doing it, I thought, and I considered myself among that crew. I rented a pair of slightly banged up Fischer SCS demo skis from the local outdoor shop and headed to North Boulder Park, where, graciously, the Boulder Nordic Club grooms skate and classic tracks when enough snow falls in town. I had no idea what I was doing, but I hacked my way around.

I鈥檇 fall and I鈥檇 get back up. I鈥檇 watch all the much better skiers and try to mimic them, my arms and legs flailing about.

I kept at it on those beater skis and bought them for cheap at the end of that season. I skied on them for years. I got better, and eventually, I wasn鈥檛 the slowest person at North Boulder Park. The movement of skate skiing鈥攁nd improving at it鈥攂ecame addicting. I had fallen in love with it and looked forward to winter when I could kick my own ass skating laps around the park (anyone who鈥檚 ever tried skate skiing knows it鈥檚 a remarkably efficient way to get in a full-body anaerobic workout).

Years later, I got myself a pair of fancy skis. My Madshus Redline 3.0 skate skis make me a little embarrassed when I take them into the shop to get waxed. I don鈥檛 feel worthy of them. I get the sense the skis feel the same way. I have a hard time controlling their lightness, their speed. I鈥檓 so used to my old setup from 21 years ago that even after a couple winters of owning the new, top-of-the-line pair, I have some living up to do.

I鈥檝e asked a couple experts why I have a hard time with my new skis. I was taking a winter biathlon lesson at Colorado鈥檚 Devil鈥檚 Thumb Ranch, where a seasoned instructor named Jon taught me how to shoot a rifle at a target and eyed my fancy skis. I told him they felt a little unwieldy to me. He nodded, knowingly, and pointed to my boots.

The new skis had a new binding system, which I was upset about when I first got them as I had to buy new boots that were compatible. I didn鈥檛 want to spend a lot so I got an almost-entry-level pair. Big mistake. Lower-end boots on high-end skis is a bad combination, and I should know better. Energy transfer from foot and body to the ski needs to be as efficient as possible to control a fast, light ski. Lower-end boots tend to be more comfortable than high-end boots, but that also means that there鈥檚 more interior padding, which can absorb energy. As soon as Jon mentioned as much, I could not get the idea of my boots holding me back out of my head.

Once I invested in higher-end boots to match my higher-end skis, my skate technique got a little less sloppy. But after two years on my new kit, I still feel like I鈥檓 trying to catch up to my gear. And I still, sometimes, reach for my old skis and old boots.

I鈥檓 not alone, it turns out. Ex-professional Nordic ski racer David Norris is sponsored by Rossignol and coaches at Steamboat鈥檚 esteemed Winter Sports Club, which regularly turns out Olympians. 鈥淎ll through high school and college I trained on ten-year-old beaters,鈥� he says.

And now, despite owning a fleet of top-of-the-line race skis, he reaches for his older skis regularly, though he admits that鈥檚 mostly about what he鈥檚 willing to ding up in non-ideal conditions. 鈥淢y fleet of skis are sort of organized like this: 鈥榬ock-rock skis,鈥� 鈥榬ock skis鈥�, training skis, and race skis.鈥�

I鈥檓 not a pro, so my personal fleet of skis are organized like this: 鈥榮kis I aim to grow into,鈥� and 鈥榮kis I鈥檓 comfortable on.鈥� I don鈥檛 want to ding up my old Fishers. I love them. (And according to Jon at Devil鈥檚 Thumb, those Fisher SCS skis were perhaps ahead of their time.)

If I entered a race, I suppose I鈥檇 reach for my new, fast skis, and hope I could manage my body well-enough to match them. Although, my old skis did carry me through a race in which I was over-my-head years ago. Fun and somewhat ridiculous story: In 2006, I found myself racing in the Winter Triathlon World Championships鈥攔unning on snow, riding a mountain bike on snow, and skate skiing (on my old demo skis)鈥攊n Sjusj酶en, Norway, and I wasn鈥檛 last.

My point is this: If you want to get into Nordic skiing, any old skis will do鈥攁t least initially. You don鈥檛 need to shell out big bucks to try skate or classic skiing. I don鈥檛 regret buying my initial pair of demo skis. Those beater skis were my gateway to a sport I now love. But when the time comes to upgrade to better gear, prepare yourself for a learning curve.

Nordic Gear Shopping Tips from a Pro

Winter Sports Club coach and ex-pro Norris emphasizes that, 鈥渙lder skis or a level below top-of-the line are still quite good,鈥� and that, 鈥渙ld gear won’t negatively impact a skier鈥檚 experience.鈥� (I am a personal testament to that.) He offers these pointers for those considering getting into skate or classic cross-country skiing this season:

Attend your town鈥檚 local ski swap.

鈥淢ost every ski town has a ski swap,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he swaps generally have good deals and often serve as a fundraiser for something such as the local high school team. A few hundred bucks at the right swap could get you a full skate set up.鈥�

Find boots that you鈥檙e happy with and double-check that the boots match up with the bindings of the skis you buy.

Older skis often have outdated bindings (SNS Pilot) that aren鈥檛 compatible with today鈥檚 boots, which are mostly made for the NNN (New Nordic Norm) system. Make sure your boots and skis match up, 鈥渆specially if you鈥檙e getting a Frankenstein set-up at a ski swap or on Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist,鈥� notes Norris.

Don鈥檛 worry about great poles.

The difference in higher-end poles is mostly in weight and stiffness to maximize power transfer. 鈥淓very skier would be very happy with the level of pole one or two steps below top-of-the-line,鈥� says Norris. 鈥淵ou get massive price savings and, functionally, they work well.鈥�

Lastly, know that a Nordic ski pass tends to be much more reasonable than an alpine ski pass. 鈥淥nce you get your ski gear,” says Norris, “you should have years of fairly low-cost fun and awesome exercise.”

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The Specs

Flex: 130
Last: 102 mm
Volume: High
Price: $700
Level: Advanced, Expert

Nordica鈥檚 redesigned Sportmachine 3 130 comes with a bevy of thoughtful features for larger skiers who want a boot they can really push. The brand has made serious leaps and bounds in the last few years for accommodating wider-footed skiers who still want their boots to perform at the highest level. The third generation Nordica Sportmachine 130 is an incredibly easy boot to manipulate and expand to fit the foot of anyone who wants to ski it.

Intermediate skiers shouldn鈥檛 be afraid of the 130 flex number. We found the Sportmachine to have an extremely progressive flex that is very easy to bend at the top of it and slowly stiffens as you drive deeper into the tongue of the boot. Flex is more often determined more by body type than ability so don鈥檛 be afraid to give a stiff boot like this a try.

Speaking of the plastic, we were impressed by Nordica鈥檚 Infrared PU, which holds punches very easily. Nordica has a neat infrared heating system that uses suction to make more room in the shell of the boot, but the plastic has proven to work great with the standard hydraulic expansions with which most boot fitters are familiar. The roomy instep height and forefoot of the shell combined with the excellent, thermo-moldable cork-reinforced liner makes for a stellar out-of-the-box fit that is easily customizable for people with bunions, bursas, and bone spurs.

We appreciated that the hardware on this boot is all easily modifiable with a simple hex key, instead of a series of rivets that have to be drilled out and replaced. This makes cuff and flex alignment as easy as using an allen wrench, and also makes it far easier to replace broken buckles or swap a power strap.

This boot鈥檚 progressive flex led to a wildly energetic rebound when pushed, especially on hard snow. When our testers drove the Nordica Sportmachine 3 130 into a turn, we found that it wanted to load up energy and then snap us onto our next outside edge. This boot was super fun to carve on and also felt really comfortable on steep windboard snow and firmer chalk. In rougher snow, the deeper flex pattern allowed the boot to remain calm, cool, and collected while skiing fast and making longer turns, but was very responsive laterally when we needed to either ride the rails or shut things down quickly.

In our experience, people with really wide feet tend to spend a lot of time in the boot shop, but we think made great strides with the Sportmachine 3 130 to streamline expansions and customizations and get people out on the hill faster, instead of sitting on the bench when the snow鈥檚 dumping outside. This boot will be great for people who think of themselves as 鈥渢ough fits,鈥� whether that means skiers who have had lower leg surgeries or just the various bumps and knobs that are a part of life. If you are an adept skier, but don鈥檛 want to cram yourself into a race fit anymore, check out this boot and save some time in the shop on your next trip.

Compare this boot to the other best alpine ski boots of the year

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The Specs

Flex: 130
Last: 98 mm
Volume: Low
Price: $800
Level: Expert

Rossignol lists its brand new Hi-Speed Elite 130 LV as an on-piste boot, but we think it will excel as an all-mountain boot for very hard charging skiers. Rossi is debuting a second generation of their and Lange鈥檚 Dual Core plastic, and infused carbon into the matrix to achieve a much-stiffer flexing beast. Dual Core is famous for that easy, progressive feeling at the top of the flex that eventually ramps up as you flex deeper into the tongue of the boot. But the Hi-Speed Elite 130 won鈥檛 feel squishy to anyone. This boot ramps up quicker and ends its flex stiffer than the previous Dual Core 130 boots. Our testers feel that it鈥檚 on the high end of the 鈥�130 flex鈥� spectrum.

All this is to say that the boot carves incredibly well on piste, but it鈥檚 also at home charging through mank and crud at high speeds. The top of the flex is still just soft enough to provide a good deal of suspension off-piste, which leads us to recommend this boot as a good freeride-ish option (it doesn鈥檛 have a walk mode) for serious skiers.

The Rossignol Hi-Speed Elite 130 LV is definitely a low-volume boot, especially in the forefoot by the fifth metatarsal, but is surprisingly roomy above the instep and in the heel. We recommend it for hard charging skiers with average-to-low volume feet or even wider-footed folk who don鈥檛 mind spending some time getting their boots dialed in. These boots will accept a variety of grinds and punches due to the thick, luxurious PU plastic and the liners are extremely plush鈥攖hey start out with too much volume for most skiers (compressing the metatarsal heads and cuneiform bones) but are quite customizable and heat moldable, so skiers with larger feet will be able to make the room they need.

‘s liner is well-constructed and warm, with stretchy 3M insulation that is mapped to the toes and forefoot where it鈥檚 needed most. The liner has obvious grinding panels that highlight areas in the high-density foam that will help boot fitters make room for skiers with bony naviculars, bunions, ankle bones, and 鈥渟ixth toe鈥� issues. The anatomical shape and good heel pocket will help skiers stay forward and prevent too much slop. Rossignol boots don鈥檛 tend to taper too much from the ball of the foot to the heel so extremely-skinny heeled or ankled skiers may need to watch their sizing on this boot, but skiers with average heels or with heel bursas will rejoice at the out-of-the-box fit.

One of our favorite parts of this boot was its customizability. The cuff of the boot has adjustable alignment through an easy-to-use hex key (Rossignol calls it canting but cuff alignment is different). You can adjust the flex to your liking via the bolts in the back of the cuff (also a hex key) and you can even adjust the forward lean with relative ease. The zeppa can be removed with a phillips head and ground to spec by a boot fitter as well. The boot comes with GripWalk soles but are replaceable with 5535 alpine soles if you prefer that configuration.

If you are a strong skier with an average-to-low volume foot and are looking for a boot that can deliver excellent power transfer on hard snow and can still charge through soft and chopped up snow, the Rossignol Hi-Speed 130 LV GW could be your glass slipper.

Compare this boot to the other best alpine ski boots of the year

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The Specs

Flex: 120
Last: 98-104 mm
Volume: Low
Price: $800
Level: Strong Intermediate, Advanced

It鈥檚 rare, in a time of knotted supply chains and economic uncertainties, for a brand to fully revamp a beloved product line. But in retiring the S/Max boot, and raising the S/Pro Alpha like a phoenix from the ashes, did something wholly unexpected. Perhaps we鈥檙e being a touch dramatic鈥攚e just really like this boot. On snow this boot felt very light and the best way to describe the flex pattern is snappy. It鈥檚 pretty stiff at the top of the flex and ramps up very quickly, then pops back upright the second you release the ski after the apex of the turn. This is a big difference from last year鈥檚 boot, which stiffened much later into the flex pattern, and makes it feel a little more able to control quick, slalom style turns.

Learn more: Tips For Getting Your Ski Boots Fitted

Much of the precision in the on-snow feel comes from the phenomenally tight calf-wrap of the new S/Pro Alpha 120. The cuff feels remarkably narrower than the past year鈥檚 model and this delivers zero play and immediate response. The lightweight PU construction also lent to a quicker feeling pivot in the steep, slushy bumps characteristic of Mammoth鈥檚 late spring.

That said, the tradeoff of less mass meant that the boot felt a touch harsh in really manky snow, and transmitted more feedback to the skier than heavier boots we tested. The tradeoff is worth it if you鈥檙e after an all-mountain boot that can deliver slalom-style precision without being punishing or cold in soft, mid-winter snow. You can also soften or stiffen the cuff with a simple twist of a star key.

The old Salomon S/Max fit the feet of a dedicated group of skiers incredibly well, but turned off many more with its, shall we say, sleek instep height. That concave scaffo caused both immense pain for tall-footed skiers and mental anguish for boot fitters, as the instep height is tricky to adjust. Salomon鈥檚 new 鈥�3D Instep鈥� is really just a switch to a more convex bulge over the problem area that will allow taller-but-still-narrow footed skiers to comfortably slither into the new S/Pro Alpha.

The change we liked even more is the instep buckle, no longer superfluous in terms of fit. Salomon moved the buckle higher toward the break of the boot, allowing it to act more like the middle buckle in a , cinching the ankle and moving the heel deeper into the heel pocket. This design change allowed the more bulbous instep to not compromise the boot鈥檚 heel hold. More room, still snug. If you do need any widening, this boot is fully heat-moldable, both shell and liner. This works exceptionally well for spot expansions, as they can be done on your feet instead of a standard punch.

We were able to test Salomon鈥檚 new 鈥淔ull Service鈥� version of the S/Pro Alpha 120 which impressed our testers, all of whom for the Men鈥檚 Alpine category are full time boot fitters. The first thing we noticed was that all of the buckles fastened with screws instead of rivets (praise be!) This will allow for greater longevity of the boot because your boot fitter will never have to drill out your rivets to replace buckles if they break. We also loved the liner鈥檚 unstitched tongue, which will provide incredibly easy access for additional padding once the stock foam begins to pack out.

SKI鈥檚 testers were uniformly impressed by Salomon鈥檚 attention to customer feedback, improving the fit and features of their low-volume offering in new and surprising ways. This boot skied and fit better than the S/Max, and is a worthy heir to its lineage. Skiers who have narrow feet but felt clamped by previous Salomon鈥檚 should take note, and those who had no problems beforehand should consider the leaps and bounds that the cuff fit and feel provide.

Compare this boot to the other best alpine ski boots of the year

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