- Joined
- Aug 24, 2017
- Posts
- 364
Hey folks,
I think it's interesting and instructive to think about the boundaries of back country skiing...what the very best skiers in the world can do.
It puts everything else in perspective, and in some way it helps us figure our where we fit into skiing, what ski touring means for us, and what equipment might be appropriate.
Just to be clear, I'm not an extreme skier at all...but it's still fascinating to know what the best can do.
On one end of the spectrum is fast, wide open skiing on steep, big mountains
The best example is probably La Liste. Here's the link where you can watch it on Red Bull:
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/films/la-liste
Many people have probably seen this. It's hard to comprehend, really, what Jereme Heitz is doing...he makes it look so effortless. High speed GS style turns on fifty or sixty degree ice faces that you ascend with two ice tools and crampons. One way to get some understanding is watch the way other incredibly experienced skiers, alpinists, and guides descend the same faces...with a series of short, linked hop turns. What Jeremie does is mind blowing.
The sequel will hopefully soon be out, La Liste 2. Here's the trailer:
Jeremie and his partner in crime, Simon Anthamatten, take their game to the 6,000 meter peaks in the Himalaya. Again, hard to comprehend.
Listen to the Blister podcast with Simon about the project, and some gear choices.
https://blisterreview.com/podcasts/...skiing-la-liste-2-the-fwt-gear-choices-ep-158
Considering the turns they are making, the speeds, the forces, the consequences...Simon judged that the best system for him was CAST binding (switching out his light touring bindings on the up for Look Pivots on the down) with Race Plug boots. Yes, heavy, race plug boots to climb up technical alpine 6,000 meters peaks, and ski down. My understanding is that both skiers use mid-width, directional, very strong skis, probably weighing close to 2,000 grams or more. Again, it kind of puts our whole conception of ski touring and touring gear into perspective.
On the other end of the spectrum is extremely technical skiing, in extremely steep terrain.
This game usually requires ropes, anchors, rappels, and so on. I think most of these folks use very light ski mountaineering boots, bindings, and skis. The skis probably weigh around 1,000 or 1,200 grams. In some ways, it hard to even think of it as skiing. The skis are like long, light, stiff, carbon fiber crampons, to step, hop, scrape, and slide down the mountain.
There are many videos out there (do a Google search for "Vivian Bruchez")
I love the videos from Paul Bonhomme. Here's an example:
You can explore the additional videos that appear in the sidebar to get a sense of what he and his contemporaries do in the Alps.
Here's one of my favorites. It's called "J'peux pas sauter là!" which means "I can't jump there!"
Aaaahhhhhhhh...Crazy! Again, again, it's hard to think of that as skiing!
OK folks, that's all I've got right now. Enjoy!!!
I think it's interesting and instructive to think about the boundaries of back country skiing...what the very best skiers in the world can do.
It puts everything else in perspective, and in some way it helps us figure our where we fit into skiing, what ski touring means for us, and what equipment might be appropriate.
Just to be clear, I'm not an extreme skier at all...but it's still fascinating to know what the best can do.
On one end of the spectrum is fast, wide open skiing on steep, big mountains
The best example is probably La Liste. Here's the link where you can watch it on Red Bull:
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/films/la-liste
Many people have probably seen this. It's hard to comprehend, really, what Jereme Heitz is doing...he makes it look so effortless. High speed GS style turns on fifty or sixty degree ice faces that you ascend with two ice tools and crampons. One way to get some understanding is watch the way other incredibly experienced skiers, alpinists, and guides descend the same faces...with a series of short, linked hop turns. What Jeremie does is mind blowing.
The sequel will hopefully soon be out, La Liste 2. Here's the trailer:
Jeremie and his partner in crime, Simon Anthamatten, take their game to the 6,000 meter peaks in the Himalaya. Again, hard to comprehend.
Listen to the Blister podcast with Simon about the project, and some gear choices.
https://blisterreview.com/podcasts/...skiing-la-liste-2-the-fwt-gear-choices-ep-158
Considering the turns they are making, the speeds, the forces, the consequences...Simon judged that the best system for him was CAST binding (switching out his light touring bindings on the up for Look Pivots on the down) with Race Plug boots. Yes, heavy, race plug boots to climb up technical alpine 6,000 meters peaks, and ski down. My understanding is that both skiers use mid-width, directional, very strong skis, probably weighing close to 2,000 grams or more. Again, it kind of puts our whole conception of ski touring and touring gear into perspective.
On the other end of the spectrum is extremely technical skiing, in extremely steep terrain.
This game usually requires ropes, anchors, rappels, and so on. I think most of these folks use very light ski mountaineering boots, bindings, and skis. The skis probably weigh around 1,000 or 1,200 grams. In some ways, it hard to even think of it as skiing. The skis are like long, light, stiff, carbon fiber crampons, to step, hop, scrape, and slide down the mountain.
There are many videos out there (do a Google search for "Vivian Bruchez")
I love the videos from Paul Bonhomme. Here's an example:
You can explore the additional videos that appear in the sidebar to get a sense of what he and his contemporaries do in the Alps.
Here's one of my favorites. It's called "J'peux pas sauter là!" which means "I can't jump there!"
Aaaahhhhhhhh...Crazy! Again, again, it's hard to think of that as skiing!
OK folks, that's all I've got right now. Enjoy!!!