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haas
Dec 7, 2005, 3:55 PM
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Registered: Apr 27, 2005
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Does anyone know of any ski bindings that I can put on an AT ski that are compatible with plastic mountaineering boots? I've seen the Silverton 5000, but was wondering if there were others.
Mainly I want to do some 14ers in the winter in Colorado that I can use skies to approach and descend with, but use crampons for a more technical approach without having to change my boots. Also, I plan to return to do more climbing in Alaska and after watching everyone blow by me on my snowshoes, I don't want to repeat that again.
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jasona
Dec 7, 2005, 5:07 PM
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Look below as there are several recent posts on this. Bottom line is there are not a lot of choices and none of them are cheap. $350 and up generally. Silvretta, Fritschi, and naxos are the only current options I know of. Start here.
http://www.mgear.com/pages/product/Search_Results_Endeca_New.asp?lpos=leftnav&N=1066&Nu=p%5Frollup&Ntx=mode%5Fmatchallpartial&Ns=p%5Fpopular%7C0%7C%7Cp%5Fname%7C0&Ntk=s%5Fsearch
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weekendclimber
Dec 8, 2005, 6:08 PM
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Silvretta 404's or 500's would be the best option. You should only have to make sure they have the wire bail up front for them to work with your boots. There are also some old Ramer's that will work if you can find a pair.
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modman
Dec 8, 2005, 6:15 PM
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I think all AT gear takes mountaineering boots. The standard for sole length is 5mm i.e. the leangth of your boot sole should be divisible by 5.
I am wondering about downhill boots on AT bindings myself. I will post here as soon as I have tested it! :D
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weekendclimber
Dec 8, 2005, 6:28 PM
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In reply to: I think all AT gear takes mountaineering boots.
I don't think this is true, though I have been wrong many times before. Many of the newer AT bindings specifically say that they only work with an AT boot and not mountaineering type boots.
I decided to go with the climbing in my AT ski boots with more emphasis on the skiing rather than skiing in my climbing boots. Personal decision though, so take it with a grain of salt
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jumar
Dec 8, 2005, 10:03 PM
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I got some ski blades that work with my plastic boots. But you can't ski up with them. You'd have to posthole or snowshoe. I like them because of how small, and light they are for descents from climbs.
But ever since I switch to leather boots for climbing I don't use them...
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pico23
Dec 9, 2005, 12:46 AM
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In reply to: Silvretta 404's or 500's would be the best option. You should only have to make sure they have the wire bail up front for them to work with your boots. There are also some old Ramer's that will work if you can find a pair.
I have an old set of ramers. Military issue. Bomber but...you need to replace the bails front and rear with something from a crampon. I used foot fangs F/R bails.
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pico23
Dec 9, 2005, 12:49 AM
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In reply to: I think all AT gear takes mountaineering boots. The standard for sole length is 5mm i.e. the leangth of your boot sole should be divisible by 5. I am wondering about downhill boots on AT bindings myself. I will post here as soon as I have tested it! :D
Not at all. increasingly they don't work or work well with mountaineering boots. The newer crop of bindings is specific to AT boots which are pretty stout and designed for skiing rather than technical climbing.
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maldaly
Dec 9, 2005, 1:06 AM
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The Silveretta 404 are the classic binders to use with mtn boots. Be aware, however, that the release function of any of these AT binders presumes that you have a real (AT) boot on, not a mtn boot. There is no way you can apply the same release torque on a binding w/ mtn boots than you can with AT boots. Regardless, this combination is used all the time for approaches.
Mal
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gottarock
Dec 9, 2005, 2:14 AM
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first... Fritchi and Naxo bindings are compatible with AT or Alpine (downhill) boots only, they will not work with mountaineering boots. As mentioned in a couple of above reply's your best bet is the Silveretta 404 or 500. The toe-bales are similar to a step-in crampon and will work with most mountaineering boots. They will get you where you want to go but I wouldn't suggest any 'extreme' skiing... the release mechinism is not as efficent as other current bindings.
As far as ski's go.... you do not need an AT specific ski. A used or even better a new pair of 2 or 3 season old ski's (that are sale for $100-150) will work great.
Equally important... climbing skins. You can't travel uphill without them. Hard to find used skins.... so suck it up and pay the price. Since you will be hauling gear you will want skins that are as wide as the base of your ski's. If you take care of the skins they will last a long time. I've got probably 150 days on a 4 yr old pair of Ascenions and they finally need a glue job. I expect to get another 100 days out of them after the reglue.
I'm not going into the subject of beacons , shovels , probes and avalanche education.... but if you are gonna travel in the back country... be prepared.
hope this helps. good luck and have fun.
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method
Dec 16, 2005, 7:22 PM
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i have had fritchi freerides for 2 years now and have toured numerous times with my koflachs. though im not sure if they are actually designed for this combination, they obviously work.
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rocknap
Dec 16, 2005, 8:31 PM
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Registered: May 18, 2004
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be careful going with the silvretta 404's. I don't know about the 500's, but the "universal" 404's that I got don't fit any of my boots properly. the toe wire is too tall and doesn't fit the groove on my koflach's. see http://rockclimbing.com/topic/102767 for pics.
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cgailey
Dec 16, 2005, 8:40 PM
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In reply to: be careful going with the silvretta 404's. I don't know about the 500's, but the "universal" 404's that I got don't fit any of my boots properly. the toe wire is too tall and doesn't fit the groove on my koflach's. see http://rockclimbing.com/topic/102767 for pics.
500's work great for plastics...they'll even work with stiff leathers with grooves front and back..
I use 300's with both my koflach Arctis and sportiva Lhotse's. They definitely work better with the koflachs, but are sufficient with the leathers for what I do with them.
If you are setting up approach skis, I would go with a short waxless ski that is more straight than shaped...there are lots of fairly cheap options for this.
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haas
Dec 16, 2005, 10:05 PM
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Registered: Apr 27, 2005
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thanks for all the help. I think I'm going to try the Silveretta 500s. I have plenty of backcountry experience climbing and avalanche knoweldge, I just want to climb some 14ers out here in the winter with a bit more speed to the couloirs and down the mtn. Snowshoes are great and all, just so damn slow
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