Summer has been going on for a while. Most people are out enjoying the sun, biking, climbing, running, and getting after it. But there have been a lot of comments about winter lately. The building stoke for the season to come. People are swinging by the shop researching ski shapes, and deciding on what models to buy. There are a lot of models of skis out there, some poorly designed but well marketed, and others extremely well thought out, built to perform, and marketed a touch less.

Discussing ski touring boots is a dirty addiction of mine, as I have yet to find the holy grail of touring footwear: a progressively-flexed, tight yet comfortable, light yet burly boot that, whether tongue or overlap, delivers enough power to smear & slash DPS Lotus 138s, stomp cornices, and pull off tight turns in adverse conditions including windcrust and sastrugi.

Stoked!  The Plum Guide is here in North America, and it's insanely nice!  Plum, a CNC company out of France, who create cutting edge designs in the ski mountaineering binding game.  Having already cornered the market on the super light race bindings, the Race 135's, 145's, and 185's, now have a binding for the burly ski mountaineers looking for a higher DIN.
 
 
 

So like most of you, over the last couple of years I have witnessed a multitude of unique and unorthodox ski designs on the feet of our fellow skiers whilst standing in the lineup. The industry is awash in new theories and configurations that promise new and improved performance. Tip rocker, tail rocker, full rocker, early rise, low rise, negative camber, no camber, positive camber… on and on. The whole thing can be intimidating when faced with a decision to retire those old narrow boards or to step into a new category that you hadn’t even known existed. Simply put… it is bloody confusing to know what is the right set of features or design aspects that will give your feet wings.

Here in North America we are usually the last to see the latest in greatest gear on the Ski Mountaineering Race side of the sport; but those days have come to an end.  Plum Bindings, is now distributing in Canada!  I've been watching this brand for a number of years and am really excited to see them here.
 
 
 

We backcountry folk are living in a time of unprecedented plenty. The advancements in product design in the last 5 years is remarkable. Better boots, skis, bindings, avy gear…all of it making alpine touring easier, more comfortable and safer. No where have the advancements been as significant in these last few years as in the boots that are now available to us. They are lighter, more comfortable, ski like alpine boots should, but go uphill with an efficiency unknown previously. Dynafit has been a brand at the forefront of these product developments and their new boots are arguably the state of the art. Prepare to be impressed.

For all those people who have yet to realize that race boots like the Dynafit Dy.N.A, are fully capable of handling steep crazy terrain, the new Dynafit TLT 5 boot may be the answer. Boots such as these, are unbelievably light, stiff, and are better to climb in than conventianal touring boots. They provide the same amount of stiffness as boots such as the Garmont Radium, are half the weight, only weighing in at 1115g with a tongue! The walk mode is easily the most beautiful part of the boot, which extend your stride a massive distant building speed and allowing you to move long distances in a short amount of time.

With new crazy light versions of "tech" bindings out on the market, companies like ATK, Colibri, Merreli, Montura, etc, really had the race market in a new era of lightweight gear. Dynafit has met the demand, of insanely light gear, and ramped up the competition between companies with the revamped version of the Low Tech's. Weighing in at 117g per binding (toe and heel), the sleek new design is hard to miss. I had seen the new version awhile ago, while Dynafit had been keeping it undercover and hush hush, but now that the Outdoor Retailer show is going on it's available for the world to discover. I asked Pete Swenson to get some closeups for this post.

The future of Ski Mountaineering, is moving faster, longer, and covering larger expanses of terrain. When choosing an objective for your days off, trip of the year, or whatever you feel is right, why not add another few peaks or steep lines to your day. Why ski one face, when you could enchain five? Our goals and imaginations begin to exceed our gear, and ski companies are expected to fill the need and demand for the tools we require. Meet the Scarpa Maestrale Boot. Designed to be burly enough to handle new progressive and aggressive styles, but also to be light, and walk effectively.