Mountain Guide Drills Holes In The Tails Of Brand New Skis To Improve Backcountry Functionality
Mountain guide Mark Smiley recently drilled a hole straight through a new pair of Atomic Bent 100s to improve the skis' backcountry functionality.
It's a gear modification that certainly isn't for the faint of heart—you blow this, and you've blown a pair of skis.
Several commenters weighed on Smiley's move, curious about why he did it (keeping skin tail clips more secure, Smiley says).
Another group of skiers raised a counterpoint: why bother with tail clips at all? They asked.
Smiley had a response to these queries, too. "I used skins with no tail clips for years in Crested Butte, CO (dry snow). It's not until bigger tours where tail clips can make the difference," he explained, noting that using skins without clips becomes troublesome on long, multi-transition tours.
It's not the first backcountry gear Frankenstein project Smiley's embarked on.
Recently, he uploaded a video of himself taking a saw to a pair of crampons, jury-rigging a new confabulation that saved several grams of weight and made the crampons more compatible with the Mammut Nordwand 6000 boot.
Backcountry touring and ski mountaineering clearly tick a certain obsessive box amongst a sub-sect diehard skiers.
Just remember: If you find yourself inspired by Smiley's craftmanship, be prepared to void your gear warranties.
Related: East Coast Skiers Are Radder Than You
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