How to Shop for Your First Backcountry Setup: Part II

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Last week, as part of our Intro to Backcountry Month - Presented by BCA I laid out some general guidelines for shopping for your first backcountry setup. But, each piece of gear is different, shopping for skis is a unique process than looking for new boots, or new bindings. So we're back with a little breakdown of specifics for each part of your setup.

Safety Equipment

This is the last place to skimp, and thus the place where we have the least advice. Buy a new, modern transceiver, with three antennas. Put the nice batteries in it. Amazon Basics is fine for your headlamp, but do you really want Daddy Bezos in your beacon? Do not buy a used beacon, especially if it’s from a brand with multiple recalls.

Depending on how much you practice, and what your snowpack is like, probes can end up being almost disposable. They take a lot of abuse, and when they fail, it’s generally spectacular and total. So buy a new one, preferably aluminum, preferably longer than you think you’ll need. You can get fancy with shorter probes and carbon down the road, if you’re starting to do big spring missions or skimo races.

There’s a common wisdom in skiing that you should get the biggest shovel possible, with a D handle. And that’s not wrong, but I think sometimes it gets applied a little woodenly. Get a decent sized shovel that’s well built, and one that you’re confident you can move a lot of snow with quickly. Often really huge shovels are a pain to fit in your pack, and are actually less efficient in firm avalanche debris.

A good litmus test is to imagine yourself buried–would you be ok with your partner using your shovel to dig you out, or would you wish they had something a little more substantial? If you buy too big of a shovel initially, it can always find a second home in your car when you upgrade to a lighter one. But don’t ever buy a convenience store shovel and throw it in your backcountry pack. It may look similar, but it won’t be tested to the same standards.

Skis

Familiarity is your friend. It’s frustrating to see so many new skiers jump to lightweight, insubstantial skis right out the gate. It’s a common mistake, and one I made myself, but being on a ski you’re confident on, regardless of conditions outweighs (literally) any efficiency concerns. If you have a favorite all-mountain ski that weighs less than 2200 grams, consider just using that as your touring ski. If you’re lucky, the brand makes a slightly lighter version, like Moment’s Deathwish Tour or Salomon’s QST Echo, that keeps the same shape in a more efficient package. But if not, don’t fixate on the weight. Most new backcountry skiers are getting into it for the skiing, not the walking, after all.

Backcountry bindings and boots ski really differently than most inbounds skiers are used to. Combine that with an unfamiliar, lightweight ski, and you’ve got a recipe for frustration. The difference between 1600 and 2000 g skis is not the deciding factor on if someone is slow in the mountains or not. It’s not an excuse, and wasting good snow because you’re uncomfortable on your lightweight skis, or, even worse, endangering yourself because they’re hard to ski is absolutely not worth it.

Light skis are fun, they’re a hoot, but they can wait until you’re sure that’s what you’re after. There are too many low weight, high-zoot, carbon touring setups for sale on Facebook Marketplace because folks spent a bunch of money prematurely. You don’t need to add to that number.

Boots

Anneka has an awesome piece on shopping for touring boots coming soon, but here are some general pointers.

If you already have a pair of inbounds boots you really like, consider getting a pure touring boot, instead of a 50/50 boot. Look at boots in the 1200-1600 g range, with good walk modes, optimized for backcountry use. Boots like the Scarpa Maestrale, Dynafit Radical Pro, or Tecnica Zero G won’t have quite the same power through firm snow as your inbounds boots, but they’ll be a lot lighter and more efficient on the skin track. I’ve experimented with a lot of boot/binding/ski combinations, and I’ve come away pretty convinced that boots and bindings are your best places to save weight, even if you’re using heavier skis.

If, however, you’re not happy with your inbounds boots, and you’re looking for one pair of boots to do it all, well, you’ve got more options than ever before. Boots like the Dynafit Tigard, Atomic Hawx XTD, and K2 Mindbender can get you up the hill just fine, and still drive big skis powerfully. And if you fall for backcountry skiing, they’ll still be serviceable inbounds boots, as you scamper uphill in your future lightweight options.

Jumping to a really lightweight (1000-1200 gram) boot for your first backcountry setup is tempting, but unless you’re a really fluid, really smooth skier, you’re going to want to ease into the lightweight experience. Boots like the Dynafit TLT X are awesome! They’re so efficient. But they also feel really different and foreign to new backcountry skiers. Ease in, don’t jump to a fully foreign, wildly light setup right out the gate! Again, your speed is more a product of your fitness and preparedness than your gear.

Bindings

We’ll have a more in-depth piece on all the features and priorities of backcountry bindings soon. For now, some basics. Pin or tech bindings use four pins, two at the heel, and two at the toe, to hold your boot to the ski. They’re lighter and much more efficient on the way up, while sacrificing some power and safety on the way down.

Modern hybrid bindings like Shift, Cast, and the Duke PT let you tour uphill with pins, but ski downhill in a certified downhill binding. So they’re hypothetically safer, and transfer power better. However, they each have their own quirks that can sometimes be quite frustrating.

The longer we live in a hybrid binding world, the more I’m convinced that they only make sense as a first touring binding if you live somewhere with good lift-accessed backcountry, where you’re ducking in and out of a resort, or if you have aspirations of hucking your meat in the backcountry. Otherwise, I think most backcountry skiers quickly outgrow them and end up with a setup that’s compromised both in and out of bounds.

If you decide that you want to do a lot of human-powered skiing, you’ll get frustrated with the weight and complexity of hybrid bindings, and want a full tech binding. But then you’ll need to either sell those old bindings, or use them as a less durable, somewhat compromised inbounds binding.

A lightweight, do-it-all tech binding, like the Moment Voyager, Marker Cruise, Dynafit Radical, or similar, will always have a place in your backcountry quiver, no matter where your skis take you.

Most skiers would be better off with one set of skis, mounted with inserts for a true inbounds binding, and a true touring binding, that they could swap in and out at will, than they would be with two separate setups, each mounted with hybrid bindings. So unless you are really sure that you want to rail a bunch of inbounds laps and tour a bunch on the exact same setup, consider getting a dedicated pair of tech bindings, even if that means getting a cheap, used ski to put them on.

Skins

It’s established wisdom that beginner backcountry skiers should get nylon skins since they’re more durable and grip better than mohair options. And I mostly agree. That said, most skin durability issues I see are a product of the glue or hardware, not of the plush. So yes, learning to set a skintrack and kick turn is challenging, and the added traction of nylon skins is helpful. It’s an incremental gain, but those all add up. Shopping for a pure nylon skin for your first setup is a good call, but durability is less of an issue than traction.

Look for something that’s at least as wide as the tails of your ski. You don’t need full coverage, edge to edge at the widest part of the tips, but, especially for beginners, the more coverage you have, the easier your life will be.

Full disclosure: I’ve done a bunch of illustration work for Big Sky Mountain Products, but I’ve had really good experiences with their skins. Their biggest weakness is that the glue is really strong, but on the flipside, I have partners who have put hundreds of days on the same pair without glue failure.

It really feels like glue quality for most brands of skins can vary batch by batch, so it’s a bit of a crapshoot. If your skins do fail, or if you buy some used skins with bad glue, BSMP can reglue them for you, which is much less messy than trying to do it at home.

Beyond that, it’s hard to give tangible advice. You’re going to have struggles with your skins. You’re going to slip out on icy skin tracks, and have a hard time getting them apart on cold mornings, and have them stop sticking on wet afternoons. That’s just sort of the name of the game. Carry skin wax, carry zip ties, carry extra ski straps, dry your skins after using them, don’t leave them in a hot car.

Packs

Nerding out about packs is one of my favorite activities. But it’s hard to go full nerd before you have a little bit of experience. For new backcountry skiers, a pack in the 30-40L range is a good place to start. It’ll be overkill for shorter tours, but I’ve realized that the longer I’ve skied, the smaller of a pack I can get away with, as I dial in my systems. When I was getting started, I needed more capacity than I do now.

And as you grow as a skier you’ll know better what you want out of a smaller day pack or a bigger mountaineering pack. Don’t commit to a more specific pack before you have the experience to make a good choice. Instead, start with a do-it-all pack and go from there.

You don’t need to spend a bunch of money — because packs are so personal, they’re often available secondhand from folks who tried an option that didn’t quite work for them but might be perfect for you. Make sure your pack has a dedicated avalanche tools pocket, and that all the zippers and buckles work. We’ll talk more about airbag packs in a future piece, but for now, the proliferation of “bought this airbag and then realized I don’t like ski touring” posts on Facebook Marketplace are a good reminder that you don’t need to spend that sort of money out the gate.

I’m a big fan of stowable helmet carries as well. You can strap your chin buckle to the outside of your pack, but it’s best not to have a bunch of crap hanging off your pack like some sort of medieval tinker.

Other Worthwhile Accessories

I covered a bunch of specific accessories in this piece, but here are a few more tips.

If you’re already skiing in a puffy and shell jacket inbounds, use those for touring. Similarly, most shell pants and bibs work well in the backcountry. Spend money once you know where your priorities lie, otherwise you’ll have to spend it more than once. The same goes for your helmet and goggles. You don’t need to immediately buy a “backcountry-specific” lid.

The two gear items I do really recommend are touring gloves, and sunglasses. Figure out what sort of light uphill glove works best for you. I personally get along with Black Diamond’s Midweight Softshell Mitts, but that might just be because my hands run hot. I also know a bunch of folks who swear by winter bike gloves for uphill travel. Regardless of what you choose, having an uphill glove or mitten so that your warmer downhill option can stay safe and warm in your pack makes a big difference.

Similarly, some big dorky sunglasses are really nice to have in your pack. It doesn’t matter if they’re fancy Smiths or loud Pit Vipers, that extra coverage means they can stand in for goggles in a pinch, and helps protect from sun reflecting off the snow.

Finally, we all know that we should be bold and start cold. But sometimes it’s just hard to do. For freezing mornings at the trailhead, or for windy ridgeline traverses, a wind shirt like a Patagnia Houdini or similar takes up very little space in your pack, breathes better than a true shell, and offers a little extra emotional support. It’s nice to have a middle ground between your base layer and your shell when it’s really fricking cold but you know it’s going to warm up fast.

For Now

It’s ski swap season! Get out there and start perusing the used gear options. Surf ebay, craigslist, and facebook. Buy the important stuff new, and take good care of it. Yes, backcountry skiing is a gear-intensive pursuit, but a little bit of careful shopping can get you gear that you’ll use for years to come.