Black Diamond for everything climbing and skiing.    Dynafit -- Speed Up!    Tracker beacons, Stash packs, shovels, more more more.    Terrific deals on randonnee AT rando backcountry skiing gear.    K2 has the skis that stay true to earning your turns.    Garmont boots -- excellent choice for backcountry skiing.

Budget Backcountry Skier

Bookmark and Share            By Lou

By popular demand we bring back $1,000 Joe, the budget backcountry skier. Joe is a sledhead who recently hooked up with Carol, a skierchic who loves backcountry. He’s got to mend his ways and start earning his turns, but he spent most of his cash on mods for his Yamaha and only has a grand left for ski gear.

First step, buy boots so he can borrow some skis and get out with Carol and show her he really did ski race all through high school and college. Turns out Sierra Trading Post (see links below) has a bunch of deals on excellent Dynafit boots. To stay budget, Joe picked a pair of TLT 4, a softer more forgiving boot that’ll get him going and work fine with a shorter pair of lightweight skis so he can keep up with Carol on the climbs (and provide some comfort when he’s driving the sled to get himself and Carol to a remote backcountry skiing stash.)

Click here to shop for deal on Dynafit boots at Sierra Trading Post

Sierra Trading Post

Posted by Lou on September 27, 2006 | Filed Under budget gear for backcountry 

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Comments

3 Responses to “Budget Backcountry Skier”

  1. Ken Gross May 4th, 2007 9:47 am

    Hey Lou,
    This year I decided to Introduce Backcoutry Skiing to my Daughter. She is 11 years old, and has been Alpine skiing at resorts since she was 6. Feeling confident that she was a strong enough skier to have her first taste of “Wild Snow”, I set out to equip her with an AT setup. The process was jumpstarted one day when I happened to hit the refresh button on SteepandCheap.com, what to my wondering eyes did appear? Fritschi Explores size small for $189!! Naturally I bought 2 pair (sold one to my sister). Next a pair of Boards to mount those babies on was in order. One day when browsing the discounted Ski Rack at Sports Authority in Dillon, I found the perfect pair of sticks. A pair of Dynastar Nova’s, nice and lightweight, with good dimensions for touring and spring conditions. But what made them perfect was the price, $29! For skins I needed only visit mountaintimesports.com The owner of this site made a huge bulk purchase of BD Purple Ascensions and is selling them in three sizes at ridiculously low prices. For my daughters Dynastars, the 75mm standards were wide enough to provide wall to wall coverage on the skinny Nova’s. The price… $39.95 (Brand new in box, with cheat sheets, not 2nds). So now we had enough gear to at least go out for a tour. I grabed my daughters Salomon Alpine Boots, and we headed for the Trail head. My excitement was soon dampened by the sound of my Girl complaining about her feet. I learned my lesson, if trying to introduce ski touring to your Daughter, get her AT Boots! On a trip to Mountain Outfitters in Breckenridge, we scored a sweet deal… A pair of lightly used Scarpa Magics, size 25 for $99!!! When my daughter tried them on and walked around the shop she started grinning from ear to ear. She now realized that a plastic ski boot can be comfortable to walk in!! All that was left was some safety gear. Wilderness Sports in Dillon, had recently mailed me a “locals coupon” for 30% off any one item. So I used it to get a second Tracker for $202! SierraTradingPost.com came through with the BCA tour shovel and probe combo for $55. So to Summarize: Bindings $189
    Skis $29
    Skins $40
    Boots $100
    Beacon $202
    Shov/Probe $55

    Grand Total: $615!!!

    I’ll concede that this package might not have been sourced as cheaply for an adult… but with good bargain hunting skills, an adult package could be had almost as inexpensivly. I believe in supporting my local stores as much as my paycheck allows, but I am a poor ski town local… so I use the net. :)

  2. Campskier Man July 21st, 2007 5:14 am

    Good find Ken! That was very cheap. Hope I can find something like that over here in sweden.

  3. Marsden March 6th, 2008 10:56 pm

    Thanks….. its a nice suggestion.

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Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past forty years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

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