Atop a true powder run deep in the Anthracites, thanks to an uphill setup that cost less than $50.
How to set up your kid with an uphill kit for less than $50
My wife and I love drooling over gear as much as the next outdoor adventurer. So much, in fact, that we have been self-diagnosed with a chronic case of G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). But then we had a kid…
Allow me to rant, for just a moment, about a particular element of parenting in mountain towns: buying them gear. Durango, McCall, Crested Butte, Whitefish, you name the town; right now, there are parents making some hard (and silly) decisions. Due to the unstoppable problem of kids growing, we are faced with shopping for a whole new kit for them each and every year. With my own personal gear, one of my most common justifications to “overpaying” for a new pair of skis or boots sounds like this: “this pair could last me up to a decade!” or “if this thousand dollar setup lasts ten years, that’s only $100 per year.”
Okay, so let’s analyze that logic and the likelihood of whether or not we will actually follow through on that promise to ourselves in another post. The fact remains that with kids’ gear, this fiscal argument gets thrown out the door like a pair of soiled toddler’s pajamas. Adding to my frustration is the unspoken, but very loud, theme of competition among parents in mountain towns to outfit their kids with the latest and greatest gear as if we’re all attempting to have our families resemble the cover of the (insert any overpriced outdoorsy company) catalogue.
When I can, I try to resist overspending and keeping up with the Joneses. But with uphill skiing it seemed a daunting challenge. Perfect, I love a good gear challenge!
Two years ago, I set a goal to outfit my six year old with a complete uphill kit for less than $50. Somehow I’d have to find skis, boots, bindings, skins, and poles for the same amount I had just spent on my own single pair of boot insoles.
“Bro, I see my line.” Playing with binos at a nearby hut.
Bindings. First, I wanted to research my options. I turned my research to none other than WildSnow.com where I found this post from 2015 written by a dad on a similar quest who became the lucky heir of His Blogness’s 25-year-old setup. This led me to check out new and used Hagan Junior bindings, which is a nice frame-style binding sized for kids boots. Tempted though I was to just click ‘add to cart,’ my fifty dollar budget took priority. I scoured eBay, Craigslist and consignment shops with no success. I dug in vain through the “sporting goods” corners of thrift stores hoping to find a forgotten pair of kids’ Hagans. One month into my quest, all I had come up with was a pair of ski poles for one dollar.
With $49 and a small thread of stoke remaining for the mission, I walked into the last consignment shop within a 200 mile radius of our home. There, in a pile of skis, with a beam of heavenly light shining directly upon its $20 price tag (cue the angel chorus!) was a short pair of kids’ skis mounted telemark with G3 Targas!
I am one of the many traitors who begrudgingly left telemark a few years ago in favor of weight and comfort, so I was pretty excited to have an excuse to get my boy into a freeheel setup. First things first, adjust the bindings for a smaller boot.
Pull the toe ice-plate off and put a full twist in the binding cable.
Boots. During my treasure hunts at consignment shops, I had spied a pair of old Garmont Teledactyls (shout out to whomever at Garmont came up with that awesome name)…though I couldn’t remember exactly where. While talking about this with some of my parent friends who also suffer from G.A.S., I struck a pot of gold again. Their 7-year-old daughter had just outgrown her Teledactyls. Within minutes I had the pair in my hands for fifteen dollars. Don’t worry, I’ll do the arithmetic for you: I had 14 bucks left with which to figure out skins.
Teledactyls, BD O2’s, and some totally rad skis.
Skins. The solution to a good pair of skins came to me from an old ski buddy of mine who is a dirtbag to the core when it comes to thrifty gear solutions. He used to dig in the trash cans behind our local ski shop for skin scraps, you know, the part cut off of the end to make the skin fit to the length of any new ski. He would then take these scraps home and sew them together with (wait for it)….dental floss. Luckily, I did not have to dig in any trash cans for skins or floss since, due to my bad G.A.S., I have a drawer reserved for skin scraps in my garage shop. In another drawer, we have industrial strength thread and some massive needles. With four scrap pieces, I had enough for both skis.
Sewing the two pieces together with industrial thread. Make sure to get the hair direction right!
Trimming the width to make them match.
Electrical tape and p-cord makes a fine tip. I melted the cord together with a heat gun…for fun.
After it came apart while skinning, I sewed this tip in place too.
With skins taken care of, I still had $14 left in my budget. So, on our way to the first uphill day of the season (and of his life), my boy, Walker, and I stopped at a gas station to buy a very necessary uphill tool: gummy worms. In the very same aisle was a bag of assorted bungee cords, which I impulsively bought as I remembered yet another important uphill tool: the tow-line. I wore a minimalist mountaineering harness to which I clipped a long climbing sling. At the trailhead, I fashioned a crude diaper-harness type thing from the bungee cords for Walker, then tied a single bungee to the ‘diaper’ with a bite-knot in the other end where I attached my sling.
Good resistance training on Old Monarch Pass with the “Gon-dad-ola.”
Later, in the shop, I improved on the Gon-dad-ola bungee-sling system, making a harness for him out of old bike tubes. I discovered a harness-type system is much more pleasant for a kid when you’re yanking him uphill. I also made it quicker to un-hitch and roll-up as he went from wanting it, to not wanting it, to wanting it, to not wanting it….
Great, he’s already waiting for me.
Buying new gear is fun, and I’m certainly guilty of spending more money on my Chariot bike trailer than I did on my first car. But it’s worth stopping to consider our piles of gear once in a while, to think about what we’re teaching our kids, and why we do these sports at all.
So, here’s to another season of improvisation, tinkering, and embracing our inner dirtbag amidst the epidemic that is sweeping the mountain west: bad G.A.S.
Andy Sovick is a father, husband and Colorado native. He is the owner of Beacon Guidebooks whose publications include Lou Dawson’s Skiing and Light Tours of Colorado and forthcoming Off-Piste Ski Maps.
For parents on less of a budget, the options for kids uphill gear is growing. Check them out here.
Andy is the founder and owner of Beacon Guidebooks, a ski guide and mapping publisher. Author of Backcountry Skiing: Crested Butte Colorado, Andy has been skiing Colorado’s backcountry his entire life. Raised on cross-country skis pulled from a dumpster in Fort Collins, he started his ski career following his parent’s tracks along Cameron Pass. He moved to the Colorado’s western slope in 2000 and now resides with his wife and son in Gunnison. From woodworking to book writing, Andy is a craftsman to the core. He believes that sharing relevant information and photos about skiing the backcountry will help travelers spread out, get inspired to explore, and most importantly, make better and safer decisions.
24 comments
Good job! Just a headsup for anybody altering or fixing a torn climbing skin, instead of sewing it is possible to scrape off the hot glue, join or fix on the glue side using mesh drywall repair tape & aquaseal, replace the hot glue for an almost invisible fix
For me, one of the biggest disappointments of the Hagan junior bindings is that they don’t actually fit kids boots, only junior boots which have the same toe and heal lugs as adult boots. The issue with this is at least based on my research, a 21 is about the smallest boot you can find in America (and its tough to find), with 22.5 being the smallest size that is common. So basically, the only real advantage with the Hagans over other frame bindings is being able to dial the DIN down to 2, but the kids still need pretty big feet (plus they tend to end up with heavier boots). If they’re doing a frame binding, I don’t understand why they didn’t make it fit a kids toe and heal lugs.
Hey – I wouldn’t be willing to say I am 100% sure of this – but the Junior sized lugs are NOT the same size as adult lugs. They are a bit thicker than the kids boot lugs, but they are not as big as adult lugs.
In general – your point is true though. Most of the stuff out there for “kids” is made for the Junior lugs – not Kids lugs. So they’ve got to be somewhere near 10 years or so to use most of it.
The best piece of true “Kids” gear I’ve found has been the “TourUp” from contour – which is basically an insert for alpine bindings similar to the old Daytrekkers….but made of plastic. They work great and are inexpensive.
Since the guy that makes them reads here often: Two things could be better about them. 1) Although they are adjustable, at they’re smallest size they were still too big for my smallest touring buddies. I made it work with Voile straps – but they could be smaller! I know several families with this issue. 2) once the kids get bigger – the lugs on junior boots don’t really fit at the heel. You can get around it by bending the wire a bit, but having both the front and back bail adjustable enough to fit both kids and junior lugs would be great.
Thanks, just like to add that our adapter binding is called the contour startUp skitouring adapter. now offering it in a combo with hybrid skins for kids , retailing for EUR 139 in Europe…
Werner Koch
We would have loved to create a kid’s boot size frame binding, but it came down to economics. Adapting our adult Z02 binding to a junior version was a, still costly, matter of adjusting the springs for a 2-7 DIN ratio and shortening the frame. Designing a binding to fit kid’s boots and their smaller toe and heel lugs would have been an entire reworking of the binding including toe and heel units. This was simply too expensive given the anticipated demand.
So we built a safe binding that would serve kids starting at about 11 – 12 years old, along with appropriate kid sized skis and skins.
This year we introduced our Pure 8 binding, a pin binding with a heel DIN range of 3-8. While primarily intended for lighter adults, it opens more possibilities for kids.
This is awesome. One of the most progressive blog posts of the year!
Does the little guy “drop a knee”? You might be reviving a dying sport through your frugality!
Shane, not just yet, but he says he’s going to work on it this year. Only problem is that means I will probably have to get back into it too 😉
I approve of telemarking for anyone under seven years old.
Telemark skiing can be fun for kids of all ages!
My daughter in law is expecting and due in May. What skis do you recommend for a baby shower gift? My oldest son received a pair of inexpensive plastic skis while in utero and I want to continue the tradition. Expense isn’t much of a consideration, what is trending in skis for four to five year olds?
Jack, I think the best first pair of skis a kid can step into are the simple plastic sticks with snowshoe-type bindings that will fasten just about any snowboot, and keep the heel free. In my boy’s early days, I would go touring in flats and on nordic tracks, pulling him in a sled. I’d tie the little skis to the sled too. Any time he said he wanted to get out and ski, we’d stop and strap him in. It was fun and hilarious!
Andy, a very sound comment. I once screwed a pair of plastic skis to a sort of t-handle made of 1×1 pine so my young son could be towed around the yard. He didn’t like the cold much, but is an avid skier now. I’m thinking a pair of plastic skis for early experience and a small set of kids skis for that 5-year old thing. Redundancy. Thanks!
I can’t speak to finding AT gear for kids.
But as a father of 5 skiers, I do know a little about getting cheap XC and downhill gear. If you have several kids, it’s best to just get outfitted at used rental sales at end of season or second hand gear shops or garage sales, and buy boots in every half size starting at about size 17, and beater skis in 5 or 10 cm increments as well. We outfitted the while family for XC skiing for less than 200$, and alpine skis for maybe 400$ (you will need to adjust for inflation, my kids are full grown now). Our garage used to look like a low budget rental shop with a dozen boots and skis. We passed the stoke on to friends with young children as our kids grew, as many people did with their gear to us also.
Little kids really like XC skiing exploration in the woods, as long as it’s not too cold. I have very many fond memories. Probably an entry level drug for later backcountry trips, it certainly was for my wife and I and a few of my kids.
We splurged this season for Miss 8 and got here a Dynafit setup.
The Dynafit rotation 7 pin bindings go down to DIN 2.5
Dynafit do a kids specific lightweight ski the SL80 in 129/139/149cm lengths. They have Pomona pre cut skins
Then for boots I picked up a screaming deal on some Arcteryx Pro Clines and so bought 23.5, 24.5 and 25.5 sizes.
Regärding XC backcountry, we enjoy river skiing with our kids, getting short downhill thrills on the frozen rapids. Stop for a fire and cocoa at the upper turn around point.
While more than $50, another option is to just use the downhill skis and boots with the Contour binding adapter (plastic alpine trekker style). Salvaging some old skins as you have done also works fine. Note that I have got mine to work with a 240mm shell size boot which is 5mm under the spec. I added a bit of packaging foam to the toe piece.
I have seen these working well in videos, but for my daughter, they were horrible. The binding adapter would pop out every time she fell over, even after cranking the release of her bindings way up. Then we’d have to take them off her boots, put them back in the skis, clip her boots back into the bindings and go again. Not fun for a 7 year old who was already not in the best of moods.
there is a mod somewhere ( TGR? ) that cuts down the center bar on an XL Fristshi FR+ to fit small boots. It has to be an XL becuz there is a slot on the end of the aluninium bar you cut down which gets in the way of reattaching the bar but on an XL the bar is so long you would be cutting off all of the slotted part
And of course, for the very smallest skiers, if they already have alpine and XC gear, just getting/making some skins for the XC gear and carrying the ‘other’ set up is a very easy option. On the ups, the extra weight of some foam core 90cm skis and mondo 20 boots is pretty doable on any ascent that the kids would do, and going it’s even better.
Another interesting option is the DYI tech toe with alpine system binding. Using a ski with a system binding that allows tool free removal(adjustment) of the toe piece, and the installing a lightweight tech toe, basically the same idea as the CAST system, but instead of doing it to get a higher release value, you do it to get a lower one.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/328242-DIY-Alpine-Downhill-Tech-Toe-uphill-touring-binding
The problem here, as with the Rotation 7. is the availability of small boots with tech toes. Besides small adult sizes, there is the Cochise Team DYN which goes down to 22.5 in stock, maybe even lower.
https://www.evo.com/alpine-touring-ski-boots/tecnica-cochise-team-dyn-kids?image=161238/636244/tecnica-cochise-team-dyn-alpine-touring-ski-boots-kids-2020-.jpg&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-ti8p_Xs5QIV-R6tBh1sLQ7eEAYYBSABEgJPdfD_BwE
BTW, those are G3 bindings not BD O2s … has it been that long since you turned to the AT darkside? 🙂
Rob: Busted! Yes, the last time I skied in Targas or 02’s
Was well over 15 years ago. It was Hammerheads, then
Voile Switchbacks (my personal favorite). Thanks for the correction man, edit complete!
Thanks for good inspiration. Cheating the industry of full retail is always a satisfying experience. Home depot Anchorage had a decent 35 cm pruning saw that served as a decent replacement for the snow saw that TSA confiscated on my way up last spring. Gorilla taped the handle after cutting myself. Those TSA bastards, calling a saw a weapon.
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