Gender free skis, ECT cord, 4.2 lb. mountaineering tent, more
WildSnow is taking Outdoor Retailer 2020 by storm. Here are the top takes on Day 1 from Lou, Gary, Doug and Manasseh.
The new G3 Swift series answers the call for skis suited to lighter skiers, regardless of gender. The colors are nice too.
Lou’s picks
Two days ago, a Cro-Magnon throwback PR email floated in through the pale grey digimist clouding my writing studio. “The skis are women specific,” it said. “They’re easier to turn.” Can you believe that kind of BS still surfaces from the lake of fire otherwise known as “marketing?”
I was thus delighted when the guys at G3 told me they’d gone androgynous and scrapped their female specific ski line. Instead, for lighter weight skiers of any gender, the’ll now sell a “Swift” version of each model, boasting a blue accent color instead of maple leaf red, relaxed flex and shorter length options. For example, you like the now proven FINDr 102? But it’s too much ski for you, the skinny guy or petite gal? Fear not. Consider the Swift version, in lengths 164, 169 and 174 mm.
Taking it personally, the 174 FINDr Swift is clearly a plank for me, as my days of skiing like a Canadian were over a few weeks ago after I strightlined the Hahnenkamm, and I’ve never weighed enough to press the camber out of a big gun such as the FINDr regular model. Likewise, I’m looking forward to my bride giving these a go. She survived the Streif as well, time to mellow out.
Along these same lines, another thoughtful gift from the city of Z: New for fall 2020, model “9” of the beautifully engineered ZED binding. With its powerful toe springs (I often tour them without locking the toe) and reasonable weight, Zed is one of my favorites, only the model “12” did not provide a sub-5 release value. Stop scoffing oh ye tree-legged Lughead, there are people out there, especially children, who need settings in the 3-9 RV range the new Zed 9 provides. Excellent job G3.
Gary’s take
The BCA Extended Column Test cord is simple and useful.
BCA Extended Column Test Cord
I have to say I was underwhelmed by a vast majority of the ‘fancy’ new hardgood products on Day 1 of OR. A pant-swallowing over-complicated sub-1000 gram Dalbello boot left me confused. Ditto with the new Scarpa F1 LT which takes the poorly performing F1 cuff buckle and slaps it onto the already fantastic Alien RS. I’ll try it on during Day 2 and report further. Highlights of the day included eating an ostrich bratwurst smothered with cream cheese and creepily following Alex Honnold around as he power walked through the masses. Leave it to BCA to save the day near the end with a simple backcountry product: a pre-knotted and packaged Extended Column Test cord. Nothing revolutionary here, a piece of cord with a few knots in it like many of us have made. In addition to being a 2.5mm cord with knots, The BCA snow slicer has a couple of bits of metal in the center and a few rubberized handles on either end to improve performance being the DIY hardware store model. A simple solid addition to any recreational snow scientist’s kit.
The G3 SLAYr promises big powder fun.
G3 slayer
Ok, perhaps I was being a bit jaded after 8 hours of force fed Kool-aid– I did see a few things I really liked. The G3 Slayr looks to be a fantastic new pair of powder boards. The 114mm waisted plank leads with an aggressively rockered 143mm wide shovel and weighs in at a mere 1690 grams per ski in the ample 185cm length. Weight savings are largely from the third party bCore, a Swiss made balsa wood core. The balsa is sawn with the wood grain at a 45 degree then laminated in opposing fashion to retain strength. Two thin sheets of 7000 series Titanal and two triaxial carbon stringers run tip to tail to provide torsional stiffness and longitudinal pop. The Slayr, as well as the entire G3 ski and binding line, is available in the Swift series designed for lighter skiers.I would love to spend a week on these with the G3 team up in their prized bottomless BC powder. Just to see where the inspiration comes from, you know. Stay tuned to WildSnow this season for a full review of the Slayr from Dr. Alex Lee.
Doug’s favorite
At 2.4 lbs, the Futurelight Assault 2 single wall mountaineering tent could be a game changer for big missions.
TNF Assault 2 Person Mountaineering Tent
It is not surprising that The North Face Advanced Mountain Kit won an ISPO product of the year award. After three years of intense product development with athletes like Andres Marin in some of the toughest conditions on the planet, TNF fully redesigned their six-layer clothing system. But on WildSnow we are gear junkies first and soft good players second, so it was really the equipment that caught my eye. The new AMK Assault 2 person tent is a true masterpiece sure to leave the aspiring multi-day ski mountaineer drooling, even if he long ago sold his soul for a warm bed and sprinter van like myself.
The AMK Assault 2 utilizes a a single layer of ultra lightweight 20 denier Futurelight membrane and an internal pitch design that keeps the weight at an impressive 4 pounds 2 oz for a four-season tent. The carbon fiber poles keep the weight down and help with rebound in high winds, but are sure to keep the price up. Ninety percent of the fabric is made from recycled material and is heavily reinforced around the base with a door that starts 8 inches off the deck to keep snow out. The retail price of this tent –hold your breath — is $1200. Also in the equipment list for the AMK is an incredibly light 10 degree Futurelight Sleeping bag featuring 1000 FP down, the Spectre 38 and 55 Liter approach packs and another personal favorite, the 100 liter Spectre Basecamp Duffle. Spectre packs feature a yarn made of material is reported to be 10 times stronger than steel, with the goal of ultimate indestructibility. The level of innovation and R&D at TNF is impressive and, as always, we hope to see these new fabrics and design ideas filter down into lighter and more efficient gear for the “everyday” objective. If you can swing the price tag this tent would be ideal for mid-winter dark cold nights to fast and light springtime ski missions.
M’s take
The Pagoda Tour line, center, is DPS’s latest touring innovation, featuring aerospace foam, carbon, paulownia, ash and a full sidewall.
DPS Pagoda Tour Ski
Picture a pagoda: a tower of stacked layers typical of southeast Asia. Traditionally, pagodas represented mountains, or housed religious relics. Some are made of interspersed wood and stucco, some brick and stone. The concept of intention material stacking is behind DPS’s latest ski designs: the Pagoda Tour and the Pagoda Piste. I’m particularly excited about the Tour, especially since I’ve been skiing the Cassiar 95 Tour 1 for the past two seasons, which the Pagoda Tour series will be replacing.
On the theme of layers, the Pagoda Tour stacks aerospace foam (debuted in the Powderworks Wailer RP), paulownia, ash and carbon fiber. One of the most exciting things: a full, poured sidewall, and a longer effective edge, promising elevated levels of solidity without a big weight penalty. My biggest gripe with the cap constructed Tour 1 was deflection in more challenging conditions; this construction looks promising for enhancing handling. The colors are sweet too — a metallic grey topsheet accented by bright shots of color. Full range of widths available, including 87, 94, 100, 106, 112. True to DPS tradition, this clever concoction of materials doesn’t come cheap. At $1299 it’s about as much as you’ll pay for a touring ski but from what we’ve seen so far from the Powderworks, it could be worth it. We’ll have a chance to find out in March.
While most of the WildSnow backcountry skiing blog posts are best attributed to a single author, some work well as done by the group.
32 comments
“Simple, Solid, Backcountry” is Voile’s tagline, not BCA. Not that you guys should know that or anything. You’re only the gear writers for one of the largest backcountry skiing websites.
Ouch. I’ll spare you all the excuses of being completely fried from a day of drinking cool aid from a fire hose and then pulling together a fun and engaging post for the masses to enjoy. 🙂
“Leave it to BCA to save the day near the end with a ‘simple, solid, backcountry’ product”
I thought “Simple. Solid. Backcountry” was Voile’s advertising slogan?
Busted. Late night real time blogging gaff.
Lou, what’s your beef with the F1 cuff buckle? It has worked without issue for over 100 days on my pair. On the other hand, I’ve heard Scarpa folks mention that with more people using Skimo boots for general backcountry skiing, they are seeing more and more broken boots.
Spectre fiber 10x the strength of steel? I’ll accept 10x the tensile strength of steel/weight, but will need some data to believe it has 10x the tensile strength of steel in absolute terms (that would be really exciting). And did you mean Spectra, Specter, or something new? And I’m curious to see the video of you slaying Canadian Powder on 174 mm skis. How’s that for nitpicking?
Piling on the BCA comments – I sort of cocked my head that product even got a nod on this DIY fueled site. “Metal bits” look like alum cable crimps available from any respectable hardware store and I’m sure those plastic handles add grams and grams, not to mention volume in an overstuffed BC pack. hummmmm.
Metal bits also mean you can’t use with a carbon probe! I’ll stick with my 550 cord.
Good point!
It looks like the the metal bits are just in the center for this purpose, knots towards the end
Ya maybe the touch of sarcasm was lost on this. Point is the show had been a bit underwhelming.
Jeez, why is everyone being such an asshole?
Great article, guys. Thanks for filling me in on new gear/tech I otherwise wouldn’t have known anything about. I appreciate the steady stream of great content!
I agree with Gary, the Scarpa F1 LT looks promising, but that short throw cuff buckle is a NO DEAL for me. I’m sad to see the same short throw lever that means you need to adjust the strap itself at every transition. It seems every other brand has figured out a long throw buckle which negates the need for the strap to be adjusted, ever. Fischer Travers has one of my favorite cuff straps with a great long throw.
I hope they fix this next year or I’ll never even put on that F1 LT.
Exactly the thought. Potentially going from a 1 change system to a 3. I wore it around today, and because of the lack of tongue, that inadequate buckle doesn’t actually impend the walk mode the way it does on the F1. Liner is a little more robust and the cuff is supposed to be as well. I think it’s fine, just a lack of real innovation.
Make a ski shorter, slap on a new name, some flowers, call it “a womens ski ” so might that alienate small guys ? Randy Newman claimed short people already have no reason to live
Interesting to hear Im not the only one frustrated with the F1 buckle strap. After three seasons Im thinking of switching back to the Mastrale because I’m tired of fighting with this thing at every transition.
I don’t know, maybe Scarpa is too busy trying to roll out their lightweight skimo boots and dealing with broken boots and recalls to even bother following up on customer service requests. Being ignored isn’t the greatest business model, Scarpa. The least you could do is reply if or do or don’t have retrofitted ski/walk mode pins for my Scarpa Maestrale RS boots. If you don’t support current boots that are still being used on the market then why bother even buying from you again?
Be wary of Scarpa and their customer service. None too impressed with Scarpa right now.
Are those tail grommets (and perhaps they have some on the tip as well) I see on the G3 SLAYr? Would be a great feature to add to their skis; always wondered why doesn’t every skis have those…
MSG, From what I recall they are simply decorative maple leaf badges
The picks listed here do seem underwhelming. But what are the experts takes on the Atomic Backlands AutoClimb (auto adjusting heel riser) and Dynafit’s Pin-Skin system (skins with a pin that goes into ski instead of a heel clip)? The cynic in me wants to start yawning and rolling my eyes but they both seem much more innovative than the picks in this post.
Point taken DJ. The Pin-Skin wasn’t available to have in hand, and we didn’t meet with Atomic folks to get the run down on the Autoclimb until Day 3. More news forthcoming.
That TNF Assault 2 Person Tent, looks a lot like my Bibler 2 man tent.
Interior poles ? check. Bibler ones are aluminum.
Single membrane tent material? I remember it was called Tod-Tex
All it needs is the small, horizontal vent tube near the peak of the tent.
My Bibler tent has been great for bike trips, and river runs in Idaho, Grand Canyon trips.
Easy to set up with the very small footprint.
My thought exactly, VT. I’ve got a two-person two-door Bibler I-tent from the early nineties. With stakes, guys, and sack, it weighs less than 5lb. It is tight as a drum in gale force winds. Sounds like the NorthFace tent benefits from lighter materials. Durability will be the big question. Also, little things that matter, like how the zippers work and how the poles are secured to the canopy. My Bibler could be improved in both ways.
Whats up with the stickers on the g3 skis that say “magnetic “? Cant read the fine print on the sticker.
The edges of the skis are magnetized, all but eliminating the need to ski strap them together when they are mounted with brakeless bindings. No weight added. It is actually quite effective!
oooooohhh! This is awesome…..and I had never thought of it.
Marketing is doing a good job when a website that promotes mounting bindings and modifying boots yourself suggests that a rope with a few knots in it is necessary equipment! Otherwise keep up the good work!
Whats out there as far as new airbags for next year? I’ve seen some stuff about the Osprey Soelden Pro with the Alpride E1 system in it, some new and possibly lighter Arva packs…. Anything else? Any other new electric systems (or just different packs using the current systems like Alpride E1)?
+1 on this question. I just want the lighest, simplest airbag back. Anything better than Maummut Light 30 or Jetforce UL? Thanks!!!
Hey guys,
We did take a brief look at the Sopris/Soelden Pro (womens/mens) packs from Osprey the Alpride E1. Should be comparable to the Jetforce Tour. Ortovox was tight lipped, though they did hint at a new electric system next season. In fact, it was a project that had potential this year, but needed further vetting.
Sort of answering my own question to some degree. Sounds like the Osprey Soelden isnt necessarily all the light (one video I watched said 2700 g but then but then someone from GearJunkie was told it was 2880 g). Browsing through companies videos on the Engearment youtube site, looks like none of the other airbag companies that I came across (Mammut, BCA, Black Diamond) have anything new for next year…
The F1 cuff buckle is great. The Alien RS is fine but the cords are a hassle and there is no advantage whatsoever to the “one lever does everything” design if you’re not racing.
And the F1 is too wide.
The F1 LT looks like exactly the right boot I’ve been waiting for.
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