Double post day today. Thanks Louie for the Garibaldi TR, and here is a brief Italian Dolomite glimpse from Lisa and I.
Refugio Fanes looked like this when we got there. Snow conditions up here are not Nelson Canada, and it recently rained a bunch lower down. But the ski tour planned for tomorrow looks to be fun no matter what.
Some of Dynafit's new skis appear to be in the game changer category. Teaser. More tomorrow.
Dynafit pulled out all the stops this year for their annual “FAM,” or what they call their “press event.” We’re up in the Dolomite at what has to be the most deluxe “hut” I’ve ever seen in the Alps, and by now I’ve seen a few. This is really what I’d call a “berg hotel” not a hut. A bunch of private rooms, dining rooms, dedicated and nicely designed ski and boot storage. All almost too clean. You have to look at their website. Fanes Hutte.
Route to Fanes Hutte is a skippy skin up about 800 vertical meters of snowcat track. In many other places you'd be hating that, but not in the middle of the Dolomite! This place really does take my breath away. The cliffs are everywhere and they're huge, and quite beautiful as the rock is much more featured than that of granite walls.
19 comments
whew..look at all of those skis. impressive! looking forward to reports!
side note: 100mm dynafit orange crampon…. not sold in north america. why not? any chance of bringing a few back…for sale? 😛
cheers, have a blast!
@water, check out bndgear.com, made in Merica, bomber, and in big sizes.
sorry, that’s bndskigear.com.
Hope Zehnerspitze is on the agenda, but maybe they will take you to some of the closer steeps east of the hut. Italian “huts” rule!
Fantastic. Can’t wait too see more.
Hi Lou,
Nina is just north of you, near the austrian border in Arhntal this weekend at a World Cup ski mo race. Have fun and say hi to Beni and Schorsch from me.
Nice, updates on TLT6 and Cho Oyu please 😉
looking forward to some big binding news….hopefully they let you let us know all the details.
Coming at you in a few hours. I can get any detail you want. Fire me the questions while you’re still here as I will be touching it (ohhh, feel that tingle going up your arm!)
What tech in your mind is a game changer?
Hole patterns (particularly compared to Vert ST) and in-bounds capability.
Scooter, this year it’s more evolution than revolution in my opinion. But the Beast binding is pretty cool and might grab a ton of people from the alpine side. That said, wouldn’t it be weird if they end up making a ski that’s lighter than their binding?
cameron,
I’ve seen bndski stuff… my main rub:
Dynafit weight listing 100mm orange 102g
BNDski gear 102mm class 297g
maybe dynafit weight listed is only per each crampon, but still gives 3oz lighter… let alone ~6oz
hence it would be great to get the 100mm orange.. one day!
I would agree with you Lou there is a lot of evolution going on this year. It seems most of the big companies are coming with lighter weight sidecountry ski lines. Most boot companies will have boots with a walk feature in them. The beast bindings is certainly interesting, but IMO there will be a small group of people using it. It is a lot of binding and carries a big price tag. Now if they made it in a 12 spring and cut the price in half they would have a category changer for sure. Have you seen any of the Look branded Plum bindings on your travels. They are in Europe for sure, and possibly headed to the US.
Scooter, we have a full raft of Plum bindings at WildSnow HQ. They’re cool, beautiful, but sometimes I feel like they’re a solution without a problem, especially considering they don’t have an available brake. I’m pretty sure idea of Beast is it has the retention and safety of the best alpine bindings, with a frameless touring mode. What they need to do is have a guy finishing a World Cup downhill on them, now that would be the clincher. Idon’t think you’ll be seeing that on a Plum, Dynafit Radical, or any other normal tech binding, that is unless it’s heavily modified. Lou
Best part of this hut is the hallway on the second floor. Disco lights. As you step into the darkness, a sensor turns the LED strip lights in the floor on. I spent half an hour doing this after a bottle of Gruner. And of course that goat. Plus the skiing doesn’t suck.
Lou – I understand Plum’s issues on brakes, my question was more directed at Look rebranding Plum bindings in Europe, and possibly the states.
I would also question the Beast as being on par with the best alpine bindings (tour or otherwise). I’m sure Dynafit has done its homework, but it needs actual on hill time with the general retail public to prove the Beast can join the ranks of the Guardian or Duke, let alone non touring models.
Psyched to hear how the Teton ski rides.
Scooter, indeed, it’s all just words till the binding goes on-snow with thousands of consumers. In my case of writing about it, I indeed think Beast can easily perform on the downhill as well or even better than the best alpine bindings, just from looking at how all the mechanicals function. It’s really pretty amazing.
One interesting concern is if these steel-on-steel bindings are used even more agressivly, there is no damping action as there is with conventional bindings, it’s steel-on-steel connected directly to the ski. I’m wondering if a bit of damping will need to be added. The steel-on-steel solidity of tech bindings is one of their beautiful consequences, and has made it so less boot does more, but at a certain point there are perhaps forces that need to be absorbed a bit rather than directly transmitted between ski and boot. I’m not talking about binding elasticity in release directions, I’m talking more about overall “feel.”
As for the philosophical discussion above regarding how high the RV values need to go even if you don’t use them, my take is if you’re having problems staying in bindings then sure, everything is on the table. On the other hand, I must know hundreds if not thousands of skiers who do perfectly fine with tech bindings as they are today. For them, discussions about wider base plates and higher release values are largely irrelevant, instead, things like easier entry/exit, less weight, more overall durability, functional brakes… those are always real issues.
But yes, you guys in the ‘freeride’ population have needs too!
More coming, if I can get any work done instead of skiing (grin). Lou
Hi Lou,
it was a great time with you at Fanes Hutte in previous days! You are right, that this hut is more like a comfortable and luxury mountain hotel than only a hut 🙂
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