This is a really simple answer. If your route has you traversing slopes greater than 30 degrees or you are skiing under terrain that's connected to slopes greater than 30 degrees (remote trigger) then you should always have avalanche gear and be with a partner. If your route doesn't involve any of t...

Based on your description of the route, you are absolutely going to need full length, full coverage skins. Those kind of slope angles are way too steep for kick wax or kicker skins. Skins don't go over soft waxes, so that rules out any kind of kick waxing for this trip. I use 30mm mohair x skins on ...

Anybody want these for $100 plus shipping?

I've had these things listed on ebay for over a year. I just want to get rid of them. Anybody want them for $50 + $20 shipping (lower 48)?

Buying some on clearance while they are available and reinforcing them is an option I've considered. It seems like overboots aren't really a thing anymore, outside of the 40 below mountaineering ones.

That sounds very painful. All of that stiffness would result in extreme, hard pressure on the ball of your foot.

Yes, you need skins. In my experience, fish scales don't grip at all in super loose powder or hard icy. Even on snow that favors fish scales, they are really only sufficient for mild climbs. For mountainous terrain you shouldn't head out without skins in your pack. If the traction pattern on the m78...

I have a pair of old Merrell 3 pins that I love, but they aren't very well insulated in the toe area. I have a pair of outdoor research x-gaiters (recently discontinued) that I got for a great deal. We have had some especially cold weather here recently and without the x-gaiters I would have had a r...

I've skiied the madshush annum which I think is the older version of the m78. They were exceptionaly good for skiing powder, but terrifying on anything packed. It chattered and wobbled and noodled all over on hard snow. It was not a versatile ski. I also felt the scales were not grippy enough. Yeah ...

Thanks, that is my lazy tele when I'm trying to save energy. I don't get very low, very upright stance. Seems to work well on mellow stuff. If I need to turn fast I usually put a lot of weight on the rear ski and get low, but that wears me out fast. Maybe I can learn to make hard, fast turns in a mo...