Ok folks, Skisatchitananda has hiked down from three years in his meditation cave high on Mount Shasta, and is now taking questions. Problem is Satchit hasn’t been skiing much during the past few years (and when he does, he is on ‘soul’ gear of course) so he doesn’t want to lead a potential acolyte astray when it comes to modern AT gear. Skisatchit has wireless up at his cave, and has followed WildSnow since we started blogging so thus knows we sometimes have answers, so he’s turned this question over to us. Dear readers, can you help this guy out?
To Skisatchitananada (and now WildSnow.com):
I am moving into AT after having been a dedicated tele-skier for years. I moved to Vancouver from Utah, to heavy snow from blower pow. My legs are aged (I’m 58) and I’ve had knee surgeries on both lateral menisci. I ski 80% in-bounds at Whistler/Blackcomb although usually not on groomed runs, everything up to double-BDs. But I’m neither aggressive or fast. I’ll do the occasional day tour, hike out-of-bounds when it’s safe, and may do one or two long, multi-day tour per year if I’m lucky. I weigh 175 pounds dripping wet, I’m about 6 feet tall, and am pretty fit but not Atlas personified. My new skis are Atomic Access.I have another alpine set-up so I’ll save the new Atomics for touring and in-bound powder days.
I am COMPLETELY CONFUSED about whether to get Dynafits or either Fritschi or Marker F12 bindings. It sounds like it comes down to safety and convenience/ease of-use (Fritschi and Marker) vs. weight and skiability (Dynafits). Do I have that about right?
Given the parameters in my first paragraph, and if you were me, what bindings would you mount on those new boards of mine? Seems everyone I ask gives a different opinion and the more I look on the web, the more confused I get between the two options.
I’d really appreciate some advice.
Thanks,
P.R.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
