Joe’s beat Black Diamond Resolutions were making him say a “Hail Mary” every time he made a jump turn in our local couloirs, so our old buddy begged us to find him some good deals on backcountry skiing gear. Since this can be a good time of year for prices we put our heads together and came up with a hotlinked shopping list of gear that any backcountry skier could use, whether you need an update or are just starting in the sport:
Skis: G3 Zenoxide, 105 at the waist is in the sweet spot for the up and the down. $350.00 Backcountry.com
Boots: Scarpa Matrix, still works. $370.00 Sierratradingpost.com
Bindings: G3 Onyx $250.00 Backcountry.com
Skins: Black Diamond Ascension STS, tried and true, 65mm-140mm $98.00-126.00 Backcountry.com
Poles: BD Traverse $49.00 Backcountry.com
Shovel: Voile Telepro $32.00
Beacon: BCA Tracker, about as tested and reliable as you can get, $232.00 Backcountry.com
Probe: BD Quickdraw 190cm $26.00 Backcountry.com
Pack: REI Fall Line 30L $55.00 Rei.com
Editors note: Due to inflation $1000 Joe is now somewhere around $1,499 Joe, but he changed jobs from dishwashing to waiting tables, so no problem. Besides, if any reader want to chime in with comments about gear deals they know of, we’re sure that’ll help keep Joe’s fisc intact.
We could have added more gear to the list, such as ski crampons, boot crampons, ice axe, harness, rope, sat phone, a box of GU gels, airbag pack, AED, and more. But the above represents a starting point for someone who wants to make the plunge into backcountry skiing and needs to do it on a budget, or for someone who is looking to add to their quiver. And of course, you could do it even cheaper than this, but we’re not going to share the location of our favorite dumpster — that would be like blogging about another ski tour at Duffy!
You'll want some backcountry ski gear to get here. West Pearl Mountain. Central Elks, Colorado.
Scott lives near Carbondale, CO with his wife Jenny. He often meditates on finding that perfect career while pushing his heart rate to places it probably shouldn’t be.
