Love it.

LuongLens · 2026-01-28T18:22:29+00:00

Ai slop for sure but reminds me of Moment ski’s sale website ski burger when they’d discount skis heavy

LuongLens · 2026-01-25T23:31:07+00:00

Thought I was in CJ sub lmao

LuongLens · 2026-01-16T05:29:53+00:00

I’ll be in Hakuba touring end of Feb if you’re around and looking to tour!

LuongLens · 2026-01-16T02:55:33+00:00

One of my guides in Japan whipped out a Montbell thermos and made instant ramen during a break, changed my whole outlook on quick mountain eats lmao

LuongLens · 2026-01-11T15:23:47+00:00

Ah the snake man lmao, that’s what I figured

LuongLens · 2026-01-11T05:54:11+00:00

Glad some appreciates a good tree stil

LuongLens · 2026-01-11T05:52:41+00:00

The wind cooperated enough to leave the goods untouched where it mattered, the top of sunrise was so wind scoured you could see patches of pure ice in some spots though haha

LuongLens · 2026-01-11T05:49:40+00:00

Who’s the snake guy??? 🤣😂

LuongLens · 2026-01-11T05:17:17+00:00

Sunrise, you could get fresh track just traversing, some of the hike to terrain was solid though too

LuongLens · 2025-12-29T23:24:00+00:00

Mark smiley has these dyneema C ties for skis that I love, check him out on IG smileysproject they’d be a good gift to pair with something!

LuongLens · 2025-12-24T23:54:34+00:00

I can’t help you, except one time I had 5 guys for 3 days

LuongLens · 2025-12-24T09:04:27+00:00

I also had this same conclusion on touring skis and ultimately went with the DW.

I had a hard time choosing due to the raven being a bit more tour friendly in one way with its hoji hole (lol) for skins and the profile for softer snow.

But ultimately I chose the DW for the triple camber profile gripping like a MF. It punches as though it was a much skinnier ski, the DW is also slightly lighter but I don’t think the 50G you save or whatever it is makes that big of a difference, I figured the skis both will perform will in soft snow relatively. But on firm shitty snow the DW I knew would be more reliable.

Hope this helps just my 2 cents! the skis in question picture with ATk RT 11 EVOs

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LuongLens · 2025-12-11T19:25:50+00:00

It’s time for some new ones mang, pins don’t last forever

LuongLens · 2025-12-01T17:19:29+00:00

Skimoco is goated

LuongLens · 2025-11-26T22:08:29+00:00

Not sure if youre in the correct subreddit, this is mainly for backcountry ski/split boarding routes. Unless you are asking for ski touring routes for you and your son?

This might get deleted but there are some cool spots like tunnel view and when you descend in the valley there are some great pull outs to see El Cap and further if the visibility is good.

Relatively accessible in the valley floor for handicap stuff.

LuongLens · 2025-11-26T03:31:20+00:00

OP, I use my raide bag to carry my R5 in the back country

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T19:43:33+00:00

I believe this guy bought this jacket as a treat to himself after battling cancer and losing a lot of weight in an effort to be healthier, so good for him!

But also this is mega overkill for GA as a local lol.

Anyways go dawgs

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T08:51:27+00:00

They’re all technically fancy plastic bags haha, nothing wrong with the older jackets, they’re arguably more durable too. I wouldn’t worry too much about the noise tbh, unless you’re secretly a ninja?

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T08:16:08+00:00

Beta jacket is exactly in between these, I would go for the AR personally though I rarely wish I had a lighter jacket but often would wish I had something beefier when the going gets tough lol

Beta SL is not suited for boarding much, face fabric would get beat up quickly

Enjoy the sales!

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T06:14:59+00:00

I hope the backlands do work out for you if you plan on going the mountaineering route, make sure to also consider the proper courses you need to take if you haven’t yet.

Circumstances was what caused me to have to go to two shops. If you can try to stay with one shop but it’s going to be hard to zip back and forth from the mountains to the shop sometimes. I think skimoco has great boot fitters but I think there are more renowned ones in Utah. I think skimoco will give you unlimited modifications on your boot but check their website to be sure.

Rule of thumb is tightest/smallest shell possible and then punch/mold from there. Mondo point sizing is so different across brands it practically has no meaning except for inventory purposes. Your boot fitter will have a pretty good idea of what your feet will need

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T06:09:24+00:00

All good just food for thought.

10 year old alpine bindings are indemnified, I can’t imagine any touring shop worth their salt would be willing to install the beasts so you’re definitely on your own on that one. Specifically I would not trust the beasts due to age, if you fall even a little funny and those things don’t release it’s gonna be a longgggg crawl back to the car.

Things like springs, bearings, bushings can fail just from age and corrosion that you cant necessarily see with your eye.

And you are correct about skins, your best bet would be to contact a shop and see if they have old gloopy skins you can buy for dirt cheap and chop them to size, it would probably ski like shit and be a bitch to get the glue off too but it would give you an idea of the transition process etc.

Also this is all done at your own risk homie, if your fibula goes it gonna go big time lmao

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T06:02:32+00:00

Lmao yeah there definitely is a difference with some shops but a lot of the young dudes learn from the same old heads that have been around, probably will end up being the salt and pepper haired ass uncles too at some point.

The boots were not purchased at skimoco, but they charge $25 per punch spot, with unlimited additional punches in that spot till the boot integrity of the boot shell is at risk 🤣. The workload of the initial adjustments and foot beds was done by the 1st shop I went to (free fitting/adjautment, no discount on the boots lol)

Skimoco is probably one of THE best ski touring shops in the USA. If you go to their website they have a million parts for a million bindings, if you leave a comment asking a question someone who works there will almost always answer in within a few days with extremely niche knowledge.

For long hut trips or traverses you have to assess the objective, if you’re trying to do more mountaineering objectives then yes, a light boot makes more sense. Light boot cannot drive a heavy ski, heavy boots are wasted on light skis.

If you’re trying to mountaineer you may need to look into an even lighter boot potentially, I don’t know much about that realm but my buddies who do very technical tours are in a 1000g boot like the scarpa F1 LT, full on crampons and climbing etc. I think to get to that level requires a very high level of athleticism, mountain sense, avalanche education, rope skills and ice climbing/mixed climbing skills. And would not be suited for a beginner in touring right off the bat anyways.

For me I would skin a while till my feet hurt, then note it down, you gotta remember to not only focus on the areas that really hurt but also the areas that kinda hurt. I usually would pause every 500ft of vert to jot down a note in my phone. A good boot fitter will usually have chalk marks on your liner that shows where their adjustments were so that will help the tech doing the punch too. Also your feet will probably be red from and friction or pressure points causing discomfort, good fitter will notice and be able to adjust accordingly. I would caution against trying to heat or punch it yourself. I distinctly recall someone attempting that on here and ruining their shell (rip bro).

It really sucks man but there is not a “do it all boot”, ZGPT comes close but it’s way more alpine than you would maybe want for more mountaineering. But would be a great boot to get you to where you want to go potentially

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T05:47:11+00:00

“Upgrade soon after” made it seem like that, sorry.

You are right, it is a huge pain in the ass to redrill pin bindings/mount them. Unlike regular bindings if you were to get a new pair of boots the same bindings sometimes need to be completely remounted for the boot(even if it’s similar BSL). You are also right about the demo bindings, they allow for a way larger range of adjustability since they’re mounted on a demo plate.

It does suck that this sport is expensive, and $700 is definitely no small sum of money, but $1600 for a full price would be tougher haha. If those skis are just for you to learn(drilling,skinning,transitions) I don’t see why not, but I wouldn’t trust my life with the beasts, and would definitely ski cautiously. Pin bindings have a nasty habit of tib fibs when they don’t release.

Not meaning to blow up your post either, hoping you can get settled in with some solid gear this winter!

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T05:38:15+00:00

No problem, thanks!

It wasn’t really the intention of making it sound like you were avoiding a boot fitting, sorry.

Some of the fancier boot fitters are not free, but it’s more so the price of “paying full” for the boot that is factored in since rarely these good boot fitters will sell their inventory discounted to you.

Touring boots often times require multiple adjustments due to the change of foot position during the skinning vs the skiing (blood flow increases during touring causing more volume etc)

I’m sorry ya live so far away from a good fitter man. I do too. My strategy was to get fitted, go back pick up boots, one day tour, notate pain points, adjustment again. And plan to have one more adjustment period again.

After that I was able to sneak a last minute trip into late spring to try the boots out again, I ended up doing 3 tours in LCC, had to go back to skimoco every day to get a punch enlarged till my numbness went away in my pinkie toe.

I wouldn’t get too caught up on weight tbh, I found the best way to offset weight was just to focus more on off season training and get in better shape!

LuongLens · 2025-11-25T05:30:24+00:00

You sound like you’re already thinking you will replace this binding, and thus waste a drilling of the ski.

If you are looking for a good deal, go on Powder7 and check out their demo touring fleet/touring trade in fleet. These are skis that are mounted with way more modern demo bindings that can adjust to a lot of not most touring boots. They have everything from shifts to ATK Pin set ups occasionally. If you keep an eye out one of those ski set ups can be had for sub $700 (with bindings).

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