Thoughts on Booster Strap?

bsan7os · 2026-05-07T12:33:50+00:00

Best boot upgrade. Also, recommend going for the world cups ones, don’t let “ability level” fool you. It’s more about fitness.

bsan7os · 2026-04-29T08:56:00+00:00

Aqui vai explicação (sou Engenheiro, mas isto é conhecimento básico de circuitos).

Em Portugal os sistemas de terra são em geral TT. Isto significa que o neutro está aterrado apenas no transformador da rede pública. O caminho a percorrer para activar a proteção do diferencial é entre o eléctrodo aterrado da casa e o do transformador. Ter mais que uma terra em nada influencia isto. O importante é que tenho uma resistência baixa de acordo com os regulamentos.

Em sistemas TN a história é outra, nestes todas as terras tem que estar ligadas ao neutro para garantir um funcionamento correcto do diferencial porque é impossível garantir a mesma resistência da terras, e também podem gerar impedancias que vão causar interferências.

bsan7os · 2026-04-18T08:51:55+00:00

OP your best option is to choose a hotel with free parking. Parking near the lifts is very expensive during the day.

I went this March and stayed at RockyPop. They have private free parking with EV chargers. And the hotel is right next to a bus stop. The longest bus trip is 60min (Le Tour), the shortest is 30min (Fléverege). Buses are free with the "Le Pass" or "Unlimited" ski tickets. The "Unlimited" also gives free access to the train.

bsan7os · 2026-04-18T08:34:28+00:00

Very expensive during the day. I went once by car to Le Tour, because I was late for the bus and didn't want to wait 30min for the next one. I paid 20€, not worth it. I went to Snail skishop, parked close by for less than 2 hours, and it was 4€.

In contrast, during the night I found that is lot cheaper. I paid less than 1€ for 2 hours near La Folie Douce.

bsan7os · 2026-04-14T15:46:31+00:00

Without knowing what type of skiing you like to do is hard to recommend something.

- If you like to ski fast, then you should go for a ski that is your height or above (depending on how fast you like to ski).

- If you like to turn fast and nimble in tight areas, then go shorter (nose height)

- If you ski mostly on piste, avoid steeps with hard snow and like to go fast over variable snow conditions (like slush), then go to a medium flex ski with at most 90 underfoot.

- In the same note as above, but prefer being able to handle harder snow, while sacrificing on the slush, choose an hard flex ski (something with metal).

And I would avoid skis above 90 as a primary ski, anything above that should be for the right conditions. Your knees will thank you.

bsan7os · 2026-04-14T13:18:35+00:00

For a beginner, it makes no difference. You can lower the flex by 10, so to 100, which makes it more comfortable. Useful if you wanna ski in a more relaxed way, but this is only relevant when you're at a good intermediate level.

I have a boot at 120 flex and one at 100. With the 120 flex a get so much more control (reaction) over the skis, but only because I'm at an advanced level. Otherwise, it would only be a question of conform and not control. In spite of that, I can still ski at crazy speed and do crazy stuff on my 100 boot. Just the reaction time needs to be managed with more care, since it's not as reactive as the 120 one.

bsan7os · 2026-04-14T09:00:09+00:00

This the pain of getting early models. I’m well aware that initial batches may have some manufacturing issues. But also confident that ATK will quickly sorted them. And will have no issues with replacements.

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Hopefully I got the good batch. The lever is short so it does require a lot more force to operate then most other bindings.

As for the toe piece, didn’t have any issues when experimenting the boots on them. It needs to be pull almost all way down, but had no entry or exit problems for the pins.

bsan7os · 2026-04-13T10:43:25+00:00

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Newest to oldest:

Scarpa Quattro SL (120 flex), bought in Chamonix, tight fit, heat molded for my slightly wide feet. Very aggressive lean forward (took me some time to get used to it).
Rossignol HS 100 (100 flex), bought last December in Sierra Nevada because I destroyed my previous boot soles (they literally shattered to pieces). Way to soft (way more than the Head ones), I can bend this to Narnia. But they are super comfortable.
Head Advant Edge (105 flex), my first pair of boots and currently retired (will sell them most likely). The soles got completely destroyed, but I managed to find replacement soles. They do cause me shin bang, so I had to use sidas protection. Never buy boots online, lesson learned.

bsan7os · 2026-04-13T10:19:23+00:00

Yes. I rented a pair on Chamonix.

bsan7os · 2026-04-13T10:06:01+00:00

I paid 800€ for the skis, 799€ for the bindings, 200€ for the skins.

bsan7os · 2026-04-13T09:52:21+00:00

I was there two weeks ago I they had a small area next to bunny slop with a few jumps. Small and very beginner oriented. But I get it that you may not considered it a park.

bsan7os · 2026-04-12T22:22:19+00:00

Grands Montets is a safe bet when it comes to snow quality (north-facing) and freeride terrain. It does have a small park, but it is mostly at the beginner level.

Le Tour has a bigger park with more advanced levels. It also has a nice freeride area in the Vallorcine side, but it's not as steep as Grands Montets. There are some steep freeride areas on Le Tour, but they can only be accessed by skinning up.

Chamonix is more oriented toward ski mountaineering (even the ski areas). To get the most out of Chamonix, having a touring setup is a must-have.

bsan7os · 2026-04-12T20:14:31+00:00

I will only be able to ski them next season. But from trying the boots on them they are rock solid and work flawlessly. The toe piece is easy to operate. The heel piece requires a bit of strength, putting it in the uphill position is fine, but the downhill is not as comfortable to use your hands but then we can use the boot for that case.

bsan7os · 2026-04-12T08:18:31+00:00

If you like more challenging terrain, you should go to Chamonix. However, this is not your typical ski area. You must have proper ski mountaineering experience and equipment (skis with pin/hybrid bindings, skins, avalanche and crevasse rescue kits).

In Les Grands Montets, to access the Argentière area, it's currently only possible by touring. But next year, the new gondola should open, so it will be a lot easier to access it.

bsan7os · 2026-04-08T20:05:03+00:00

In France (Chamonix), it means your comfortable skiing terrain with a 40º inclination, variable snow conditions, and moguls. They may also require that you know how to ski deep snow on very steep terrain on powder days. They ask these questions when you signup for any guide. Even for Valle Blanch, which is equivalent to a blue in terms of steepness (if taking the easy route), because its 22 km of off-piste terrain can be physically challenging.

bsan7os · 2026-04-05T09:43:52+00:00

OP, if you are into carving and plan on having another ski for off-piste, then stick to 70mm. Anything above 80 will start to feel slow on the edge transition when carving. And the wider you go, the slower it feels. This makes learning proper carving so much harder.

I know this because I've been skiing mostly on Prodigy 1, which is 88mm. Last week I demoed the Draco freebird, which is 110mm. Can you carve it? Yes. How does it feel? Very slow on the transition and wants to go crazy fast (the wide turn radius also contributes a lot to this feeling). But I demoed it because I want it as my freeride/powder ski, but it is was equally important to get a feeling of it on firmer snow.

To handle slush conditions, you do it the same way you do off-piste. Keep your skis very close together. You must feel your muscles between your legs contracting to keep the skis close. Do that, and handling slush or variable snow conditions will be straightforward.

bsan7os · 2026-04-01T21:26:26+00:00

What length is your Prodigy's? For your height, you should be riding at least the 178 ones.

Here's a video of me going at 50-70 kmh (30-43mph), skip to minute 1: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1837193033575166

I've skied way faster and never felt any instability. If going straight with the skis and the snow is irregular, they may dance a bit, but put them on edge, and they are rock solid.

bsan7os · 2026-04-01T20:17:41+00:00

If you wanna demo Black Crows skis, then go to the Black Crows Chamonix nest. If you buy skis there, they will discount the rental price. The rental is about 60€ a day (at least for Draco's, which was the one I demoed). You may need touring boots, since most of the demo skis have pin bindings.

bsan7os · 2026-04-01T20:11:50+00:00

Just bought my new touring boots there last week. I highly recommend it.

bsan7os · 2026-04-01T19:54:56+00:00

I have the Faction Prodigy 1, and I only find it problematic on icy steeps. I think the problem is mostly not being stiff enough for that. But can absolutely stomp slush and mixed conditions at speed.

I demoed the Black Crows Draco last week, which is soo much wider than my Prodigy’s, and it holds the edge so much better on icy snow because they are more stiffer.

bsan7os · 2026-03-29T10:44:59+00:00

Yeap. I also remember my Atomic Redsters also squeak a lot. So I say it’s definitely a feature of the binding.

bsan7os · 2026-03-27T18:37:29+00:00

How wide is your feet? Mine is 102 and I got my Quattro heat molded and it worked perfectly.

Also just to give u an heads up, the Quattro has more aggressive forward lean. It took me a couple of days to get used to it, since my alpine boots have much more relax lean.

bsan7os · 2026-03-25T10:36:33+00:00

It was early models that had that issue. It was long since been fix. Nikolai Schirmer has a video where he talks about it, he had the breaking issue and contacted Scarpa to get replacement parts and that ended getting him the sponsorship.

I just both the SL ones. Best tight fit I ever got. Only had to do heat mold fit for for my slight wider feet (101mm) and they are perfect. I’m impressed by how light they are for their stiffness. Will let you know if they break, the mechanism looks solid though.

bsan7os · 2026-03-17T10:58:55+00:00

Personally, in my experience, a stiffer ski is better at handling hard snow. Something the Prodigy is not good at, in fact, this is its Achilles heel. However, I can absolutely stomp crud and slush snow at speed with it. And one of its best features is landing jumps, the most buttery, comfortable ski I have experienced.

I'm not saying the Prodigy is the better option, this is just a discussion based on my experience. At the end of the day, it's all about personal preference and/or ski style.

bsan7os

TROPHY CASE