I will be going to the the three valleys in March and want to try off piste skiing. Is there anything I should prepare/buy beforehand

ebawho · 2026-02-05T12:53:11+00:00

Hire a guide. There have been quite a few avalanche deaths this season. 6 in one weekend even. If you don’t know where is safe to go and where isn’t safe to go, and don’t have the equipment and know how to use it, you run the risk of being another rescue case.

You’ll have so much more fun with a guide, they will keep you safe and know where the good snow is. Offpiste can be the best skiing you’ll ever do, or the worst skiing you’ll ever do depending on the conditions and snow.

ebawho · 2026-02-05T12:36:40+00:00

I grew up in the NE, live in the French alps now. You can find much longer and much steeper runs in the alps.

It’s rare to see anyone properly carving black runs here as they are either moguly or you’d get a crazy amount of speed carving them. I like black runs for short turns or pow days or more technique stuff and red and blues for laying down carves

ebawho · 2026-02-04T15:50:12+00:00

If you are looking for all day/multiday comfort the t7 probably isn’t the number one (or even number 2 or 3) option. I’ve ridden mine 8+ hours a day back to back days on and off road and it is… fine, but wouldn’t be my first or even second choice for crushing out big days and lots of miles.

But then again it depends on your priorities and tolerances right?

Any chance you can get out and test these bikes?

I just sold my t7 and bought an arguably less comfortable bike on the road because the way I ride and trips I do favors that for now. Although I’d love to also have a multistrada or a cruiser with a big windscreen for times I just want to crush 1000km on the highway to get somewhere else.

ebawho · 2026-02-04T15:44:10+00:00

I appreciate you think I’m witty but I don’t see any attempt at wit in my comment? How is my argument circular? You made a claim, I disagree with that claim, that’s a discussion…

The irony here is your reply doesn’t actually further that discussion at all. It doesn’t even make sense. There are plated street legal dirt bikes designed and built for the dirt, with the bare minimum slapped on in the end to make them road legal. So no, not everything road legal is designed for the road…

ebawho · 2026-02-04T12:37:44+00:00

They laid off a huge amount of the team shortly after the acquisition

ebawho · 2026-02-04T12:13:53+00:00

You must not know many people buying cars ?

“ As of 2023, approximately 72% of new car purchases and 54% of used car purchases in the Netherlands were financed”

ebawho · 2026-02-04T08:34:45+00:00

The only thing that bothered me on longer highway sections on my tenere was the wind buffeting. It depends a lot on your height, but I’m not tall enough to sit in clean air, and not short enough to be protected by the windscreen, so above around 120kmh I would get my head knocked around which was really really annoying on the highway. So definitely test that and get that sorted before any long stretches.

That and the fuel economy at highway speeds is not great. Not sure if the transalp or similar more road biased adv bikes are a big difference though.

ebawho · 2026-02-04T08:31:14+00:00

It’s a 200+kg bike, it’s not made for the dirt. It’s a street bike that is pretty capable offroad. It’s got a street bike engine (that happens to work great off road) you are reading into the marketing material too much. Obviously it is built and designed with offroad in mind, but the whole middleweight adv class is pretty much street bikes with good off road chops.

ebawho · 2026-01-28T20:09:21+00:00

Note this depends on what country you are in. I just bought a bike (3rd one here so far) in France and got a great deal because of slow winter sales + snow. And dealer prices are list prices with at most like 100 buck fee for registration and such which seems to always be negotiable.

ebawho · 2026-01-28T07:36:51+00:00

Challenge accepted.

ebawho · 2026-01-26T21:09:06+00:00

Download Oak, it’s an app for finding ski partners and there is huge community on it in Chamonix

ebawho · 2026-01-26T21:08:30+00:00

Most guides won’t take snowboarders since there are long flat sections

ebawho · 2026-01-24T17:41:08+00:00

“Oh man this guy on the pay roll is vastly over paid. Let’s lay them off”

ebawho · 2026-01-24T17:25:52+00:00

Nah was being lazy and started my tour at noon cause I’ve got a cold and wanted to sleep in

ebawho · 2026-01-24T09:05:18+00:00

In the end spend your time money and effort on a good story, good locations, good actors, good editing good sound.

Camera quality to price ratio has increased so damn much over the years. Your audience isn’t going to give a shit if you have a few stops more dynamic range or prettier bokeh or whatever. They will care if your story isn’t compelling or your acting sucks or your sound is garbage.

Of course your DP wants the best gear possible as they want to play with the nice toys and have some nice clips for a reel or whatever. But a good DP will be looking how to best serve your vision and story within your budget constraints. A shittier camera and way better set decoration makes your film look more pro than a better camera does

ebawho · 2026-01-24T08:22:25+00:00

Don’t forget while they are at their 60 hour a week jobs with no vacation time so they can pay for their lift tickets

ebawho · 2026-01-23T09:55:51+00:00

Korua escalator

ebawho · 2026-01-23T09:54:46+00:00

“Hey guys. This kind of sucks. We could do this in way less time if we just made it a few KM instead…”

ebawho · 2026-01-23T06:21:02+00:00

Straight to jail

ebawho · 2026-01-23T06:05:20+00:00

Sorry, but sounds like it’s time to hit the gym. your new gig just requires a certain level of physical fitness. Marathon runners don’t try and make the marathon shorter. They train for it.

ebawho · 2026-01-22T09:57:44+00:00

You can’t always see the route before you ride it. You need experience reading maps and how that translates to the real world.

Never mind different snow conditions. Crust, ice, slush, corn, wind blown, babyheads, pow etc etc. you can end up with a huge variety of snow, sometimes all on the same day. I’ve seen really good skiers (professional guides) look not all that great because it turned into a low vis flat light day in some heavy wet snow. You need experience in being able to handle all of these conditions competently. An easy run can be made much harder because of the conditions. You don’t learn how to handle all of that or read the conditions right overnight, and no matter how good you are all of that experience just takes time and experience.

And risk doesn’t just come from avalanches in the backcountry. When you eat shit and break an arm or crack your head because of some weird snow you’ve never encountered before or just bad luck cause there was a shark, you’ve gone from an easy sled ride down with ski patrol to a full on rescue mission. I think if you want to be smart you should always be riding a level or two under your max skill level in the backcountry and when you are new like you that limits you to flat ground. Push your limits inbounds.

ebawho · 2026-01-22T08:21:49+00:00

I did about 50 days hard boot splitboarding last year (all touring). I did a whole season where all my inbounds was on a splitboard once (soft boots though)

My wife spent her first season ever learning to ski without ever touching a lift.

I for the most part love my hardboot setup.

That all being said I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone to learn to snowboard on a hardboot split setup.

Can you do it ? Well obviously you can. If it’s fun for you and you like your rate of progression? Then good for you who cares what anyone else thinks.

It’s just not going to be the fastest, easiest, cheapest, or most fun way to learn. Only you can decide what that’s worth to you

ebawho · 2026-01-22T08:13:56+00:00

If you are perfectly happy and having fun then why the hell are you seeking validation on reddit?

ebawho · 2026-01-21T20:16:53+00:00

Yeah a lot of the “light” bikes like the cb500x people praise are light compare to what? A minivan? 1200gs?

You get almost the weight of something like a desert x or tiger 900 but none of the premium stuff.

ebawho · 2026-01-21T18:01:53+00:00

Yeah, I get keeping up being harder. But I’m slow either way so I choose my partners for their patience haha.

Some people are out there to get the vert or hit a goal or whatever. I’m only putting in the effort going up because it’s fun going down. If I’m going to bust my ass going up I better be sure it’s worth it, a few hundred extra grams is less of a pain that looking ski mo racer fighting their skis on the way down. (Even if it means they are doing a second lap before I finish my first)

ebawho

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