Deciding on your touring setup is all about figuring out your priorities and picking a setup that matches the individual; my favourite gear might not be right for you. For me, my touring skis are solely for backcountry use, and I’ve had to make decisions based on weight, performance, features and durability.
These are some of my favourite bits of my backcountry kit.
Black Crows Camox Freebird
The Camox is one of the most popular touring skis of the moment and for good reason. It’s light, skis hard and is a good profile for most snow types. For me, weight is one of my main concerns, as each metre I ski downhill is another I have to skin back up, and the Camox comes in at a featherlight 1250 grams (183cm). On top of it’s light weight it has excellent edge grip for those steep runs and chutes which is a big concern for me in my touring skis. It carves hard on corn with its medium classic camber and floats well on the fresh stuff with generous tip rocker and a little bit of tail rocker.
I've also found it capable enough on icy hard stuff.
If you're looking for a ski that can do anything in the Australian backcountry, I can’t recommend this one enough.
Marker Alpinist
The Alpinist is Markers response to the need for lightweight touring bindings. It comes in at 280 grams without a brake (I just use a leash on mine).
On the performance side of things this binding shreds. It uses the same toe piece as the kingpin whicH gives it excellent power transfer and damping on the down hills.
The heel piece is easy enough to step into, and I've had zero issues with pre releases.
There are a few compromises some skiers may find issue with in the Alpinist, such as the slightly fiddly to step into toe piece and the low heel risers, but for me they aren't too much of an issue given how well the binding performs in other areas.
Pomoca Free Pro 2.0 Skins
My other go to bits:
All photos taken, and words written by Flynn Armstrong
Instagram: @Flynn_does_adventures