Skis for AllTrails...

[Deacon Patrick]

Attempt to show this is on topic that only does the opposite: I'm puzzling out how these might play with me brain so I can strap them to Shadowfax, me fixed gear Hunqapillar, ride to the trailhead after a delightful deep snow and enjoy skiing with delightful, controlled descents).

https://altaiskis.com/

My biggest gripes with backcountry telemark skis back in the 80's and 90's was they were too long for skiing trails, too narrow for powder, especially breaking trail, required the donning and doffing of skins, required proprietary boots that never fit (even worse now I'm barefoot/minimalist). In barefoot circles the skis and style of skiing by the good folks in the Altai mountains of Asia knew how to do this right and proper, and I lamented twelve years ago there were no such skis now. Well, there are, now, as of four years ago. Grin. Kind of the rivendell of skiing.

With abandon,

Patrick

www.MindYourHeadCoop.org

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[Patrick Moore]

Now this sounds like great fun! Keep us informed. I did only a little bit of cross-country skiiing while in Kebec, but I enjoyed it immensely, and IME it is the non-cycling equivalent of cycling. I actually bought a pair of cheap LL Bean XC skis after I moved here to ABQ, but we get ski-able snow only about once every 3 years, so I exploited their (then) return when you like policy.

Speaking of which, tangent, but not wholly irrelevant: Early Feb, 1991, I was roped as the cyclist into a very, very amateur team doing the Mt Taylor Quad -- their other cyclist had dropped out. We were competing -- get this -- against 1 man, a wholly superior athlete (*), who would do the ~15 mile bike leg up Mount Taylor, ~5 mile run, ~ 2 mile XC ski, and ~1 mile snowshoe, repeat on the return, alone. I recall wearing lycra shorts and a poly-wool LS jersey, and naught else -- temps about freezing.

I forget if we won or lost -- wouldn't surprise me if we lost; but I was never so cold in my life while waiting for the return leg down the mountain.

(*) Bob Rosebrough, Gallup, NM; he is Google-able. 6'4" of athletic prowress. Anecdote of his early racing career: regional cycling race, the roadies are bunched at the front. They hear a heavy whirring sound, and look back. There is Bob on a 25" mountain bike with knobbies gaining on them. They say "Oh, no!" He won the race.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Wayne Naha]

I gotta say, these skis look fantastic!

[George Schick]

Yes, a friend and former co-worker of mine with whom I used to enjoy "cross-country" skiing (not the same a telemarking, of course) here in the Midwest who moved to the Whitefish MT area several decades ago has since informed me that the entire telemarking tradition has since been replaced by "Alpine touring" skis, the ones which you reference.  Looks like a good innovation and I'm glad you found out about it.

[Deacon Patrick]

I'm not positive, George, but I believe these are unique from the subcategory of "alpine touring" skis, referring to themselves as skishoes or specifically Altai, which appears to be a subcategory of one at the moment. Grin.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Grady Wright]

These are exactly what I have been looking for! Thanks for sharing. My experience with BC cross-country skis are that they are difficult to maneuver in tight places and very short descents. You are spot on about needing a different ski for non-groomed trails (and I'll add something more efficient than snowshoes). I am probably going to pick up a pare and move my 3 pin binding/boot set up to these.

I have been researching these the last day or two and I think this type of ski has the unofficial classification of trekking ski. Seems that BlackDiamond makes one too yet with space age materials and more expensive.

Now we can ride and ski like Mongolians! Do you ski with a a long stick or ski poles? 

I also live in CO maybe I'll see you out on the trail one of these days. 

[Deacon Patrick]

Hey Grady! Where in Colorado? I'm on Pikes Peak (Green Mountain Falls, to be exact). Feel free to email me direct if you want to ride sometime. lamontglen at mac dot com.

If I'm a good enough lad (my wife just hinted I was, so there's hope), then these will arrive over Christmastide. The amazing thing is from the one pair, everyone in the family can try them via the universal binding. My plan is to make a long pole (they say about a foot taller than you, lodge pole pine, though I may try an already seasoned aspen). Having used ski poles, I'm betting one long pole is actually more stable, so will help me brain (I have constant neurological vertigo). The videos help show how the single pole works. Aye to the ploddingtonness of snowshoes, a wee-bit-a-glide would be a wonderful thing.

With abandon,

Patrick

[PaulS]

I saw these few years ago, but never pulled the trigger.  I like the idea behind them.  My snowshoes are too wide and I've always felt so clumsy walking in them, so these make sense.  More maneuverable than the longer XC skis as well.  

The site talks about 2016 models. Are they still being imported?  Fortunately, Black Diamond also has a version of these out.  Bit more expensive.  But I'm unsure if Altai has updated their site and pricing lately.

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/glidelite-147-with-bindings-BD13010200001471.html

[Deacon Patrick]

I talked with them yesterday, so Altai is alive and kickin', if that's what you're wondering, Paul. I think 2016 model denotes an update, not a commitment to update annually. 

With abandon,

Patrick

[PaulS]

I see.  Thanks for the info.  Glad they're still around.  

[John Speare]

very much alive. very well.

I have a family place on a river about 30 minutes from Altia NA HQ, which is in a tiny tiny village called Curlew in NE Washington state  -- I just went up last week and finally purchased a set of factory seconds. Altai is popular around here given the proximity to the HQ. I opted for 3-pin bindings to be a bit more planted. I took them out on boulder pass (5000 ft peak about 15 miles from their store) for a quick spin on the way home. Fun! I think of them as I did the original mountain bikes when I was young: as a way to get out there, explore, and adventure. 

The crew meets most sundays on Boulder Pass, where there's a traditional sno park with groomed skate/Nordic trails as well as access to the Kettle Crest Trail (single track perfect for these skis as well as mountain biking) -- and I"m pretty sure the most remote, least used snopark in WA.  Anyway, they told me that after horsing around and skiing there's a fire, food, beers, etc. I'm totally pumped on the whole idea...