Spring Skiing with Dynafit
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The resorts may be closing in a little over a month, but that doesn’t mean that your ski season has to come to an end. Dynafit has been in the ski business for over 50 years, with a focus on ski mountaineering and touring in more recent years. Dynafit, known for their tech binding system, offers up more than super slick binding systems; lightweight boots and skis, and custom skins can keep you skinning and skiing in the backcounty until the snow melts away.
If you are thinking about upgrading your set up, Dynafit is a perfect option for someone seeking top end performance on the downhill, but enjoys shaving some weight during the uphill, for a quicker ascent. I recently tested out some Dynafit gear on a trip down to the San Juans, near Silverton, Colorado. I demoed the Grand Teton ski mounted with Dynafits’ Radical ST binding. The Radical ST was awesome on the ascent, thanks to the speed step climbing bar; simply flick the bar with a ski pole to one of the two desired heights. The Radical ST offered the same stability as a framed touring binding, but with a fraction of the weight.
I was mainly doing some low angle touring due the heavy snow fall and instability predicted in the area. Unfortunately, I can’t speak a lot with respect to the carving ability of the ski on steep descents. I found myself touring in 1-2 ft of deep powder and floated nicely on top. The Grand Teton keeps with the light weight trend, thanks to its’ bamboo beech core and are available in 4 lengths: 164, 173, 182, 191 with gradual increasing sidecut based on length, 128-104-118 for the 164s.
When it comes to boots, Dynafit offers race boots for ski-mo/randonee racers, as well as a boot for the weekend warrior. I tested out the women’s TLT 6 Mountain CL, which is geared towards gals that want to ski fast uphill, whether racing or doing quick winter climbs. The women’s TLT 6 is similar to the men’s model, with the exception of the cuff stiffness, which is more of an intermediate amount of stiffness. I was impressed with the 60 degree cuff rotation, forward and backward to allow for excellent range of motion. When you are reading for the descent, simply buckle the top Ultra-Lock system buckle and the cuff is locked in. The ability to transition from walk to downhill mode in a few seconds per boot was pretty amazing. You can also adjust the degree of forward lean, 15-18 degrees by simply removing or reassembling two fastening Torx screws.
Overall, I had a blast on the Dynafit set-up; the only bad thing I have to say about the set up, is that I wish I didn’t have to give them back! Here’s to hoping I get my own set up soon!
For more information and product specs, please visit www.evo.com/dynafit.
