Backcountry is still hot. At last week’s Outdoor Retailer Snow Show backcountry gear continued to dominate innovation in the ski industry. The annual gear show in Denver was dominated by boots with tech binding pins at the toe and heel, lightweight shells and weight loss focused on earning turns. Through it all a few products stood out.
Salomon S/LAB Shift MNC Binding
The one binding quiver is here. On the resort click into the Shift with your usual downhill boots. When it’s time to hit a backcountry tour, change into your alpine touring boots with pintech inserts and click into the same binding. Its toe piece is ready to accept both styles of toe making this the best choice if you want one ski for inbounds and touring.
Dynafit Hoji Pro Tour
The walk lever in the spine of these boots releases the top buckle, power strap and fore-aft stiffness. In other words, in one flick this boot goes from locked in downhill mode to full walk mode. It saves a lot of time and fiddling at transitions. That’s just the start of all the refinements to this, the latest project from Canadian freeskiing pro Eric Hjorleifson.
Scott Backcountry Patrol AP 30
Scott enters the electric powered air bag pack arena with its new super capacitor powered system. This system eliminates all the airline hassles of traveling with a lithium-ion battery. One of the first super capacitors in the outdoor arena I’m waiting to find out more about how it works, but it looks simple and effective.
RYAN REPORT is a frequent web post by Ski Canada magazine’s technical editor, Ryan Stuart.
