Tja! Jaa har precis skaffat mig två par approachskidor med Silvretta bindningar och skrev ett låååångt mail till en polare i Skottland om lite olika alternativ. Klistrar in det här rakt av, därför är det på engelska. Hoppas det är ok. Kommer en fortsättning imorgon med lite specifika skidmodeller jag hittat efter att jag skrev det här mailet.
OBS! Hittills så har jag inte testat några av dem här skidorna ännu eftersom Stockholm är grått, trist, mulet, deprimerande, blött och saknar allt vad snö is och kyla heter. Så texten är baserad på mina erfarenheter från annan skidåkning och internet research!
Värt att tänka på också att den typen av skidor som jag och David pratar om är "bergsskidor", har du tänkt ta dig till t.ex. Lunndörrsisarna så skulle jag välja pulka och ett par turskidor av längdåkningsmodell.
"Good idea, I really think approach skiis is the way forward, especially in deeper snow and bigger mountains. I have researched a couple of different "styles" over the last month, you are never going to be able to ski as good with a pair of mountaineering boots as with a pair of real skiing boots, they are simply to soft. The LS Spantiks is probably the best you can get but they are still really soft compared to a pair of real ski boots. If I was to spend a winter doing alpinestuff in Cham I would definitely get a pair of lightweight skimountaineering boots such as Dynafit TLT5 and a pair of Plum or Dynafit race bindings. But for Scotland, a few alpine routes every now and then and normal iceclimbing it's probably not worth the extra cost.
So if you want to use your alpine climbing boots the only currently good available solution that I've found is getting a pair of Silvretta bindings, either 400, 404 or 500, but NOT the Easy Go version(heel doesn't fit most mountaineering boots). They are a real AT ski bindings that work with mountaineering boots, will release your feets if you fall and you can release the heel for walking with them. They also have heelraiser which acts like a support when going up so you won't have to flex your ankle so much forward
* Downside, they are heavy. I one pair of Silvretta 400 and they weight 1027 grams each for just the binding but on the other hand they are cheap. I paid 20 Euro +15 Euro shipping from Austria. I also got a pair of 500's, they weight about 800 grams each, are much more userfriendly but quite a bit more expensive. Do a search on ebay.de on "Silvretta", there are lots of bindings or skis with bindings sold there.
To determine the size you need measure your sole length, the letter after the size below is Silvretta's(in german) sizes.
Silvrettas size table:
Small(K) 260mm - 315mm
Medium(N) 295mm - 345 mm
Large(U) 315mm - 370mm
You can get a larger version and shorten it but you can't get a smaller version and lengthen it. How to do that is in one of the Wildsnow links below.
Here is some more info on the binding:
http://www.wildsnow.com/bindings/silvretta-500-backcountry-skiing-binding/
http://www.wildsnow.com/backcountry...country-skiing/silvretta-404-backcountry.html
http://mrpulldown.blogspot.com/2010/03/silvretta-easy-go-500-mountaineers-ski.html
http://mrpulldown.blogspot.com/2010/03/silvretta-easy-go-500-user-guide.html
Ok, skis then. Short, fat and light. That's what you should look for. You're not gonna be able to ski any good anyway in mountaineering boots so spending alot of extra $$$ for getting the exact length, width and radius is just stupid. Since you're going to have them on your back while you climb you want something short that won't get in the way of your icetools when you're swinging and won't get cought on cornices, overhangs etc. The general rule of thumb for skis is that they should be about 10 cm shorter than you are(depending a bit on how good skier, what kind of terrain etc etc) but that's waay to long to be able to climb anything hard with. 130-145 cm is probably a good compromise.
But since they are about half a meter shorter than normal skis your gonna sink down in the snow much more so you have to try and find some quite fat ones. Just keep the weight in mind and get the lightest you can find. Oh, and make sure you get a carving one's(timeglass shaped). They are much easier to turn with than "old-shool" straight ones.
You're also going to new a pair of skins, you fasten them under the skis when going up to give you grip so you don't slide backwards. It's basicly a piece of fabric with ”hair” angeled backwards so you can glideforward but the hairs will dig down into the snow and stop you from going backwards. They also got glue on them to fasten against the underside of the skis.
You can get either mohair(goat hair) or nylon. Mohair is usually not as hardwearing as nylon but on the otherhand it slides forwards much better meaning you can actually glideforward a little bit with each step/kick.
Since your skis is going to be quite short you're skins will aswell which mean less grip so try and get some quite wide ones, 100mm or so. If they are to big for your skiis in the middle you can trim them with a razorblade and then seal the edges with a lighter.
If the attachment in the front doesn't fit your skis you can make a much better attachment quite easy:
http://www.getstrongergolonger.com/journal/2011/10/28/trab-skin-attachment-mod.html
If your going to but a pair of bindings from ebay, try and find a nice package deal with skis, bindings, poles and skins.
You can also go in another direction and get a pair of really short and fat skis with(often) plastic bindings that won't release your foot if you fall(and therefore increase the chane of injury), they are probably going to be much lighter and of course shorter so it's going to be easier to climb with them on your back but they won't ski nearly as good and your going to sink even more in deep snow. There are a couple of versions by different manufacturers but it's hard to find any good reviews of them.
Here are three that I found that looks promising:
http://www.kong.it/doc301.htm
http://www.gaspo.at/gpo-sports-more/gpo-funtools-skiboards/biss/ (can be found for 160 euro on ebay.de)
http://www.needlesports.com/Catalog...Equipment/Snow-Shoes/SnowVenture-Skis-STC-SKI
If you find any other that looks good, please let me know! "
