In pursuit of AT gear

For three or four years now, I wanted to get some all-terrain or randonnée ski gear. One of my plan was to do Chamonix-Zermatt and before I undertook that, I needed to get the right equipment. Well, for many reason, I remain stuck with regular alpine skiing, do an awful lot of it and still love it. This spring however, I finally took one step in the direction of “skiing uphill.” I found the price of the new equipment a bit excessive and while I had the right pair of ski for the job, I needed bindings and skins and these two were likely to set me off by more than $500 if purchased new.

I decided to take a chance and found through Craig's List a pair of used, 190 cm K2 with a pair of Fritschi Diamir bindings, the only valuable component of the set. I soon discarded the old skis, mounted the Fritschis on one of my wife's old pair of Dynastars, and discovered to my chagrin that one of the binding was shot. My $50 investment had just gone straight into the wastebasket! I didn't give up that easy though, and through my usual web investigating procedures, found out how the system worked, located the faulty parts, took them apart and found replacement ones that were graciously handed to me free of charge by a large Salt Lake City company that distributes this kind of equipment. While there, I purchased a pair of synthetic skins on sale and for just $140 I'm now in business and feel ready to climb mountains while there's still snow on them!