Top 8
La Sportiva Vapor Nano Ski - Men's
The Vapor Nano Ski from La Sportiva is the newest incarnation of skis that are blurring the lines between uphill and downhill. With tip rocker, tail rocker, and traditional camber underfoot, these lightweight skis can ski anything from deep powder to mank with ease. Where they really shine, however, is on the uphill. Carbon nano-tubes make up the laminate layers that are placed over a Kevlar weave composite, and reinforced with carbon fiber plates for added torsional rigidity. These days, just because a ski is light, it doesn't mean that it can't ski hard on the downhill, and these are a perfect example of that new standard. To make touring easy, La Sportiva added tip and tail skin attachment holes that are compatible with La Sportiva's proprietary, pre-cut skins.
Hi this is corey lowe here with la. Sportive talking with brad from back country skiing canada about a few of the hot products from la sportive starting off here with the la sportive spectre ski boot this is our 4 buckle. Ski boot it is the lightest 4 buckle ski. Boot on the market one of the key features is that in walk mode this boot has 60 degrees of range of motion incredible range of motion and walk mode. For ease of touring uphill the buckles. Themselves stay completely pitched up. Even when open you say the boot can be wide open and tour really well and your. Buckles don't flop around this boot also retails for $649 so quite a good value. For the light lightest 4 buckle boots on. The market moving on from boots into. Skis here this is the la sportive vapor. Nano ski this ski is construction. Constructed with carbon nanotubes carbon. Technology that comes from the aerospace industry first time it's been applied to ski this ski itself weighs 1,200 grams. So quite light but also skis very stiff. The way the carbon nanotubes set up make. For a very torsion ally rigid ski so it. Holds an edge on harder snow quite well the rocker ship profile allows the ski. To float nicely in soft snow so 1,200. Grams he is quite light for general ski. Mountaineering recreational back country skier and the little brother to the vapor nano. New for this year is called the vapor spelt this has the same carbon nanotube. Construction technique but in a 95. Millimeter wasted design a little bit. Less tip rocker as well and with the. Skinnier waste we anticipate this ski will hold an edge better in firmer. Snow this ski weighs just 1000 grams so. It's our contribution to the mythical 1. Kilo ski debate that you see happen so. That's it for la sportive spectre ski boot vapor nano ski and vapor speltz come check them out.
Dynafit PDG 2 Alpine Touring Boot - Men's
Weighing less than two pounds, the Dynafit PDG 2 Alpine Touring Boot is certainly an ultralight choice for ski racers and the rando crowd. The PDG 2 maintains a phenomenally light weight with a carbon cuff and a thin spoiler and shell composed of Grilamid. Making up for stiffness, Dynafit inserted a Driving Spoiler 2.0 that locks the carbon cuff, shell, and spoiler together for a surprisingly stiff ride downhill. The Driving Spoiler 2.0 lifts away from the cuff, shell, and spoler when you engage the boot's walk mode through Dynafit's innovative Ultralock 1.0 Closure System.
The Ultralock 1.0 Closure System engages the boot's walk mode and secure closure with a single, solitary buckle. This single buckle keeps the boot's weight down with a streamlined style and fewer straps and buckles that inevitably end up keeping boots together in the flimsiest way. The boot also boasts a thermo moldable liner for a customized fit that ensures proper thermal retention. Underfoot, the PDG 2 features a Pomoca Climb sole that ensures traction for the ascent, on rock, ice, or snow. Dynafit positioned the tech inserts closer to the boot's toe to promote an easier step-in and a speedier stride.
Scott SuperGuide 105 Ski - Men's
Light is right, but the fatter the better—thankfully, Scott made the SuperGuide 105 Ski for the touring-oriented powder pig. The full-length wood core and carbon stringers join forces in bombproof sandwich construction to create a ski that's pretty dang light but still stable and energetic during the descent. With a waist width of 105mm, this ski will float like a butterfly in pow and sting like a bee when you hit hardpack and techy terrain. Add in the ridiculously convenient skin fixation system, and you're ready to rock.
This is the super guide 95 by scott for. 2017 this ski is my joint favorite ski. And my kind of skier the year last year unofficially hit the test it hasn't changed this year in terms of the actual geometry and materials it's just a cosmetic change it's still my ski review and create this on it's just so good 95 underfoot doesn't ski like it. Extremely versatile it is designed to be an all-mountain back country towing. Scheme officially it's a nice. Binding the ski is not the lightest touring ski out there but it's the most planted by miles this and the super got 88 my other ski which i do have paired of our so planted you can use it all day the front side ski and then go out the. Backcountry it's light enough to do that it runs at about the 1314 hundred grand. Mark the light is towing ski to be about 1,100 the heaviest about 1600 the 1100. Skis 500 gram skis to me are two skitty this ski just feels like a normal ski that's light enough to tour on reason for that is you obviously 95 underfoot you've got the sort of the overlay. Sidewalls here so the roundest sidewalls just from the ski by scott on the ski by. Scott I'm not a huge fan ski and i don't feel they had that much in terms of. The performance of ski on this he really does twice all the power to the edges, so he puts a wide ski got loads of turn and. Hook hold on that's nice and smooth on a turn nice rocker here flat tail did you. No shape but it has a little bit of flick rock on there and you've got your specialist done sort skin connections. Right here which some jade consuming on we do the skins for those or you can just run a normal skill I'm gonna get coal mine the glue this because i love blue love skins and it fits just fine and centers on that very nicely always niceness a little bit of a point there for the skins you can monitor any touring binding I've run it mines with a kingpin it's got a tittle plate underneath to give it a rock-solid um sort of adhesion when you've been screwed in but also for torsional rigidity when you're turning and you also have 3d side cut so i can't give you the turn radius on this its variable push it down hard the side cut shortens. But let it go you've got 25 meter turns radius it's super smooth super versatile to finish off with and another zoom opportunity here you got the carbon arrow me to cross fibers here what that does is give the ski torsional rigidity and reduces the weight they can run a lightweight wood core paulínia and lights off the wood core but these tri-axial fibers here keep the skin nice and stiff so as i said it's still my ski of the year i love the colorway this year and yet in wax blue so I've got have a pair of these this ski he's going bucket around right behind james in the camera there right now this is the super guard 95 2017.
La Sportiva Vapor Svelte Ski - Men's
You can't help the fact that the harder the line is to ski, the more you want to ski it. Luckily, the La Sportiva Vapor Svelte Ski shares your affliction with a lightweight construction that likes to travel long distances and up big, intimidating mountains with aplomb. Now, we know what you're thinking—a lot of skis are getting thrown in the lightweight class these days, but we assure you, that with a weight of just 5lb 3oz (1175g) in a 188cm length, the Vapor Svelte Skis truly belong in the lightweight class.
Sitting at a versatile 96mm underfoot, the Vapor Svelte will make the most of the variable conditions you'll encounter above treeline, along with enough tip and tail width to float the occasional powder and a narrow enough waist to easily hold an edge on the hardpack. A slightly rockered tip and tail let you make tight turns down pinner couloirs and navigate narrow chokes through the crux of your line. When you make your exit and loosen those turns up down the apron, you will be able to arc turns with confidence thanks to plenty of camber underfoot.
The construction of the Vapor Svelte consists of what La Sportiva calls Carbon Torsion Box construction. The layup is made up of a Kevlar weave composite core with prepreg resin matrix reinforced with carbon nanotubes, the result of which makes the ski both ridiculously lightweight and torsionally stiff. The other major benefit to this construction is that the ski will last much longer than a traditional wood core ski, while maintaining the same snappy feel throughout the ski's life. Since this ski is built to ride lines where conditions will be, well, less than ideal, La Sportiva went ahead and put a burly P-Tex 6000 base to resist core shots and a wide 2.2mm steel edge to the put the handle on chunks of ice and the occasional rock.
I'm randi and this is doug we're the. Owners of cripple creek backcountry, and we are here today talking about the mas. Pratibha vapor smell yeah this favorites felt was new for this fall the fall of. 2015 and it actually had an early. Release in the spring, so we got our hands on a couple pairs ahead of time. And randy had a chance to get on there what'd you think i really enjoyed this ski i think that it's really similar to the vapor nano the this ski is just a. Little narrower waisted ski than the vapor nano so this is 96 underfoot the. Nano comes in at 103 underfoot and i. Think you and i have talked a lot about this that this is the ideal waisted ski for kind of an everyday touring ski go. Ahead yep well it a lot it will float decently in. Powder it's not as wide as some of the skis out there but what you get for lower waist is you get a ski that's really maneuverable and will do pretty well edge to edge and a hard pack as well yeah and you know the main the. Main point here with the vapor nano is. That it's laid up with carbon nanotubes so this is a new technology that sportive has developed which brings this. Ski in at 1165 grams for one's the night. Which is yeah almost 40% lighter than. Any other ski in its class so if you're. Looking for and all-around lightweight back country touring ski sport eva's favor spell has every other ski in this. Class beat yeah made right here in the united states and the secret location see yeah top secret location they are made here in the us yeah and what are. You tell me about the construction of the ski how is it laid out so that it's a carbon prep reg construction and then. The nanotubes they're actually almost painted on in layers so it's a pretty. Involved process it's really exciting new technology from sports eva you know in their initial run of the. Na nos they had a little bit to figure out but it's clear you know now that the. Quality is there and getting out and skiing on the spells yeah so it comes in. 1199 what links is it come in and then. It comes in a 168 178 and a 188 and if. You were gonna buy the ski doug what likely to go with i probably ski it in the 178 length right here it's about as tall as i am about by 10 you know we were talking about the their early rise technology in. There which is gonna make the ski a little bit shorter but it'll also keep you up on top of the snow which is one of the big reasons to usually go longer so i want to go any longer to 178 yep i. And i think that looks like the perfect ski for you i can't wait let's bring on. The snow.
La Sportiva Super Maximo LS Ski - Men's
The La Sportiva Super Maximo LS Ski is built to blend uphill and downhill performance so that your day of touring can be even better than expected. The 94mm waist is a little wider than traditional touring specific skis to provide excellent float and stability on the downhill, while the Low Omega Profile further enhances float while also easing turn initiation and boosting overall control. On the uphill side of things the cap construction cuts key grams to keep you charging up the skin track, while skin friendly tails ensure you can stay focused on the side hill instead of your equipment.
Hagan Ski Mountaineering Ultra 82 Ski - Men's
At two pounds per plank, the Hagan Ultra 82 Ski is an ultralight option for ski mountaineering. It's light and nimble for technical ascents, and as the second-widest ski in Hagan's Ultra collection, it can still handle a rowdy downhill. Carbon stringers stiffen up the ski so you can gain some speed down tight, steep couloirs, and there's plenty of camber underfoot when you want to edge your way down, even when the couloir is icy. Hagan rockered the tip ever so slightly to ease turning if you score some softer snow at higher altitudes. The ski has a light paulownia wood core encapsulated in ABS sidewalls for extra durability. The tip and tail do not have sidewalls to reduce weight and enhance swinging.
Elan Ibex 94 Carbon Ski - Men's
You want a lightweight ski for charging hard up the skin track but you're not willing to ride a pair of noodles down sketchy objectives you put your blood, sweat, and tears into on the way up and rightly so. Mom always said you can't have your cake and eat it too, but the Elan Ibex 94 Carbon Ski begs to differ.
With a 94mm waist and Mountain Rocker profile, these sticks keep you afloat in the soft stuff while letting you lay it down on hardpack. Inside the Tubelite wood core you'll find light carbon tubes to add stability and a powerful rebound, with fiberglass reinforcements to stiffen the ski for optimal downhill performance. Vapor Tip inserts further reduce weight and dampen vibrations for a smooth ride while you're plowing through crud, so you can confidently rip anything the backcountry throws at you with enough gas in the tank for an extra lap at the end of the day.
So i found the ski touring winner this. Year this boat is the atlantic's 84 carbon. Looks really nice it's really light as well super light but I'm sure that doesn't affect the performance in a negative way yeah like the look at this ski like to try it out alam slovenian ski maker you. No very traditional ski maker, but they're doing some really innovative designs these days so I'm looking. Forward to testing this somewhere this winter.
Elan Ibex 94 Carbon XLT Ski - Men's
The pinnacle of Elan's touring collection, the Ibex 94 Carbon XLT Ski was designed to let you fly up the skin track with plenty of gas leftover to annihilate the downhill. Constructed with a healthy dose of carbon, you know these planks are going to be light—the Tubelite wood core uses two carbon tubes along the length of the ski to add stability, and the Carbon Power Shell increases torsional rigidity to up the downhill chargeability.
The 94mm waist makes for a solid mid-fat ski that's manageable in almost any type of conditions. The Mountain Rocker profile enhances float in deep snow, with camber underfoot to keep you stable in variable conditions, and Vapor Tip inserts in the tip and tail reduce swing weight and dampens vibrations when you're plowing through chunder on your long, arduous descent.
So i found the ski touring winner this. Year this boat is the atlantic's 84 carbon. Looks really nice it's really light as well super light but I'm sure that doesn't affect the performance in a negative way yeah like the look at this ski like to try it out alam slovenian ski maker you. No very traditional ski maker, but they're doing some really innovative designs these days so I'm looking. Forward to testing this somewhere this winter.