I saw a guy in Dynafit...

[lemon]

Skiing doesnt have to be serious, just do what's fun! Gear shaming folks, not fun.

[Rodbelan]

Skiing doesnt have to be serious, just do what's fun! Gear shaming folks, not fun.

Body, you should learn to read better... This post is not about shaming folks that use inadequate gear, but about shaming some ski shops for giving bad advice just to make more cash... Capice?

[Natirondack]

Skiing doesnt have to be serious, just do what's fun! Gear shaming folks, not fun.

Skiing is only serious all the time. Don't you know that?!?
(I work with lemon at an XC Center)


In all seriousness I think we see more AT gear on classic xc ski tours due to the presence of actual gear reps from those brands like salomon and dynafit. Shop employees will sell what they are informed on, and reps give info and training on their gear. There is money in the AT market ergo there are reps visiting shops and informing them. I will say that at my shop we have a great rep for Fischer so our staff sells a lot of their skis (the xc ones like the spider 62 and the 68).

Another note is that it takes less technique to get into AT gear than XC gear in most cases. AT gear is seen in so many ads and videos, it is here to stay and as the majority.

Finally, I do in fact kick wax my AT skis, whether they are mounted tele (switchback) or AT (g3 zed). The kick wax works great on long aproaches in the right temps. You can get real kick and glide, even in a switchback in tour mode if your boot has a soft enough bellows.

As Lemon said, "It's just skiing"

[DG99]

Oh yeah. Also sometimes people put AT bindings on fishscale skis, like those Voile skis.

[wabene]

Apparently skiers around here who've dropped big bank on AT stuff are finding out that Nordic backcountry gear with fishscales is more fun on terrain with less verticle, like we have, for the shorter laps. I can't imagine trying to cover distance in a boot with no forward flex.

[Rodbelan]

Oh yeah. Also sometimes people put AT bindings on fishscale skis, like those Voile skis.

And that's perfectly alright! If they are earning their turns in the Sierra, for exemple.

If someone at the ski shop told someone: «You want to ski at the golf course? Sure, here is a Voile HyperVector/Dynafit kit just for you». Then, that's another story...

Of course, if some guys is skiing most of the time in big mountains, but wants to digest that shepperd pie by taking a lap in the golf course with the only kit they have (AT), then it is comprehensible. If I want to move out of my flat and the only mean that I have is a Rolls Royce, then... whatever...