Altai Skis Tiak?

[lowangle al]

I do use a tiak with my Hoks- partly because it is also my DBH measuring stick-

I use the Hok almost exclusively for forestry field work and work around the farm and woodlot.

The tiak makes a huge difference- even the 145 Hok is a very short ski and things get very unstable- fast- when you point them down a steep hill.

Cut yourself a nice lean spruce tree- very light (once dry) and very strong!

Like I said, it will work best with at least a kicker skin.

[lakeeffect22]

Hi Alpendrms. (Disclaimer: I'm an Altai ski dealer). I've been using the tiak with the hoks and koms for 5 yrs and love it. I think for small skis like the hoks the tiak is the better way to go.. depending on type of terrain. If there is a lot of flat-land touring then the tiak gets tiring and isn't very efficient but for climbing I find it easier to use, especially when looping tree runs. From my blog: "Considering ancient skiers/hunters used single poles in the trees for thousands of years, there must be a benefit. I have found the tiak works well when climbing a steep treed slope. From the bottom, look up and pick your line. Look for trees on the diagonal that you can traverse, or 'connect the dots'. When approaching the first tree, stay on the downhill side of the tree with the tiak in the downhill hand (away from the tree). Take your free arm and grab/lean on the tree, plant your tiak in the snow with the other hand. Then step turn the skis around the tree while pushing down on the tiak and using your free arm on the tree to help the movement. After that, traverse across to next tree in your line and repeat. I find with this method, going up steep slopes with the tiak is much easier for me then with double poles."

With the Koms anything too steep will need skins but the fishscale works pretty well for most conditions where I live.

Also to note I'm a snowboarder that moved to this type of tiak skiing. I think of it as a sport on it's own - 2 planks and facing forward but carving snowboard/surfy lines on the downhills.

Where do you ski?

[alpendrms]

Hi Alpendrms. (Disclaimer: I'm an Altai ski dealer). I've been using the tiak with the hoks and koms for 5 yrs and love it. I think for small skis like the hoks the tiak is the better way to go.. depending on type of terrain. If there is a lot of flat-land touring then the tiak gets tiring and isn't very efficient but for climbing I find it easier to use, especially when looping tree runs. From my blog: "Considering ancient skiers/hunters used single poles in the trees for thousands of years, there must be a benefit. I have found the tiak works well when climbing a steep treed slope. From the bottom, look up and pick your line. Look for trees on the diagonal that you can traverse, or 'connect the dots'. When approaching the first tree, stay on the downhill side of the tree with the tiak in the downhill hand (away from the tree). Take your free arm and grab/lean on the tree, plant your tiak in the snow with the other hand. Then step turn the skis around the tree while pushing down on the tiak and using your free arm on the tree to help the movement. After that, traverse across to next tree in your line and repeat. I find with this method, going up steep slopes with the tiak is much easier for me then with double poles."

With the Koms anything too steep will need skins but the fishscale works pretty well for most conditions where I live.

Also to note I'm a snowboarder that moved to this type of tiak skiing. I think of it as a sport on it's own - 2 planks and facing forward but carving snowboard/surfy lines on the downhills.

Where do you ski?

Hi! I’ve owned both Hoks and Koms for several years, but only recently decided to give a Tiak a try. I live and ski in Colorado…the San Juans and Western Slope.

[alpendrms]

Thanks for all of the insight, folks! I went ahead and placed an order for a Tiak from Altai. Once I check out the actual dimensions, I may make a 2nd one of my own. Perhaps, I might try to make one like an old school alpenstock. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes for general touring with it, but I think it’ll be a lot of fun and super stable on the downhills. Climbing with it ought to be fun, as well. Once again, much obliged.

[alpendrms]

I ski hoks with a tiak exclusively. All backcountry, lots of vertical, pretty much every day there's snow around here. It started as a way to get into bc skiing but after 6 years I can't see any reason to go with anything else. It's just the best way to do what I like to do which is explore the mountains. The tiak is a very fun way to ski and you can ski anything. My buddies on AT gear can't ski the woods like I can, not the steep stuff with thick growth. It's an awesome way to ski deep powder and right now I'm skiing 4 inches of crusty stuff with the rock hoks and enjoying it. Give it a shot! I don't do too much tele turning (ok, almost none) but I'm sure a better skier could.

Great info…thanks! How has the Tiak worked out for you when traversing flat sections/general touring? Also, do you find it better to use it on your dominant side or the opposite for downhill runs?

[raisin'heel]

Check this out (Tiak in use!)

https://fb.watch/awc4nUe_MY/

[Woodsbum]

I ski hoks with a tiak exclusively. All backcountry, lots of vertical, pretty much every day there's snow around here. It started as a way to get into bc skiing but after 6 years I can't see any reason to go with anything else. It's just the best way to do what I like to do which is explore the mountains. The tiak is a very fun way to ski and you can ski anything. My buddies on AT gear can't ski the woods like I can, not the steep stuff with thick growth. It's an awesome way to ski deep powder and right now I'm skiing 4 inches of crusty stuff with the rock hoks and enjoying it. Give it a shot! I don't do too much tele turning (ok, almost none) but I'm sure a better skier could.

Great info…thanks! How has the Tiak worked out for you when traversing flat sections/general touring? Also, do you find it better to use it on your dominant side or the opposite for downhill runs?

So, for flat stuff much of the time I'm just carrying the tiak one-handed horizontally. Occasionally, I experience what I assume is what the folks around here call "kick and glide". It seems very fun and I'm almost ready to get some different skis to get more into touring. Maybe two poles would make this better but, I seem to do very well without. I'm not on flat stuff that I've already tracked up (which seems to be where this "kick and glide" comes in) very often. for the moderate up and downs I carry the tiak two handed and might touch down now and then for balance. It works really well for this. Exploring and breaking trail it's great for balance and the length is awesome for helping with open steam crossings. Downhill - mostly dominant side but occasionally switch.

You might be interested in an experiment I've been working on. A couple years ago I went on a search and rescue mission to get a couple of outofbounds snow boarders. I figured the hoks and tiak would be perfect. But, first I had to ride on the back of a snowmobile for a couple miles holding on to my hoks and a 7 foot tiak on a narrow mountain sled trail. The young patroller driving the sled was going insanely fast and I was waiting for the tiak to catch a tree and clothesline me off the back of the sled. So, I started experimenting with a take-down tiak. The first one I built was beautiful and very light, made from a couple stand up paddleboard paddles. I snapped it in half on the first outing. Now I'm using professional grade polesaw handles - not what you get at the hardware store (I've broken those too).
https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/prod ... mnum=81051
Get two of the spruce "extension poles" which have couplings on both ends. I cut one at 4 feet which is the same length as the 125 hoks with the female coupling. Then the other with the male coupling is 3 foot. The longer section is the handle so that you're not putting all your weight on the coupling with your lower hand when you really lean on it in a steep recovery move situation (and you're not gripping the cold aluminum). Now I can pull the tiak apart and with a couple voile straps and some webbing, sling it on my back with or without the hoks. For folks who don't want to give up the two poles, you could take along a tiak like this, use two poles for the flats and then stow your collapsible poles and try out your tiak on the down hills. The black poles in the picture are carbon fiber which I haven't cut yet. These should make the ultimate SAR ultra-light tiak but, they're very expensive and I'm almost embarrassed I bought them! Next, I'm going to add a big removable powder basket to help with steep skin tracks.