Best BC Ski for Randonee

Hi Alan,

Agree completely on the boot analysis -- I wonder if they have to license the dynafit inserts for each line of boots that they make. My wife fit well in the Mega-ride, so she's got dynafits on all her skis. She loves the Summits as well, since they're so light and easy to move around, though she's got a pair of Karhu Jils for her winter/glop skis.

I've heard from a couple sources that the Chogori is stiffer than the Summit 8611. The dimensions of the two skis are almost identical. The Chogori is very slightly heavier, as well.

I recently bought a pair of Trab Duo FreeRando skis.  Here are some impressions, describing my selection process and first runs at Crystal today.   

First a disclaimer: I don't think anyone would hire me as a ski tester.  My tastes are unusual (I actually LIKE skiing in mountaineering boots) and I haven't skied a lot of different skis.  I used a single pair of Ramer Grand Tours for 10 years (1987-96) and more recently I have been skiing on old-school, mountaineering-oriented skis made by Atomic (Tourcap Guide, TG10, TM11, Limit, etc).  My 175cm Atomics are narrow (96-67-86) and light.  I like them a lot and expect to continue using them when conditions are appropriate. 

This year I decided to look for a second, wider pair of skis for winter conditions.  After prowling the shops, I decided that my requirements were: 

1. About 80mm under foot. 

2. The other dimensions must be enough wider than my Atomics to make owning two pairs of skis worthwhile. 

3.  They should be almost as light as my Atomics.  After weighing a lot of skis, I decided that I wanted a ski that weighed less than 1500 grams in a 175cm length, unmounted. 

These requirements proved hard to meet.  I was attracted by the flex and dimensions of the K2 Shuksan, but I wished it was lighter. I was also attracted by the K2 Summit (no longer in production), but I wished it was wider.  The Goode Carbon 82 was intriguing, but I was leery about its durability and the 176cm model was stiff as a plank.  I also worried that it might actually be too light.  (It's also obscenely expensive.) I was also attracted by the Head Alpinist, but I didn't have an unmounted ski to look at. 

Lock Miller at Marmot in Bellevue encouraged me to consider the Trab skis. When the FreeRandos arrived at Marmot a couple weeks ago, I took a good look at them and decided to buy a pair. Specs: 178cm, 110-79-96, 1400 grams per ski.  Interestingly, I found that the 178 and 171 lengths weighed almost the same (within an ounce) according to the shop scale.  I was happy that the 178cm length incurred almost no weight penalty. 

I was skeptical of the "duo" tip and split tail at first, thinking that they would be a hassle for fitting skins.  But the tip and tail connectors provided by Trab work really well.  It's the slickest system I've seen.  The tip of the skin is fixed by a rotating latch that fits into the curved notch in the ski tip.  The tail of the skin is fixed by a clamp that slips through the slot in the ski tail and clamps the ski.  I think it's best to size the skins so that the tail clamp is in the middle of the slot.  That way you can accomodate a little stretch or shrinkage of the skins in the field.  I like not having any rubber tensioners, which can be hard to work in the cold.  I tied a bit of ribbon through a slot in the tail clamp, making it easy to manipulate both the tip and tail connectors wearing gloves.

I spent most of the day today skiing the lifts on my heavy resort gear.  (Crystal had 12-18 inches of new snow--excellent skiing.) In the afternoon, I switched to the Trabs, skinned up one of the lifts and took a few runs.  (I'm using Dynafit TLT4 boots with Comfort bindings.  I'm 6'3" and weight about 170 lbs.)

The skis are really light.  I'm delighted that they have completely satisfied my weight requirements.  The snow today was quite good, and probably any ski would have been okay, but I think you can tell something about a ski even in good conditions. The thing that impressed me most about the FreeRandos was how easily they turned.  I was skiing cut-up powder, and I think they turned easier than my Atomics would have done.  For me, nimbleness and turnability is a good thing.  I could tell that they floated better than my narrow skis would have, but I'll have to ski some untracked snow to know more.  I let the skis run in some longer radius turns, and they felt stable enough for my needs. 

My initial impression is that I'm going to like these skis. We'll see how they do in more varied conditions as the season progresses. 

Lowell, thanks for the Trab report.

So I now have: 164cm Duo Free Rando, 5 lb 14.5 oz, 2680g, for winter conditions with Dynafit Comfort (+ brakes, second spring removed for easier heel unit manipulation in tour mode) and Scarpa Matrix; and, 164cm Duo Sint Aero, 4 lb 10 oz, 2100g, for spring/summer with Dynafit Comfort (no brakes) and Dynafit TLT4 Evo.

Unfortunately, I also now have, via our avy rpt: “Last week's rain, warm temperatures and fog eagerly ate our precious snowpack down to ....well...nothing.” So any on-snow report is going to be limited to pre-operational hours skinning for awhile!

Otherwise, initial thoughts (besides the beautifully perfect finishes and also light weights, amazingly so for the Duo Sint Aero) are mainly the secure feeling of the skin attachment system combined with the very light weight of the attachment hardware. For the tail cam lever slots, at first I was going to attach a webbing loop, but now I’m thinking instead about two 75-pound-rated cable ties, taped together, and also taped over at the connector part to keep the loop from getting smaller.

I'm looking to upgrade my 170cm Tua Hydrogen's with something wider and shorter, yet lightweight and versatile in the backcountry. There's a very short list of skis that qualify, one being the Trab Freerando. Lowell, I was very interested in your comments. Please keep us posted as you learn more about your new skis. Or PM me.

The next question would be what length. I'm thinking the 157s, but Mark at Wasatchskis recommends 164 cm.

Jonathan_S, what do you think of your 164s? You don't find that's too short? If you don't mind sharing, how much do you weigh and how tall are you?

Great discussion. Thanks everyone. I'd love to hear comments from the gals out there (I know you're out there) - in addition to hearing what all the husbands and boyfriends think.

I'm only 5'8" & 145lbs, and my skis tend to be on the short side even given those #s.
Other skis in the quiver include:
157cm SL race
176cm GS race
170cm R:9.22 lift-served non-race
168cm R:Ex sidecountry Diamir setup
162cm Mira all-around bc (now relegated to rock status)
160cm rando race
Given that quiver, the 164cm Trab skis (instead of the 171cm) seemed like the straightforward choice for me.