A question about reverse boards.

[jesterman]

Hey, there!

I think this is the best place on the web to address this kind of questions to.

I've heard a lot of good things about all those skis (ARG's, Praxis, Lotus). Everyone agrees they excel in deep snow conditions. The contradictions start when it comes to less-then-perfect conditions.

We all have to encounter a lot of types of snow when skiing the backcountry. The main problem for me is skiing different types of wind and sun crust. Unfortunately my home ski area is notoriously known for its firn and wind crust varying from breakable to unbreakable. On my way to powder I almost always have to deal with refrozen or wind compacted snow. So, in your opinion, are those reverse/reverse boards better in the aforementioned conditions then traditionally shaped fat skis? Or will they suck as much as they do on groomers?

[vtdownhiller]

they excell in breakable crust, they are not designed to excell on hardpack

[jesterman]

vtdownhiller how often do you find yourself in trouble skiing the backcountry on R/R board?

[Damian Sanders]

Hey, there!

I think this is the best place on the web to address this kind of questions to.

I've heard a lot of good things about all those skis (ARG's, Praxis, Lotus). Everyone agrees they excel in deep snow conditions. The contradictions start when it comes to less-then-perfect conditions.

We all have to encounter a lot of types of snow when skiing the backcountry. The main problem for me is skiing different types of wind and sun crust. Unfortunately my home ski area is notoriously known for its firn and wind crust varying from breakable to unbreakable. On my way to powder I almost always have to deal with refrozen or wind compacted snow. So, in your opinion, are those reverse/reverse boards better in the aforementioned conditions then traditionally shaped fat skis? Or will they suck as much as they do on groomers?

From what I gather, very few people are actually touring on full R/R skis. Those that are seem to be using them for sidecountry.

People skiing real backcountry are using normal skis, or skis with a rocker tip/early rise, or some complex shape with camber and sidecut underfoot.

[LightRanger]

What Damian S. said.

For longer tours, I'd ideally have a pair of Lotus 120s with Dynafits. 186 Lhasas come to mind as well.

Lighter non-carbon skis like those ^^^: JJ, Rossi S3 (smaller S7), maybe the S7.

I'll be using (early-rise tip) Goliath Sluffs (with Praxis Protests/Dukes for sidecountry) until I can come up with the scratch for Lhasas, and then I'd imagine the Sluffs will move more to spring duty.

But I wouldn't take my Praxis *that* far out (skinning... a sled's a different story) except in very rare circumstances because they're just too heavy and not versatile enough for hardpack. For wind-affected they're sick.