EHP 193 A/T?

[Louise Lifty]

Ok guys, is this idea totaly retarded? 4FRNT EHP 193s mounted with Marker Duke AT bindings. I want a pair of EHPs badly but I also want to start to get into the BC. The ski would be for the most part a resort pow ski but the flexiblity to make short skins would be nice. I was thinking of the Dukes over freerides or naxos because the dukes look burl and the ski will be copping inbound thrashings and is supposed to work well with regular ski boots. A penny for your thoughts.

no pennys will be forthcomming simply a term of speech.

[mountain_man]

Should be a good setup as long as you like the way the ski skis. Search for some reviews (theres a thread out there).
Although you need to determine whether its worth it to pay for a touring binding which could get beat to death from being skied inbounds and also whether your planned BC skinns are enough to warrant a touring binding.
Also the duke is in its first year so it your call if you want to let others do the guinea pigging, until it gets the all clear long term, durability wise.

Another possible option is a metal binding eg; s916 p18 paired with treckers for the possible side country, BC skinns.

If you dont have a ski similar to the EHP then you might just want to buy it and mount it for inbounds and change it to AT later or use treckers.

food for thought.

[mntlion]

trust nothing the first year. so get naxo's or freerides. Dukes look great, but after someone else gets the bugs out of the system

also it is a big, wide ski if the BC to you is the wapta traverse, or skoki lodge. doable, just takes more work. great all mnt ski, I skied some this past year and love em, might sell my spats as they are that good in powder, but you can ski the rest of the hill too. durble too (good for our ROCKY mountains)

[pechelman]

re the above duke philosophy, which is fine, there is the other side.

even if the dukes do blow up due to a plastic issue or something ala naxo, they will probably take care of you asap. so for the cost of getting a 1st year product and "beta testing", you have the possibility of using them for however long and then getting a "free" pair if they blow up.

[ptavv]

I have 193 EHPs mounted with NX21s. I like the setup a lot for deep days.

Don't really have a ton else to offer I suppose... I sold my spats after I got the EHPs.

[marshalolson]

re: dukes first year

all i can say is that in a few days (~7) of usage, my dukes have performed much much much better than the naxo and FR's i have owned. in the same amount of time on naxos, i broke them, and on fritschis developed significant play. the dukes have no such issues thus far.

[Professor Chaos]

I skinned with my friends EHP/Freeride Plus setup a few times this past year. It wasnt bad at all. Much better, easier, and lighter than my 189 Seth w. Nx21 /914 w/ trekkers.

Either go Duke or trekkers if its mainly inbound with the possibility of the side skin.

[Pow4Brains]

I'd put Dynafits on them.

[Jer]

I don't like Marker's alpine binders and am very weary of first year untested gear, but I'd mount Duke's on EHPs (or any other ski, for that matter) before I'd go with Freerides. The Dukes may break and/or develope significant slop, but the Freerides most certainly will.

[mntlion]

even if the dukes do blow up due to a plastic issue or something ala naxo, they will probably take care of you asap. so for the cost of getting a 1st year product and "beta testing", you have the possibility of using them for however long and then getting a "free" pair if they blow up.

I agree 100%, and that will be fine if you are in the slack country, but if you are touring further away it can be a LONG one legged walk home with a broken marker.

[Louise Lifty]

Thanks for the replys, that gives me plenty to think about/fanatsise about until the snow comes back.

[Louise Lifty]

I don't trust maker alpine bindings as far as I can thow them, they simply look like junk but the dukes (at least from what I have seen on the net) look well constructed. I think I will hold off prehaps a short while to see what people think of them, but if everyone does that how will we ever know As for how I will like the EHPs I hope to demo a pair before I buy, and they will certainly be a very different ski to anything i have ridden in the past. I did have some reservations about 4frnt build quality as I have heard bad things and picked up a pair of msp's in a shop and saw they were made in Tunisia. I now read that they are being made by Option-NFA, most likely in their Austrian factory. Until recently I was snowboarding on an Option and had no issues. hopefully their ski production is good too. But I have also heard they are being made by Elan. I'm so confused.

[jonski]

They were made by Option, had issues, now made by the tunisian factory that has previously made sticks for rossi and now (**i think**) does some of elans stuff.

Hows Hotham at the moment? Heard Thredbo got 30cms last night. Wish I could get away from work to make some turns. no snow in dumb flat Adelvague...

[skifishbum]

I agree 100%, and that will be fine if you are in the slack country, but if you are touring further away it can be a LONG one legged walk home with a broken marker.

If your touring farther away with out bailing wire, webbing, or duct tape and lack the ingenuity to jury rig a binding you deserve to walk.
LL get ya some broheamoths, my five pennies worth.

[Louise Lifty]

Hows Hotham at the moment? Heard Thredbo got 30cms last night. Wish I could get away from work to make some turns. no snow in dumb flat Adelvague...

Im not there atm. Stuck living in Adelaide for the time being. Will being heading over in August to look after the students from my old high school (blackwood high). A week of 15-16yr olds running wild in the snow But on the plus side they are in lessons half the dayso i get to ski, and its free Breeding future maggots hopefully.