Request For Comment: Backcountry Skiing Page

[dave.m]

Hey folks,

I've pushed up some changes to my nordic backcountry pages (not tele) and am looking for suggestions on how to make them more useful. I am not looking for "atta-boys". If the pages make you giddy with glee, you can buy me a beer or lift ticket someday.

The feedback I am looking for should come from 2 groups.

If you are just getting into nordic backcountry, I would be interested to hear what aspects of the pages are confusing to you or that frustrate you as you seek answers to your questions.

If you are a grizzled vetran, I would be interested to hear what things you disagree with as you turn your cynical eyes on the pages. Seriously. The pages reflect my own biases but I do want them to be reflective of the collective wisdom that groups like this represent.

Here are the pages that got the major reworking:
QUICK SUGGESTIONS ON SKIS, BOOTS & BINDINGS
http://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/DirtbagPinner/quick-picks.html

BACKCOUNTRY BOOTS
http://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/DirtbagPinner/bc-boots.html

BACKCOUNTRY BINDINGS
http://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/DirtbagPinner/bc-bindings.html

-Dave

 

[TomD]

Beginner review

Dave-I'm one of those new to Nordic-so new I haven't done it yet, but am researching the gear, etc. Your site is well organized for a beginner-lots of info that's easy to follow because of the way you have the categories separated out. They make sense to me.

I know you focus on gear, not technique, but if you know of any technique sites or books, you may want to add them as links.

 

[--M.]

Dave M.,

Attaboy!

Just kidding. I discovered your pages recently while trying to learn about BC. Who I am is probably a large demographic for you: experienced downhiller who converted to skinny touring skis years back and now wants to learn BC. Your site is absolutely helpful.

What would be improvements?

==Focus on the rosetta stone: It took me a while to understand that skiing runs along a continuum from touring to downhill, with stops in order (touring, BC touring, Telemark, AT/Randonee, et cetera on to full downhill [heel attached]). Your site does this fairly well, but I'd guess that this is the best way to outline a primer. This happened nicely on another thread (General Backcountry > Need Help from the ski experts again,
http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10715).

==Pictures, with captions: having a mental image of the various combinations of equipment makes things much easier. It's easy to grasp the image of an NNN/SNS boot/binding and those skinny touring skis. Having pictures of the combos on the way toward the Alpine Trekker set-up is most helpful.

==External links: Corollary to pictures. Linking to retail sites with recommendations needs continuous vigilance, but really completes the picture for those who are done kicking the tires and now want to shop. The obvious problem here is the commercial demon, but if you persist as a critic/user (as opposed to as a purveyor), you'd do fine.

On the whole, however, ATTABOY!

--M.

 

[TomD]

Boot chart

Dave, After taking another read through your site, I have a suggestion. Beginners like me are faced with a blizzard of names, styles, types for skis, boots and bindings.
I would like to see a boot chart that would incorporate the following info in columns something like this-I'd list all the boots in order of which of the 3 classes you created they belong in


Boot Class Binding Preferred Skis

Name Snowfield NNN Brand & Model

Name Extreme NNN Brand & Model

Name Excursion 3 Pin Brand & Model


This way a newbie could get an overview of what boot is appropriate for what use at a glance. I know the info is in their somewhere, but this would make it easy to see.