Snowshoes vs splitboard

[OrangeMan73]

Not sure where to put this...

So I've been doing a lot of snowshoeing lately in remote places, both as an excuse to get some winter excercise and also hope I stumble across a predator worth shooting. Snowshoeing is fine, but in certain snow conditions I just can't get enough lift. And I have extra large shoes.

Somebody recently told me cross country skies tend to provide better lift in snow. I'm not a skier, but a snowboarder. So I'm interested in applying that concept to splitboarding. Would be nice for quicker descents (I almost always hike up into the areas I go) as well make trekking on flat and uphill a little easier. Thoughts? Anybody actually do this?

 

[Peaks&Creeks]

Once you get on skis/Splitboard you’ll never touch snowshoes again. Now that being said, I would take skis over a splitboard, and I’m not talking cross country skis. Cross country skis suck for descents as there are no edges to carve a turn with. What I’m talking about is a “alpine touring” setup. The bindings let you release the heel for walking and climbing, but then click back down for descents.

I’m a snowboarder myself and have done a couple backcountry hut trips, and after being left in the dust by all my buddies on alpine touring gear I decided to learn how to ski. Taking your board off, splitting it, rearranging the bindings, putting the skins on etc is very time consuming, especially putting it back together when everything is iced over. It’s also not ideal during rolling terrain where you may be going down and up a lot, it becomes a pain to constantly have to assemble and disassemble. Splitboards are great for doing long climbs to the top of a mountain where your goal is to rip back down it. For covering various terrain it simply is the wrong setup. Splitboard technology has come a long way from its inception, and if it’s what you wanna do look at the Sparks R&D or Karakoram binding setup for whatever Splitboard you decide to put them on.

Skiing isn’t hard to learn and the ease of the setup in my opinion is worth learning the skill. It’s simply faster and more efficient. I love snowboarding, but when it comes to backcountry winter travel, I go to a alpine touring setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Poser]

Splitboarder here. There is certainly truth to what is posted above as transitions are more involved and learning to split ski is a necessary skill in the backcountry -there are tikes when it just does not make sense to transition to downhill mood but you do have some downhilling. Also, you have to learn to ride with your poles. Unless it is a big, continuous decent, I always always ride with poles in my hand, either collapsed or, more often, extended. You’ll need them to pole your way out from under a potential Avy path or to maintain momentum on a bench. In many ways, splitboarding looks as much like skiing as it does snowboarding. Hardboots are becoming increasingly popular for splitboarding because you spend 90% of your time going uphill.

If you decide to go the splitboard route, hit me up: there are a lot of technical considerations for gear and I’ve waxed through most or all of them.

 

[z987k]

There are back country X-C skis. And if you goal is not going straight up mountains, they are by far the best option. They are not AT skis.
They have some shape to them, they have metal edges and you can get ones that aren't fully edged or edges all the way down. Put x-c bindings on them and x-c boots, which are a lot lighter and better at forward motion than AT bindings.
If the downhill is like full on downhill skiing steep, the dynafit AT setup would be better, but if it's shorter and shallower downhill, you can make mild alpine turns(similar to how you can make a mild alpine turn on a tele ski) or tele turns with the x-c bindings.

They've got them with skins built in, scales built in, or a waxed base for full length skins you put on.

Here's one example https://www.rossignol.com/hu/rhiwc15-000.html

 

[nephewjephew]

Snowshoes suck. Check out Altai Hok skis. They're a good mix of XC, and snowshoe. They're short skis (125 or 145) with an imbedded skin under foot and metal edges. Can get uphill and down easy, they are short and handy in tight spots. Can use with normal winter boots with universal bindings or get 3 pins, could also get nnn XC bindings (wouldn't recommend). I have them and they're wonderful. If you want more ski I'd look into back country XC skis and go with a 3 pin binding.

Altai Ski

 

[BBob]

So I'm interested in applying that concept to splitboarding. Would be nice for quicker descents (I almost always hike up into the areas I go) as well make trekking on flat and uphill a little easier. Thoughts? Anybody actually do this?

Drift Boards and your regular snowboard.

DRIFT: Drift Boards - Approach skis for backcountry travel

Drift boards combine elements of snowshoes and touring skis into a new tool for snow travel. Handmade from carbon fiber, Drift boards are smaller, lighter, and more agile than skis or splitboards while faster and more efficient than snowshoes. Drift boards are ideal for anyone looking to travel...

www.drift-products.com

Drift Boards - Approach Skis - Grassroots Powdersurfing

A versatile alternative to splitboarding, the Drift Boards keep your quiver options wide open. Super light & agile for ease of switchbacks.

www.powsurf.com

 

[z987k]

Snowshoes suck. Check out Altai Hok skis. They're a good mix of XC, and snowshoe. They're short skis (125 or 145) with a imbedded skin under foot and metal edges. Can get uphill and down easy, they are short and handy in tight spots. Can use with normal winter boots with universal bindings or get 3 pins, could also get nnn XC bindings (wouldn't recommend). I have them and they're wonderful. If you want more ski I'd look into back country XC skis and go with a 3 pin binding.

I forgot about those. Bunch of guys up here use them for BC travel.

 

[Poser]

Drift Boards and your regular snowboard.

DRIFT: Drift Boards - Approach skis for backcountry travel

Drift boards combine elements of snowshoes and touring skis into a new tool for snow travel. Handmade from carbon fiber, Drift boards are smaller, lighter, and more agile than skis or splitboards while faster and more efficient than snowshoes. Drift boards are ideal for anyone looking to travel...

www.drift-products.com

Drift Boards - Approach Skis - Grassroots Powdersurfing

A versatile alternative to splitboarding, the Drift Boards keep your quiver options wide open. Super light & agile for ease of switchbacks.

www.powsurf.com

I think these are fine for straight forward terrain, casual skinning etc. but for technical skinning with steep, icy kick turns and setting in on a half mile long side hill on a 40 degree slope? No freakin’ way.

Not being crampon compatible is going to negate a lot of spring condition skinning. Lack of a proper edge is going to severely limit edge articulation when sidehilling and the straps lack the torsional support to properly weight steep sidehilling.

 

[Phaseolus]

My Parents gave me xc skiis for Christmas when I was 8, I never had much use for snowshoes since then.

 

[BBob]

I think these are fine for straight forward terrain, casual skinning etc. but for technical skinning with steep, icy kick turns and setting in on a half mile long side hill on a 40 degree slope? No freakin’ way.

Not being crampon compatible is going to negate a lot of spring condition skinning. Lack of a proper edge is going to severely limit edge articulation when sidehilling and the straps lack the torsional support to properly weight steep sidehilling.

^^^I agree that's not what their purpose is. BTW They do have a crampon available. The OP is a snowboarder that was looking for an alternative to snowshoes so I threw these out. These work great in lots of situations but like many things not all.

 

[Akirie]

My two cents:
Backcountry XC metal edge skis for most hunting adventures, or A to B objectives. i.e. main objective is not the descent. Trapping, predator hunting, etc. Alpine birds too, unless going way vertical.
AT skis for mountaineering, or shred trips with a lot of transitions, like a traverse.
Split board for fun surfy riding, whenever possible.

 

[justinspicher]

I am generally a snow shoer, but I picked up a pair of BD glide light 147 skis with a universal binding. I do not like them and have returned to snowshoes.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Once you get on skis/Splitboard you’ll never touch snowshoes again. Now that being said, I would take skis over a splitboard, and I’m not talking cross country skis. Cross country skis suck for descents as there are no edges to carve a turn with. What I’m talking about is a “alpine touring” setup. The bindings let you release the heel for walking and climbing, but then click back down for descents.

I’m a snowboarder myself and have done a couple backcountry hut trips, and after being left in the dust by all my buddies on alpine touring gear I decided to learn how to ski. Taking your board off, splitting it, rearranging the bindings, putting the skins on etc is very time consuming, especially putting it back together when everything is iced over. It’s also not ideal during rolling terrain where you may be going down and up a lot, it becomes a pain to constantly have to assemble and disassemble. Splitboards are great for doing long climbs to the top of a mountain where your goal is to rip back down it. For covering various terrain it simply is the wrong setup. Splitboard technology has come a long way from its inception, and if it’s what you wanna do look at the Sparks R&D or Karakoram binding setup for whatever Splitboard you decide to put them on.

Skiing isn’t hard to learn and the ease of the setup in my opinion is worth learning the skill. It’s simply faster and more efficient. I love snowboarding, but when it comes to backcountry winter travel, I go to a alpine touring setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nail on the head. Split boards are really only good/efficient for a long climb up with skins and a long descent. If there is varying terrain you would do so much better with AT (aka randonee) gear. With AT gear you can also rip the skins off and skate when it’s hard pack. Very efficient.