AMC Outdoors, Web Exclusive, December 2002

By Michael Lanza

On a finger-numbing January morning, as the gauzy first light of day filtered down to the snow-covered ground, seven of us clicked our boots into skis and started up the unplowed Zealand Road toward Zealand Notch in the White Mountains. Exactly 19.5 trail miles away lay our destination: the Lincoln Woods trailhead on the Kancamagus Highway.

We'd set off on a classic ski traverse of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Our route would take us through Zealand Notch, past the icy cascade of frozen Thoreau Falls, and into the heart of one of the most dramatic wilderness areas in the Northeast, miles from the nearest road.

We planned to finish the traverse that day — though we expected the daylight to expire well before we glided into the parking lot at Lincoln Woods, exhausted and ready for a huge dinner. Little did we know how many obstacles would slow us down: stretches of the Thoreau Falls Trail that were too steep, narrow, and hard-packed to ski, forcing us to hike; several brooks that hadn't frozen over, requiring us to remove our skis to cross them; and one scary snow bridge right at the brink of Thoreau Falls that we thought long and hard about before attempting successfully. We skied the last two hours following the beams of our headlamps.

But the day ended much sooner for one of us. As we stopped to regroup below Zealand Hut, Denis pulled up lame: a broken binding. It wasn't surprising. His skinny diagonal (or traditional) cross-country skis were made for skiing on groomed trails, not for ungroomed backcountry paths where you may have to break trail and encounter snow varying from deep powder to hard crust. Backcountry situations put greater pressures on skis and bindings than the smooth avenues of manicured resort trails. And lightweight cross-country boots like the ones he was wearing aren't warm enough for an outing of a few hours or more on a backcountry trail where your boots may often be under snow.

If you want to ski the backcountry — whether touring easy terrain that many beginners can manage, or heading for slopes that demand turning technique going downhill — you need gear that can hold up to hard use. Not only does the fun dissolve fast when a ski or binding breaks, but equipment failure far from civilization could precipitate an unplanned, dangerous night outside.

Skis and boots for these two levels of backcountry skiing — touring easy terrain versus skiing steeper slopes — differ significantly (although some touring boots cross over to telemark skiing moderate slopes). For either style, though, make sure you wear the appropriate clothing, including either pants that keep the snow out of your boots or gaiters, and possess the skills for traveling safely into the mountains in winter.

Touring's Your Thing?
For skiing flat to gently rolling terrain on trails that are not groomed — like the Pemi traverse I described above, or even a shorter outing on its southern section, the popular Lincoln Woods Trail/Wilderness Trail — get touring skis with sturdy bindings, and supportive, warm boots. Skis like the waxless Madshus Lillehammer Multigrip Vario 5Z ($130), Rossignol X-Tour Trekker AR ($159), Karhu Orion ($220), and Fischer Outtabounds ($285) are wide (roughly 80 to 90 mm near the tips) and heavy enough (five pounds or more per pair) for breaking trail and controlling the skis when going downhill in untracked snow.

Waxable skis are faster and grip better in many snow conditions than waxless skis, but before each use you have to apply the type of wax appropriate for the air temperature, and sometimes have to reapply wax more than once on an outing. Waxless skis — that is, skis with plastic bottoms with fish-scale patterns for grip — are common because they handle the variety of snow conditions encountered in New England fairly well, and don't require constant waxing. Fish scales grip well enough for climbing easy hills, so you won't need climbing skins (see below). Metal edges improve control.

In touring boots, you want something warmer and more supportive than lightweight cross-country boots, but more flexible and lighter than boots for telemark or alpine skiing. Traditionally these boots were made of leather, but manufacturers are increasingly using synthetic material in the uppers. The boots come up to the ankle or above it, are waterproof or highly water-resistant, and are lined with insulation like Thinsulate or Softherm. Some have a plastic cuff or ankle strap for support; many come in men's and women's sizes. Models in this category include the Alpina NNN BC 1550 Boots ($140), Salomon X-Adventure 6 Boots ($150), and Karhu Nomad boots ($185).

Or Is Gravity Calling You?
If you yearn for steeper backcountry slopes, the options are Alpine-touring skis and boots, or telemark gear. The main difference is the binding: Alpine touring (a.k.a. AT, or Randonnee) bindings — like the Backcountry Access Alpine Trekker ($180) and the Fritschi Diamir Titanal 2 AT binding ($220) — leave the heel free to move up and down when skiing uphill, but lock the heel to the ski to make alpine turns downhill. Telemark bindings — such as the Black Diamond Riva Z ($110) and G3 Targa T/9 ($179) — leave the heel free at all times, requiring the ability to make telemark turns when going downhill, or improvise Alpine turns without a locked heel.

Telemark and AT skis have grown wider in recent years and allow for better performance; at the same time, manufacturers keep making equipment lighter. Still, the width and stiffness of the skis you get depends on the conditions you normally encounter: wider, lightweight skis for powder; stiffer, narrower boards for hard snow. There's a huge number of skis for telemarking or Alpine touring, including the moderately wide Atomic TG:10 Superlight skis ($314), which measure 96 mm near the tips, 67 mm under the binding, and 86 mm at the tail; powder skis like K2's Piste Stinx ($379, 102-70-91); and super fat skis like the Black Diamond Crossbow ($498, 115-82-105).

Both telemark and alpine-touring boots are generally taller and heavier than boots for touring gentle terrain, but there's great variation. At the more flexible, lighter end of the telemark spectrum, leather boots — often with a plastic cuff to lend some stiffness — have long been champs at all-day mountain tours when you're climbing uphill as much as going down. Their polar opposites are modern, plastic boots, which are standard issue for alpine touring and have become popular with telemark skiers because their stiffness makes skiing in icy snow conditions much easier. But their stiffness and weight makes going uphill more strenuous. Telemark boots include the Garmont Syner-G G-Fit Boot ($439) and Scarpa Terminator 2 ($440). AT boots include the Garmont G Lite G-Fit ($399) and the Lowa Struktura AT ($425).

Lastly, to ski up the big hills on telemark or AT gear, you'll need a good pair of climbing skins (measured or cut to your skis' width) like the Black Diamond Ascension standard skins (beginning at $87) or Backcountry Access Lowfat climbing skins ($97).

As for Denis and his broken binding, he gamely hobbled on one boot and one ski back to our vehicle at the bottom of Zealand Road — a slow and laborious retreat that was possible only because he'd broken his binding early on, when he could safely turn back.

—Michael Lanza is author of The Ultimate Guide to Backcountry Travel, from AMC Books.