Splitboard.com Forums

so in an unfortunate twist to what was otherwise turning out to be a pretty good season, i am now once again without a splitboard. i most likely won't be riding one again this season unless its in the late spring. so now i am in a quandry...i still have about 25 days of BC left in this season before i hit my 100 BC days mark, however, accessing the BC just became way more difficult, if not impossible. if i get stuck up on the teton pass roadcountry for the rest of the winter, i'll most likely shoot myself. i've already climbed the glory bootpack well over 100x this season,andf its gettuing old fast. so i need an alternative...quick. grand teton national park is calling. the only thing i can fathom is a cheap pair of ghetto diy approach skis. so, has anybody done this. i have a pair of skinny purple ascension skins i got at the thrift store for $2. i was trying to make a pair of kicker skins for my split, but now i am thing they might be put to better use by making some approach skis. so i have two questions...

#1 what kind of ski do you use? i'm sure if i wanted to drop too much money i could convert a pair of snowblades or something...however, i'm looking to do this on the cheap..i am a skibum after all. there are plenty of pairs of old school straight skinny alpine skis at the thrift store for like $10. could i saw these and throw skins on them? if i saw them down to 100-110cm am i gonna have enough float considering their relativly skinny waist. is this an option, or do i need to find something fatter? what are the waist widths on some of the "factory" approach skis that came out a few years back (k2, etc)?

#2 what to do about bindings. at the moment i'm rocking soft boots and strap binders. i'm looking into aN AT hard boot setup for more technical mountaineering ski routes, but thats kind of on the back burner for the time being, and 90% of the time the soft boots rule around here anyhow. so what should i do? snowshoe bindings? should i try to ghetto rig a door hinge with some kind of base and mabye some straps over the boot (ala snowshoe binding?) does the binding need to be lifted off the base of the ski?

i'm looking to do this fast and cheap. anybody ever rock this setup?
and please don't tell me to buy a splitboard. at this point i am well aware of the advantages, etc, and i already own one. i'm just looking to get back out there before the seaons over, and this is probably my only reasonable option. i have a pair of msr snowshoes, and quite honestly, for the stuff i want to go do, they will not work. at all. period. sno i need something better. please help
chris

If you have splitboard parts then mount a touring bracket to a pair of short fat skis and use your sliderplates.

Bummer, man. What happened to your splitty??

I think dacks has got it right. Put a touring bracket on a pair of kid's skis and then mount pucks on your solid board. That way you only have to bring one pair of bindings up the hill with you.

Damn Chris, if I lived closer I would let you use one of mine. Can anybody help a brother out here?

Someone loan this man a splitboard.

I've got a really old split I'd load. You just gotta pay for shipping. Don't feel obligated but it does work.

You'll prolly get a better offer.

Here's an action picture from a couple years ago. It's a 173 K2 homemade dovetail.

well, as far as the splitty goes, i would prefer not to comment on that for the time being. i'll most likely have more info by the end of the week, but needless to say, the board isn't exactly ridable in its current state, and it is currently not in my possesion. sanfran or p420, if you guys want some info pm me.

as far as touring brackets on the approach skis goes, that was my original thought. i raped the board of as much hardware as i could before i sent her out. however, my only concern is the width on those brackets. i need to find a cheap solution here, and it seems like some skinny old school skis might be my only option. haven't seen too many kids skis or snowblades around here for cheap, though that would be my first choice. seems like the bolt pattern on the touring bracket is most likely wider than most of the skis i would be able to get. i guess mabye i just need to head to the thrift store with those brackets and see if it will work. i still don't have too many ideas about bindings. i'm sure i could prob rig something up with some nylon straps. i would prefer not to dissassemble my snowshoes for the bindings though, cause i'll prob want those things soon considering spring is just on the horizon (f#$*!). anyhow, keep them ideas flowin. i'll keep yall updated on the progress. alright, enough talking...the pass is calling, so i'm gonna go make some turns.
chris

If you have all the parts I have a board. 173 freeride that I stole the parts from for my burton.

you can drill narrower holes in a touring bracket. i'm sure it weakens the bracket, but i've done it and then lent it out to dudes that are in the 200lbs range without any problems...yet...

good luck.

I en I Rasta,

What about Johny's,

Seen Rasta

I have an old set of approach skis that are exactly what your talking about building. the door hinge needs to be beefy, as i bent the first few I tried. i used an old pair of bandit xx ski's and cut the tips off at about a 125 length and then threw on some old televates. not the best set up, but they worked for a month until the real k2 approach ski showed up. the touring bracket idea from your split would be killer drilling your own holes. when you get a new split just buy a new set of touring brackets, they are relatively cheap. you're more than welcome to my old diy approach ski's too, door hinges and all. i just live south of you in pocatello, but hurry because i head to the williams peak yurt for 5 days on friday. good luck
Ryon

one more thing: Ecobrad you cannot give that baby away it's timeless. when there is a splitboard hall of fame i am voting for that thing

be well

thanks everybody for the encouragement, and offers of loaner/beater boards, etc. as far as borrowing a split goes, i would prefer not to go that route. i would feel really bad if anything happened to a board that isn't mine, even if it was somebodies old beater board. as brg noted, my roomate has a sweet 168 burton split sitting in plain view of me right now. however, the board is immaculate, and i would prefer not be the that puts the first base gash in it. the other reason i would prefer not go the route of a borrowed old beater is the many of the routes that i have in mind for the next 2-3 months are serious mountaineering routes that can go into the neighborhood of 55 degrees. i have a pretty good teton ticklist going, and we'll see how many will actually get done this season. regardless, i have no desire to attack say...the skillet couloir or the glacier route on the middle teton on an old beat noodle of a board. sounds like trouble, and i'm not putting my ass on the line with equipment that i don't feel totally comfortable on. i would much rather pack my good board in and know that when it comes time to get down, my equipment is solid. its well worth all the BS of carrying the board, etc to me. so for right now, i am still thinking this might be my best approach. ryon, i might take you up on your offer for those skis. worst case scenario is that i do some modification to them to get them dialed in the way i want. but it gives me more parts to work with, and thats what i don't have at the moment. pm me and give me your number and i'll give you a buzz.
chris