Splitboard.com Forums

Where do you carry your Mr Chomps when you don't have them attached to your board? Do you keep them on the outside of the pack, ready to go?

Also, is it possible to install the Mr Chomps without getting out of the bindings?

Usually in my pack. If I think I'll want them soon, I'll clip them to a gear loop on my pack's waistbelt (I keep em clipped through an old oval biner).

I can't put them in on the fly since my feet are so big. I think it would be possible if your toes didn't hang to far over the front of the binding, but probably awkward (and if you're already in exposed area, may not be safer). Just guessing here, but I'd say the bindings probably need to be about 60-70 degrees from the board. Anybody with small feet been able to do it on the fly?

If I think I'll need 'em I do this:


I have size 11 feet and they drop in on the fly for me. But it is a little tough to do, so you'll want to practice it somewhere that isn't sketch.

I carry them in the bag from my old voile crampons. I secure the bag under the cool stretchy cord on the panel on back of my old osprey backpack.
And since my knees don't bend so far any more, I can't install on the fly.

I tried installing on fly yesterday but no way i could lift the binding up far enough since my toes would hit the board, but at least you don't have to take the stupid pin out (and sparks pins are kind uv a pita to get in and out compared to voile)

My Spark pins go in and out like butter. I've noticed the holes can bore out a little over extended use similar to the Voile slider tracks but without the slop. How many miles or days do you have on your set?

As for carrying split crampons, I haven't used split crampons in close to four years now but when I did I kept them in my pack under the shovel blade or on my hip with carabiner if I felt I was going to be taking then on and off.

My Spark pins go in & out like butter on both of my boards. No slop.

Anyone read the story by Andrew McLean about using ski crampons? I know that generally skiers have an easier time traversing hard pack so its easier for them to toss them but he sure thinks they're not worth their weight. He makes the same argument that I've heard BCRider make, if the snow situation calls for crampons, go straight to boot crampons and don't mess with the intermediate/less effective stage. I myself owned the Volie and now Spark ski crampons but have never had the occasion to use them. Boot crampons several times but never ski. I almost always go with splitters so we try to make sure there are no brutal traverses. Shasta is the closest I've ever come to using them.

I have found utility in using splitboard crampons for extra purchase on a steep aged skin track, but for a traverse of hardpack I would much rather boot it in technical pons.

my sparks Ignition 2 pins are a major pain to get in and out. I thought about drilling them out a bit but i'm worried about slop later on after use.

I've only used them about 5 times though.

jL

Not to sound too full of myself but there's more to it than just switching to boot crampies when it gets firm, skinning technique can mean a lot too. There have been plenty of times in firm conditions where I've seen newer skinners add the split crampies while more experienced skinners don't. This doesn't mean that if you use split crampies you're a noob, they can be nice at times. I just think that once you have 100+ days and more (a few seasons for most) of split skinning under your belt they become needed less.

Looking back at my skinning in my early days I've went from slipping on easy stuff to now feeling like my skis and skins are extensions of my feet and being able skin up some pretty impressive stuff. There are so may little tricks and subtleties than can only be gained through experience and practice.

jlag, they'll break in for sure. I wouldn't drill...I would try to splitboard more.

Yeah, I need to get more skinning time in to get that experience. With our snowpack being what it is in the PacNW right now I'm not as far along as I'd like to be this season. I really don't trust the snowpack right now so I'm planning on just going up to the ski hill before it opens on Sunday and get a couple of hours of skinning in before the lifts open. Any advice on how to become a more efficent skinner?

I'm actually reading "Backcountry Skiing" by Martin Volken and if one can read past the ski parts it seems to have some pretty good advice on skinning.

Not sure how much books or pointers help but here's a pointer I go over in my head while climbing a tough side hill skin track: roll your ankles toward the uphill side, this seems to help the edge gain purchase.

Where I see the biggest gap in ability between noobs and vets is on kick turns. I'm not aware of any pointers beyond the basics that can speed up the learning curve. Man, sometimes I feel like the man and blow up kick turns with relative efficiancy and other times I spend more time and energy on one turn than the 500 preceeding feet of vert.

Skinning (and skiing) are what makes splitboards such a useful BC tool, but these are definitely skills that take practice to develop.

I think there are some basic challenges that splits have in comparison to skis in regards to skinning and skiing, but certainly good technique and practice can go a long way towards minimizing these challenges.

Springtime climbs of big'ol domes like Shasta are certainly times where ski/split crampons make a lot of sense (rock hard snow, long falls, hungry schrunds). Split crampons have their place, but they shouldn't be a crutch that prevents one from learning good skinning skills.

That BC Mag article that Mclean wrote about how sometimes going steeper is easier than mellow switchbacks on steep terrain makes a lot of sense for splits with our fat skins and wide skis. BCRider is really good at going straight up slopes that are super hard to traverse.

That BC Skiing book by Volken, Schell and Wheeler is one of the only books about BC skiing that is worth anything. I think it's frickin awesome, but they are all guides and dynafit dorks who have a bit of a bias towards mellow/not steep skintracks. Still, what they say about skinning technique is great to keep in your head when you start to sketch.