Garmont Dynamite boots

I have a pair of these that I want to try and stiffen up a bit. I know I
can put a stiffer tongue in, but I keep getting conflicting reports as to
what the best tongue to use is. Any advice? Or any other methods of
getting a bit more stiffness out of your boots?

-s-

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In article rRmud.18000$Ya4.1471@edtnps84,
Simon Isbister wrote:
I have a pair of these that I want to try and stiffen up a bit.

_ Unless your ankle is fused like Louis Dawson[1], I would
encourage you not to do this. Or at least to try a few trips in
the BC before you do. Stiff toungue boots are a crutch to
learning to flex your ankles and power through your heels to turn
the ski. Backcountry snow is different and IMHO, learning to
flex your ankles, rather than power through your shins is key
to learning to deal with it. Generally resort skiing is far
more consistant that BC skiing will ever be and unless you
can flex fore/aft you will have a hard time adapting.

_ Stiff tongues are great for skiing hardpack, but the whole
point of BC skiing is to not ski hardpack. ( Even when it's
icy it's not hardpack... )

I know I
can put a stiffer tongue in, but I keep getting conflicting reports as to
what the best tongue to use is. Any advice? Or any other methods of
getting a bit more stiffness out of your boots?

_ Just don't. Really, it may suck in the short run, but learning
to ski effectively with softer boots will pay off in the long
term. Learn to ski two footed and to power the skis through your
heels. You'll be able to do more with less gear.

_ Booker C. Bense

[1]- www.wildsnow.com


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I don't know anything about Trab skis, and although I know a lot about
Dynafit bindings, Lou Dawson knows far more (and reveals all his
secrets at his Wild Snow website).

As for the Garmont Dynamite, they are significantly softer than the
current Garmont G-Ride and my discontinued but modified Garmont GSM.
This seemed to result from the significantly lower cuff height, or at
least that was my perception when I tried them in the store. I would
much rather have the extra few ounces of the taller G-Ride (or
Dynafit-compatible Mega Ride). Yes I can ski just fine in a softer
boot (and did for a season in a modified Rossignol Raid), but unless
I'm gaining something in exchange like the ultralight Dynafit TLT Race,
why put up with that tradeoff?

Anyway, a Raichle Flexon tongue works well in Scarpa Laser/Magic/Matrix
boots (and my old Garmont GSM), but could require lots of work to make
it fit in a current Garmont boot b/c of the buckles. A San Marco
AXE/AXR tongue would also work well - I just picked one up on eBay, so
you might work to periodically look for them. Other from old alpine
downhill boots with floating tongues designs might also work.

Another trick is to wrap the original velcro power strap over the gfit
liner but underneath the shell tongue, then put this (get the version
with the plastic buckle, since the metal version is very heavy):
http://www.bootfitters.com/booster.htm
....around the outside of the shell tongue.

And if you want to get really carried away:
http://www.jshefftz.photosite.com/gsm/

With all these mods, my at boots are way less stiff than my resort
boots, which is exactly what I want. But I still want them to be
stiffer than stock AT boots, hence the mods. And the Dynamite is
starting out as a relatively soft boot by current AT standards.

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In article . com,
wrote:

As for the Garmont Dynamite, they are significantly softer than the
current Garmont G-Ride and my discontinued but modified Garmont GSM.
This seemed to result from the significantly lower cuff height, or at
least that was my perception when I tried them in the store. I would
much rather have the extra few ounces of the taller G-Ride (or
Dynafit-compatible Mega Ride). Yes I can ski just fine in a softer
boot (and did for a season in a modified Rossignol Raid), but unless
I'm gaining something in exchange like the ultralight Dynafit TLT Race,
why put up with that tradeoff?


_ There are no free lunches. There is always a trade off for
making boots stiffer. Sometimes it's worth it.

[ mods snipped ]

With all these mods, my at boots are way less stiff than my resort
boots, which is exactly what I want. But I still want them to be
stiffer than stock AT boots, hence the mods. And the Dynamite is
starting out as a relatively soft boot by current AT standards.


_ Since I own a pair of T-Races, I should probably be the last
person to talk about too stiff boots, but I think for somebody
just getting into BC skiing would benefit from adapting their
technique rather than their gear to start with. If you're coming
from a resort skiing background, you often get freaked out by
the softness of AT boots.

"There's no way I can turn with these boots."

_ I think it's worth it to at least try, since mastering that
will improve your technique in all kinds of skiing. After a few
trips[1] if you still want stiffer boots go for it.

_ Booker C. Bense

[1]- Resort skiing doesn't count. Or at least get well away from
groomed or tracked out slopes.

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_ Since I own a pair of T-Races, I should probably be the last
person to talk about too stiff boots, but I think for somebody
just getting into BC skiing would benefit from adapting their
technique rather than their gear to start with. If you're coming
from a resort skiing background, you often get freaked out by
the softness of AT boots.

Yeah, thats been a bit of an issue, but my first BC skiing was with leather
mountaineering boots, so the softness of proper AT boots is nothing compared
to that. There has been lots of good advice here, and for my other
questions. I'll let you all know what I go with, and how it all goes.

thanks!

-s-

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In article yFbwd.82166$6f6.3846@edtnps89,
Simon Isbister wrote:
_ Since I own a pair of T-Races, I should probably be the last
person to talk about too stiff boots, but I think for somebody
just getting into BC skiing would benefit from adapting their
technique rather than their gear to start with. If you're coming
from a resort skiing background, you often get freaked out by
the softness of AT boots.

Yeah, thats been a bit of an issue, but my first BC skiing was with leather
mountaineering boots, so the softness of proper AT boots is nothing compared
to that. There has been lots of good advice here, and for my other
questions. I'll let you all know what I go with, and how it all goes.


_ That's a huge difference. I think about two kinds of stiffness
in looking at boots.

Fore and aft ( in the direction of the skis)

and

Lateral ( across the ski )

and IMHO I'm willing to put up with a lot of fore and aft
softness, because with good technique you can adapt, and it makes
all the climbing and futzing around that constitutes 90 percent
of BC skiing much easier. However, lateral stiffness is a
must. That's the big difference between the softest AT boots and
mountaineering boots.

_ Booker C. Bense



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