THE KIT DOCTOR
Here to help with all your kit and equipment conundrums, the Ski Club’s Henry John brings his experience to bear on your questions
Snowsports are some of the most equipment-heavy activities you can find. Combine this with seemingly endless jargon and never-ending technological developments, and finding the right kit and, more importantly, the right fit, can seem an impossible task.
That’s why the Ski Club is here to help. With over six years’ experience working with ski gear in the industry, including boot fitting and ski sales, our head of Information & Advice is here as the Kit Doctor to answer your gear questions and solve all your kit issues.
To kick things off for our new column, we’ve invited folks at the SCGB HQ to submit their questions – the Kit Doctor is in…
Can you give me some advice on backpacks for day-to-day skiing?
Emily Morgan, Digital Marketing
Skiing-specific backpacks offer robust, slim designs, equipped with ergonomic ski carriage systems – either A-frame or diagonal – and chest/hip straps, to provide a really user-friendly pack on the mountain. Size wise, anywhere between 10 and 20 litres will provide enough space for the daily essentials (bottle of water, snack, extra layer, etc) without being too big and risking altering your centre of balance.
Almost all skiing-specific designs tend to come with space for avalanche safety equipment, as more people head off-piste. The Osprey Kamber/Kestra, Dakine Heli Pack and Ortovox Free Rider all fit this bill well. Otherwise, any good quality hiking day pack, such as the Osprey Talon/Tempest range, will offer a robust design and chest/hip straps, without the added avalanche kit storage.
What is the best ski touring binding
for downhill skiing?
Patryk Szymanski, Mountain Tracks
Touring bindings have suddenly come on leaps and bounds in the past few years without much in the way of fanfare. Traditional touring bindings have relied on the pin attaching the toe of the boot, or the front of the frame, to provide power transition through the ski and to the snow.
Two bindings have been released in the last couple of years that have been complete game changers – these are the Duke, from Marker, and S-LAB Shift, from Salomon/Atomic.
Both of these bindings work on a similar principle – using the toe pins to lock in a convertible toe piece, providing a really solid binding with tremendous powder transmission – a huge improvement on traditional touring bindings.
These options provide a huge amount of toe elasticity too, meaning they outperform many other touring bindings in freeride terrain. No touring bindings will be perfect for downhill, but these two varieties will perform exceptionally well off-piste and keep up with your skiing on the corduroy.
What’s the best way to wash my ski
jacket and trousers without ruining
the waterproofing?
Daisy Mcauliffe, Events & Partnerships
At a basic level, chuck your jacket and trousers in the wash, without any other items, all zips done up, and add a capful of technical detergent, such as the Tech Wash
offered by either Grangers or Nikwax. If you can’t get hold of technical detergent, any standard non-bio detergent will suffice, but don’t use fabric softener as the chemicals and perfumes can reduce the performance of the jacket. Wash on a gentle 30˚C cycle.
Things get more technical if you are washing products containing natural down insulation, or you need to
re-proof the jacket. For the former, ensure you tumble dry the item with a couple of tennis balls to ‘reloft’
(re-fluff) the down to ensure it retains its warmth.
If you need to reproof your item to top up the water-
resistant coating, wash it as above, then either re-wash using a reproofing detergent, or remove, hang up and cover with a spray-on rereproofer, leave for a few
minutes and wipe off with a damp cloth.