Marquette Backcountry Ski is a new product that melds snowshoeing and skiing advantages into one package. They are short and very wide but no metal edges... Also, the learning curve is quite short on these for those who are not intermediate/expert skiers. Any thoughts on how this might or might not work up in the Sierra Nevada Backcountry?

http://www.adventureskier.com/2010/12/0 ... untry-ski/

The binding and the waxless base will be key. Years ago I got a pair of fat Karhus with a skin-type waxless base in the kicker zone, and they sucked. I used them twice, and they've been in the garage since. Going uphill was far inferior to going uphill with full skins, and they were unstable on downhills because they had "universal" bindings.

Along with Moapapk's advice I think it would be difficult to control them without metal edges. Spring conditions( or this Jan) are icy in the morning.

Are these the skis you were referring to Moapa? "Karhu Meta All Terrain"... These have metal edges.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Karhu-Meta-Adjustab ... 4cf4cfdc72

Those skis are probably best for gentle slopes.

Do you ski at the resort?

What kind of BC skiing are you thinking about?

If you do ski at the resort (enough to make parallel turns and feel in-control on blues), but are put off by the cost of a Dynatfit setup ($$$$$!), I suggest building a dirt cheap AT setup:

garage sale skis (shorter is better)
Cheap used bindings like Silvretta Pure or 555
your current alpine boots
post-season sale skins (Sierra Trading Post)

Start there, and when you decide you love it, upgrade one piece at a time. First boots, then skis and bindings.

mjrangel wrote:Are these the skis you were referring to Moapa? "Karhu Meta All Terrain"... These have metal edges.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Karhu-Meta-Adjustab ... 4cf4cfdc72

Looks a lot like them. I bought mine in 2005-- certainly for less than $222! I think they were on sale for more like $100.

Would they "work?" Work for what? If you're intending them to supplant a normal AT or Tele setup for ski touring in alpine settings, they certainly won't. The manufacturer's pages states that they were designed for "the northeast," which isn't exactly the mecca of US skiing, to say the least. This thing seems like a gimmick to me. No skins means you can't skin anything steep. No edges means you can't ski anything where you have the possibility of a variable snowpack.

And why would you want to incorporate snowshoeing "advantages?" Are there advantages to snowshoes? Snowshoes are the least efficient and least fun way to get around the mountains in the winter. Well, other than crawling, I suppose.

...From boot-deep powder to peel-away, November corn...

who calls the playful mountains of Michgan’s Upper Peninsula

That says it all, I think. A ski company from Michigan?