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Hagan Ultra 82 Skis Review: For True Ski Mountaineering And Challenging Conditions

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Overview

Suitability: ski mountaineering, steep skiing, spring ski touring
Usual price: around $750 USD at Hagan US
Weight: 1080g per ski in 164cm (117-82-102)
Tested length: 176cm (19m radius)
Pros: light for its ski performance, stability, edge hold
Cons: too much black colour?

Bottom Line

The Ultra 82 skis are fun to ski and an overall great performer. They are designed for true ski mountaineering with an intermediate to expert skier in mind. While some of its competitors might float better in 30cm+ of dry powder, these skis shine in challenging conditions – on hard packed or wind affected snow, in crust…

Review

We mounted our Hagan Ultra 82 with Plum Oazo bindings.

As the ski season in the Canadian Coast Mountains doesn’t want to take off this winter, I was not able to ski the Hagan Ultras in dry deep snow yet.

On the other hand, I spent enough days on them last spring in a variety of snow conditions. The biggest test was a 4-day Haute Route Imperiale ski traverse in Switzerland with a reasonably heavy pack and travelling through some big terrain.

The Hagan Ultra 82 skis have a 250mm front rocker which definitely helps in deeper snow but that’s not were they excel.

Being fairly stiff torsionally and with a more traditional camber than is perhaps usual for today’s touring skis, the Ultra 82s deliver when conditions are challenging and variable.

They are stable as they absorb most of the vibrations easily. They have a progressive stiff flex and provide really good edge grip. All this makes them nicely predictable.

Because they are on the stiffer side, I think it’s best to pair them with a stronger boot than Dynafit PDG or similar. Of course this also depends on your skill level.

I skied them with Dynafit TLT6 Perfomance boots (with boot tongues in) and it felt just right, but I can imagine skiing these with 3-4 buckle boots to really get the most out of the experience.

They are very responsive and fun to ski if you provide enough power. They handle higher speed, long radius turns very well if you can keep up with them.

The skis also feature a small tail rocker that seems to help with turns on hard packed an spring snow.

The core material is ultra light Paulownia wood with an overall construction consisting of carbon top and bottom layers. Diamond Edge Cap and Micro ABS Sidewalls provide the support for excellent edge hold.

Unless you are always skiing at least boot deep powder then the Ultra 82 skis might be all you need. Also, such width is great for any touring in the early season and spring.

What We Think Could Be Improved

Perhaps keeping the same stiffness but decreasing the camber height could improve the float while not compromising the Ultra 82 skis strengths? It might be a worthwhile experiment.

Review of PLUM Oazo Ski Mountaineering Bindings: Versatile, Light and Durable

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Overview

Suitability: ski mountaineering, light & fast ski touring
Usual price: around $480 USD (Skimo.co, SkiUphill.ca)
Weight: 200g per ski
Pros: functionality, safety, low weight, 3-year warranty
Cons: no ski brakes (if you care for them)

Bottom Line

Without adding much weight, the Oazo is a well designed ski mountaineering binding if you want more safety, durability and comfort than with race bindings.

Review

We have used the Plum Oazo bindings for about 15 days of skiing in various snow conditions and terrain. So far it has performed very well and without any mechanical issues. We paired the Oazo with Hagan Ultra 82 skis which feels like a great combo for overall ski touring and ski mountaineering missions.

Plum is a French company based in the Chamonix Valley and the whole Oazo is manufactured right there. The binding has a 3-year manufacturers warranty.

To keep the weight down, Plum engineers decided to use a time proven toe piece from Plum’s lighter bindings (R150 and R170) and pair it with a new light heel but with more safety.

With three possible heel heights you can adjust the angle to your liking. While you do have to spin the heel to be in the flat position, once you are climbing you can use your ski pole to flip a riser to fine tune the angle.

One of the nicest features of the Oazo heel is that you can spin it both ways. This feels smooth but you will have to do it with your hand instead of a ski pole.

The heel has a fixed front (vertical) release at 8 but offers an adjustable side (lateral) release between DIN 4 and DIN 10, which is not usual at this weight category.

The women’s version, Oazo 6, is dedicated to women and a lightweight person. It offers a lower forward release of 6 but keeping the lateral adjustable release from DIN 4 to DIN 10.

For such a light weight binding, it can be adjusted for up to 20 mm in boot size difference, equivalent of 1.5-2 boot sizes depending on the manufacturer.

To round out the Oazo perks, the toe piece features an integrated ski crampons slot which worked well enough with our Dynafit crampons. However, you will get a smoother performance with Plum’s own ski crampons.

The materials used on this binding are the Plum’s specialty 7075 aluminum, and then steel and high strength plastic to house the heel.

What We Think Could Be Improved

For those that want even more comfort, the heel could be perhaps refined into the future to allow for spinning it with a ski pole.

Pierre Gignoux U 77: New Standard in Ultralight Bindings

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When the brand of Pierre Gignoux comes to mind, most ski mountaineers immediately think of the company’s famous carbon fiber boots.

However, the company continues its innovative approach to product design with a new binding, the U 77. With this binding, Pierre Gignoux (PG) is now making the lightest traditional low tech binding available on the market.

In recent years, Ski Trab has been developing category leading race style bindings. To reduce weight, Ski Trab did a complete redesign of the traditionally spring equipped toe piece. Instead of using springs to achieve the tension in the toe, Ski Trab used a single piece of Titanium that folded underneath the toe lever.

Now, Pierre Gignoux has taken that a step further in weight reduction, and used the same Titanium bar style, but placed it under the wings of the toe piece and reduced its size. This refinement of the titanium bar style toe piece has now brought traditional low tech bindings within 15 grams of PG’s one piece toe, the Ultimate 3.

The heel piece is expectedly diminutive in size, using the now common base plate and rotating heel plate built of plastic. The heel piece is identical to PG’s other binding, the Ultimate 3. Pierre Gignoux states that the design is built to release around DIN 6, same as most other skimo racing specific bindings.

For racing at the highest levels, PG has always brought innovative products to market, and the U 77 is no different in this respect. However, Mr. Gignoux has also shown advantages of using his products also for adventures such as big ski traverses of as shown below.

Visiting PLUM in France: Emerging Ski Touring Bindings Manufacturer From Chamonix Valley

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We have been testing Plum’s Oazo binding since last spring. At only 200g, the Oazo is a full-featured ski touring binding.

Not surprisingly, Chamonix Valley in France, on the foothills of the majestic Mont Blanc, is home to a variety of outdoor brands. The area is a paradise for outdoor gear testing and development.

After visiting CAMP and La Sportiva factories, we were excited to also honor an invitation from Plum. While not very well-known outside of France and Switzerland yet, this ski touring and split-boarding bindings manufacturer have been steadily carving its name on the market since 2005.

With 2-5 years warranties on their products and very little outsourcing, Plum takes raw materials and step-by-step crafts some of the finest and lightest bindings in the world. They are 100% made in France.

So why “PLUM” if we are talking about bindings and not fruit? The brand name comes from the French word “plume” which means “feather”, not a prune.

Plum’s first ultra-light heel was born in 2005, showing on the left. By 2007, Plum significantly improved the original design, on the right.

The history of Plum and their manufacturing expertise and know-how (precision mechanics) dates back to 1968. To learn more about Plum’s history visit their About page.

Plum Ski Touring Bindings Manufacturing and Testing

From super light skimo racing bindings to more freeride oriented models, PLUM offers a wide selection of ski touring bindings. They also offer a range of split-board bindings which are becoming increasingly popular as well.

Pika is one of Plum’s most popular ski touring bindings.

PLUM designs their bindings based on their expertise and feedback from their athletes and mountain guides, including Alexis Sevennec (former Pierra Menta Champion), Vivian Bruchez (steep skier), Glen Plake (legendary ski movie star) and others.

The philosophy of the brand is to manufacture minimalist, light and durable ski touring bindings to be skied all over the world.

Vivian Bruchez carefully skiing one of many steep lines in the Alps.

PLUM’s manufacturing process combines modern CNC machines as well as more traditional machines. This allows them to fine-tune the process while keeping prices at reasonable levels.

To lessen environmental impact, PLUM shreds metal and plastic parts into small pieces (shavings) and sorts them. Then they are collected by a local recycling company which sends these wastes to a foundry where they are recycled.

Fundamentally, the company is committed to produce locally in France, mostly dealing with local subcontractors, to reduce the manufacturing environmental footprint.

Plum uses Aluminum 7075 as their main material. This aluminum alloy is extensively used in aircraft aerospace applications.

 

Brand new Guide binding toe and heel pieces.

Wide Selection of Plum Bindings

Plum offers a wide variety of ski touring bindings divided into four categories based on their intended use.

The Race & Oazo families interest us the most as they feature minimalist ultra-light bindings, the Race family, and full-featured yet light ski mountaineering bindings, the Oazo.

The Oazo binding is specifically designed for demanding ski mountaineering while weighing only 200g per foot. Whether it is steep skiing or long mountain days with a heavier pack we like the Oazo’s functionality and durability. Full review is coming soon.

The above “men” version of the Oazo has a forward release of 8, while the “women” version has it fixed at 6. Both versions feature adjustable lateral release from DIN 4 to DIN 10.

For pure skimo racing and fast & light ski mountaineering, Plum offers 4 competition oriented bindings with the lightest being the R99 model shown below. One of their most versatile light bindings is the R170 model which offers 20mm of heel adjustment, increased durability, at only 170g, and without breaking your savings account.

Plum’s R99 binding weighs 99g. Its toe piece consists of 21 parts and the heel piece of 12, not including mounting screws.

Other families of Plum bindings focus more on freeride style of skiing and users that prefer their ski touring bindings with brake system. Visit Plum website for all details and pricing.

New Skimo 20 Pack by Ultimate Direction

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Couple of years ago, we helped Ultimate Direction to make their first ever skimo racing oriented packs. It was a great experience for both parties and the packs became the most popular selling packs on Skimo.co – specialized ski mountaineering gear store.

For this season, UD is launching their newest skimo oriented pack, the Skimo 20. Again, we had a chance to test the prototypes and provided them with feedback.

While light enough easy-to-use for skimo racing it can also be used for backcountry skiing when you don’t need to bring too much clothing. The 20 litre capacity is perfect for carrying a proper avalanche shovel, probe (up to 47cm long when folded) and spare clothing and food.

The new Skimo 20 is very versatile and comes in two sizes for best fit. The fit can be further adjusted with chest and waist straps that can be easily moved to the most suitable position. To prevent sliding around while skiing or bending down, the shoulder straps feature rubberized stripes that “grip” to your clothing keeping the pack in place.

The pack features a ski hook attachment system that lets you attach skis without removing the pack, easily accessible dedicated boot crampons pouch, water flask or bottle pocket, and a water proof phone pocket.

Another great feature is its mesh back panel with zoned padding. This improves ventilation when you are working hard yet provides enough structure to keep the pack on your back.

While the pack can be further stripped down to reduce its weight and eliminate some features, we believe UD made the right choice and it’s great that you can have just one pack that works equally well for racing, ski touring, or even mountain running or cycling.

Skimo 8 was the first skimo pack for UD.

Review: CAMP Alp Mountain Harness for Ski Mountaineering and Alpinism

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Overview:

Suitability: ski mountaineering and glacier travel, mountaineering and alpinism, rappels and easy climbing
Usual full price: around $70 USD (at Skimo.co)
Weight: 260g in Medium size (Small, Medium, Large)
Pros: durability, functionality, fit and comfort, low weight
Cons: ease of use could be improved

Bottom Line:

This harness is best for ski mountaineering and glacier travel mainly thanks to its low weight and functionality that allows for putting it on without the need to remove your skis or crampons.

It also performs well for general mountaineering, alpinism and even easy climbing where long vertical falls are not expected. Obviously, this depends on your skill level and judgement.

In the Tantalus Range, British Columbia, Canada.

Review:

We have been using the CAMP Alp Mountain harness for a couple of months now. From glacier travel and ski mountaineering, to alpine mountaineering and even some sports climbing of grades up to 5.10c (6a).

On the beautiful long ridge of Piz Palu in Switzerland.

The single most important feature of this harness is that you can put it on and take it off without removing your skis or crampons but let’s discuss beyond this main characteristic.

In general, thanks to its wide webbing and thin padding on the waist, the harness fits well over any type of clothing as it’s easy to adjust the leg loops and waist belt. It is also very comfortable to wear all day long whether in the winter or summer.

The harness comes in 3 sizes so make sure to choose an optimal fit – not too loose, not too tight – and you can use it for a variety of activities too.

While fairly minimalist, the CAMP Alp Mountain harness offers enough gear loops to carry all your necessary crevasse rescue gear, or your climbing gear when you go mountaineering.

Ski mountaineering and glacier travel are the main activities why you might be looking at this harness. It’s light, it packs small, and when you occasionally need it you can quickly put it on without the hassle of removing your skis. We have definitely enjoyed it for this type of use.

While the harness also works well for general mountaineering and easy climbing you need to remember that it’s not well padded – taking a big fall won’t be very comfortable.

For mountaineering, just like for ski mountaineering, you will appreciate its low weight and overall comfort.

We have been also actively using it for sports climbing but the harness didn’t inspire us to push our limit as its lack of padding makes it not very pleasant to take a fall with.

Another great way to test the comfort of the harness was rappelling. Once loaded, it felt as comfortable as fully padded climbing harnesses. Of course, this might be different if we were to rappel a long vertical route but one could still do it.

What We Think Could Be Improved:

There is not much to complain about when you use this harness for its intended purposes. Perhaps, weight could be shaved further with newer materials and a little bit of colour could add some “liveliness” to the somewhat boring grey.

Mini Review: Arcteryx Norvan SL Trail Running Shoe

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Fall training for ski mountaineering involves many components, but one primary activity is running and speed hiking steep terrain.

Terrain in your area, fit and running style will ultimately determine which training shoe will work best for you. Recently, we have been trying the Arc’teryx Norvan SL (SuperLight) to work well for fall training on the wet, slippery, rocky terrain on the west coast of British Columbia.

The shoe was originally designed as a lightweight running shoe that could pack small and be brought on multi pitch rock climbing, while still functioning well as a true running shoe. This design focus translates well into a light running shoe designed for fast times on technical uphills and for trails needing an agile, light shoe.

The shoe is built around a minimal mid-sole with Vibram Megagrip rubber connecting you to the trail. This rubber is used in many similar shoes and has always served me well. The durability of the sole is impressive considering the significant grip improvement over Salomon’s contagrip outsoles.

The Norvan’s upper is built out of a TPU mesh rather than a fabric, which does not absorb as much water. The heel cup is very minimal, without the characteristic padding and bulk of a conventional running shoe. Instead, the TPU mesh contours around your foot and makes for a comfortable, adjustable fit.

Considering that the shoe only weighs 185 grams, we have found the durability of the upper mesh to be acceptable. We made a hole in one shoe due to jamming the shoe in a granite crack, but that is outside the scope of the shoe’s design focus and understandable considering the almost unbelievable weight of the shoe.

If you are looking for a lightweight trail shoe with grippy rubber and a medium drop (7mm), you might be hard pressed to find a better option than the Arc’teryx Norvan SL.

Are We Too Focused On Data And Not Enough On The Experience?

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How many times, over the last year, did you come back to the car after a great day out with friends and no one mentioned what they smart watch recorded?

Instead, you conversed about the beautiful the lake you saw, the meadow you walked across, how did the sun feel on your cheeks, or how was that sandwich you made for lunch the previous night…

Obviously, we all like and get obsessed about different things, but are we, as a mountain community, becoming a bit too focused on data (and gear) instead of the actual experiences?

Having competed in a mountain sport for a long time, I understand the value of measuring performances firsthand. But I believe there is no need to keep track of and pay attention to so many variables even if you have the grandest of ambitions.

Are we becoming too obsessed with all this data that it is overshadowing the actual feelings from our adventures and experiences?

These days, it sometimes feels like that if you are not on Strava then you don’t exist. Like “If it’s not on Facebook then it didn’t happen.”

To me, mountains and outdoors, are mainly a place to reconnect with myself, with nature, with my animal spirit, instincts and most of the time with people too.

It has been almost two years that I am going to the mountains without an altimeter watch. One day, two years ago, I lost my old trusted altimeter watch. It didn’t have a wrist strap anymore, so I had to carry it in a pocket… and it fell out.

It didn’t need to be charged, it measured only few basic things and recorded only a simple logbook that I never uploaded anywhere.

It was awesome!

But I know that sometimes it can be very valuable to have an altimeter watch in the mountains, so I started to shop for a new one at some point.

The prices are now twice as high as 10 years ago as you cannot really buy a simple watch these days. Majority of modern watches need to be charged, they don’t operate on a simple battery. They measure and record so many things that it must be overwhelming even for some “data junkies”.

We are all different and each of us prefers different ways of experiencing things… and I am not saying that you are worse off with a wrist mounted computer. I am just nudging you to occasionally leave your a-bit-too -smart watch behind.

Now, let me know if you have an old battery powered altimeter laying around… because I am still without a watch 🙂

CAMP Ski Raptor: Lightweight, Full-featured Ski Mountaineering Pack

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Are you looking for a new ski pack?

Then CAMP Ski Raptor is truly an attractive ski touring and ski mountaineering day pack to consider.

CAMP is famous for their super light skimo racing packs and their designing experience shows with the Ski Raptor too.

Weighing just under 1kg, or around 2 pounds, it has many features of heavier freeriding packs without the bulk. The weight savings mainly come from using a lightweight yet strong Nylon TriRipstop fabric.

The pack’s 30L volume is divided between a couple of dedicated and smartly designed compartments to hold your avalanche safety gear, crampons, and all your clothes and food. The zippered crampons pouch is at the bottom of the pack and accessed from the side, a feature borrowed from skimo racing packs.

Skis can be attached to the pack without removing it from your back… but if you choose to you can also attach them laterally using straps on the sides.

The Ski Raptor also features ice axe attachments and a helmet carry system. The two zippered pockets on the hip belt give you a quick access to small items such as lip balm, snack, or ski wax.

The pack even features fleece lined pocket for goggles and glasses, a clever addition many heavier packs don’t have.

Where to Buy

You can get this pack from experts at Skimo.co or directly from CAMP USA and some specialized European stores.

No Need to Re-Glue? Visiting Contour Skins in Austria to Learn About Their Innovative Hybrid Glue Technology

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Climbing skins, rightfully, are one of the best inventions. While skis let us enjoy our flight down the mountains, skins enable us to explorer new areas and are an essential part of any winter adventure.

Climbing skins are our life line in the mountains. When they fail the ski day is easily ruined. They are made from soft materials yet we abuse them so much, similar to our feet. We expect them to just always work.

Today, there are many manufacturers of skis, ski boots, bindings and other ski touring gear but there are really only a few makers of climbing skins. While you have likely never heard of Contour skins they are right up there with the more known brands like Colltex, Black Diamond, Pomoca and G3.

Visiting Contour and Their History

Contour is a brand of Koch Alpin, an Austrian family-owned company with 40-years old tradition and experience in climbing skins manufacturing.

» Here are some important Contour links: Website, Facebook, Instagram

While the Contour brand has been established only a decade ago the company has been manufacturing skins for other brands before. Currently, Contour makes skins for more known names such as Atomic, SkiTrab, Black Crows or Hagan.

We visited Contour headquarters and manufacturing facilities a couple of weeks ago as part of our European ski touring gear manufacturers “tour”. They are based in a small town near Innsbruck in the western part of Austria.

Werner Koch currently leads Koch Alpin and gave us a nice tour through their manufacturing facilities.

Innsbruck area is well-known for skiing and easy access to high mountains in general so testing prototypes and consistent feedback is easy for Contour. Also, Innsbruck is only one of three cities in the world that have hosted the Winter Olympics twice – in 1964 and in 1976.

On the environmental side of things, Contour has partnered with a new company Doghammer that started to make slippers out of the waste material of brand new skins plush carpets, thus, keeping the material in the cycle and out of the landfill.

Contour’s Hybrid Glue Technology and Traditional Skin Glue

So what is special about Contour skins? Are they better or are they just different?

While these are simple questions to ask the answers are a little more complex as they require to explain a bigger context.

Rolls of mohair skin “carpets” waiting to be coated with glue and cut into various sizes.

None of the skin manufacturers (or the brands) the public knows really manufacture the plush (the hair) that holds us while we climb up a mountain. They all buy these “carpets” made by bigger manufacturers according to their specs such as the hair/fiber length, fiber density, and the mix ratio of synthetic and mohair.

Therefore, mainly, the difference between products of various skin manufacturers/brands comes from the glue mixes they use or invent, and from the skins-to-ski attachment systems.

With that, let’s focus on the glue and discussing why Contour’s glue hybrid technology could possibly become the best solution on the market.

To understand why creating a well performing glue (or skin adhesive system) is not that easy you need to consider the following requirements that the glue or adhesive system should deliver:

  1. The adhesive needs to attach the skin to the ski base surface temporarily.
  2. The adhesive needs to attach the glue to the skin carpet permanently.
  3. The adhesive should not leave a residue on the ski.
  4. It should be easy to separate the skins from each other as well as to take them off the skis even in cold temperatures.
  5. All of the above should be achieved reliably and consistently in various temperatures and snow conditions for long periods of time, ideally at least a couple of years.

All skins manufacturers have been trying to come up with the best adhesive or attachment system since the very first day. It has been an ever evolving process and a delicate balancing act.

Traditional “hot melt” glue

This type of glue is being used on the vast majority of climbing skins in the stores today.

The traditional glue as we know it is called “hot melt” in a more technical term. It means that during manufacturing the glue is being applied to the skin carpet (skin backing) at a warm temperature and it is partially absorbed into the skin backing.

Coating with the traditional “hot melt” glue.

Once in use, the temperatures are lower so the glue separates from the ski base but not from the skin carpet.

However, because the same glue needs to perform two different tasks – attach to the ski temporarily yet to the skin carpet permanently – the problem is that it’s tricky to design one type of glue mixture that performs these two tasks very well at very cold and very warm temperatures.

This means that glue mixtures need to be designed to some degree for either for warmer or colder temperatures.

Contour’s Hybrid twin layer adhesive technology

With their new technology, Contour believes they have invented the best solution so far.

One of the most remarkable things about hybrid skins is that after their stickiness have been compromised by dirt, dust or wax you can just clean them, instead of re-gluing, to restore their performance. You can clean with wipes Contour includes with each purchase or their hybrid cleaning spray:

Obviously, Contour is not the first one to claim such a thing, however, Contour Hybrid Mix skins were the top performer in the comprehensive climbing skins comparison test by OutdoorGearLab.com scoring 84 out of 100, and they summarized them as such:

  • Pros: Well balanced in all attributes, great glue.
  • Cons: Expensive, largest and heaviest messenger.
  • Bottom Line: Virtually every aspect of skin design and construction is balanced by another competing demand; the Contour Hybrid Mix walks that tightrope, creating a product that is fully balanced.

So what is Contour’s secret solution?

Instead of trying to design just one glue mixture, Contour came up with a twin-layer adhesive solution. Think of this as having a thin plastic layer (a sheet) that has two different types of glues on each side:

  • The upper layer sticks the skin firmly to the ski even at low temperatures and detaches easily without leaving residue on the ski base.
  • The lower layer binds the upper layer of adhesive to the skin backing permanently.

This might seem complex or unnecessary, however, it should reliable provide the following:

  • Less effort required to separate adhesive sides from each other
  • Easy removal from the ski
  • No need to re-glue, simply wash the adhesive layer and let it dry to restore stickiness
  • Improved ski base adhesion on multiple ascents
  • Great adhesion even at very low temperatures

Here you can find even more details explaining the hybrid technology.

Various Contour Hybrid Skins

If you are intrigued by the hybrid glue then Contour has four different products.

For best glide, check out their 100% mohair skins they call Hybrid Pure.

If you want a little more grip and added durability then their Hybrid Mix of 65% mohair and 35% synthetic would be a better choice.

Their Hybrid Free skins are an interesting product as each skin consists of 2 narrower strips that can be adjusted to whatever width you need. These skins are recommended for skis wider than 95mm. So if you have more pairs of skis then you will need only one pair of skins. They feature the 65/35 mix as the Hybrid Mix skins above.

The Hybrid Splitboard skins are of obviously for those ridding splitboards. These skins also feature the 65/35 mix as the Hybrid Mix skins.