traverse and tom

I've ever used pretty heavy ski touring equipment. I've never paid undue attending to the weight of my gear. Comfort has e'er been the top priority — using my gear every day regardless of conditions I need gear that's comfortable and reliable, with considerations of performance and finally weight ranking next.

The winter of 2019 though was a bit different. I was recovering from an injury and had a last surgery in September that was taking longer than I wanted to recover from. To add to that, I had a grouping of difficult chargers from Vermont scheduled for the first week of January so I had to exist all systems become Jan 5.

So I decided to practice everything I could to be ready. My checklist had three items:

  • Co-guide with Conrad Janzen, who can intermission trail all day every day of the wintertime without a intermission (equally it happens, he bankrupt his collarbone a few days before the trip and was replaced by Rich Marshall at the last minute, who is besides a auto).
  • Engage in a strength grooming programme with Chelsea Deschamps, a local kinesiologist specializing in operation training and movement.
  • Ease my load with new, lightweight equipment!

I had been hearing rumours nigh SkiUphill, a new ski shop here in Canmore that sells gear for the "weight witting" — annihilation from ultralight skimo to tough no-frills ski mountaineering equipment that doesn't tip the scales. It'south small and unassuming with a tuning shop-slash-servicecounter at the back. The air smells like fine coffee (at that place'southward a high-end espresso machine in the dorsum that keeps staff and shoppers buzzing). There's a blackboard on the wall covered in best times for many of the local trail running objectives. It's blimp wall to wall with exotic performance skiing and running equipment — most brands I had never heard of before. SkiUphill is usually busy with young fit people milling around admiring the gear, likewise as the older oversupply who like myself are looking to shave a few grams to extend their take chances capacity. Staff are all adventure racing types who use their gear equally hard as I do.

The weakest link with my equipment was clearly my ski boots, the old BD Quadrant. In many ways I loved them — comfortable, warm, tough — but they weigh an astounding 2.3 kilograms each! So I paid a visit to SkiUphill in late November to run across what could exist done.

First impressions of the Fischer Travers

blank

SkiUphill's staff talked to me a bit nearly my goals and rapidly pointed me towards a pair of Fischer Travers Carbon boots. I wasn't convinced. They looked ridiculously underpowered and I was pretty sure there was no way I would exist able to get my foot into them allow solitary feel any kind of acceptable level of comfort or ski performance. But I did recognize the Fischer make — who in the ski industry doesn't? And… my friend and colleague Thomas Grandi had but got a pair and spoke highly of them… SkiUphill guarantees their work… picking them up I couldn't believe how calorie-free they are. I decided to requite them a try.

Bootfitting at SkiUphill: 10/ten

This is a ski boot review, but unless you're very lucky, every new kick needs proficient boot fitting. Look no farther than SkiUphill to get that lumpy foot of yours to fit. Cinderella's wicked step sisters would have benefitted from the assist of the staff at SkiUphill and and then tin can you.

Surprisingly the Travers slipped on my foot with little endeavour out of the box. There was a fleck of discomfort in the usual spots, just I let SkiUphill deal with that. James and Joel were thoughtful and cautious, trying to get a handle on the root causes of the discomfort. After a few visits, much to my surprise, we acheived what I had idea was the impossible: full comfort in a ski kick. Joel claims this is typical with the Travers, which he says is easy to work on.

Overall ski touring perfomance: x/10

My outset serious outing with them was a few weeks later guiding a 7-day heli-accessed ski touring trip at Selkirk Lodge, the backcountry ski lodge run by the Devine family nigh Revelstoke, British Columbia. Nosotros had a good week for conditions and conditions with primarily depression density powder snowfall, only too some challenging wind affected snow here and there. The temperatures were reasonably cold too, beingness the showtime week in January. A good chance to test my new boots out.

The Travers weighs in effectually and about 1 kg apiece (a scrap more in one case I'd fitted them with Intuition liners). Shaving over a kilogram off each foot with just the boots alone was incredible — my legs felt almost weightless in contrast. In fact the modify was so dramatic that my uptrack at beginning inadverently steepened by several degrees, and it took me a few weeks to adjust.

As for downhill operation, I was pleasantly surprised. These boots are swell for doing exactly what I demand of them equally a professional ski guide in Western Canada, which is classic pulverization ski touring day afterwards day after day. And they perform more than than adequately when the weather get tough with temperature or air current crusts, steep terrain, so on.

I used these boots on a variety of skis from 96 mm to 112 mm in the waist, 185-190 cm long range in all weather from low density fluff to heavy coastal schmoo and crusts of all sorts. No significant issues or limitations. They aren't just a "skinny ski" boot and paired well with whatsoever ski I used including G3 Sendr 188 cm. That said, a scrap more lateral stiffness would help with the wider skis. My go-to ski last winter was the Fischer Hannibal 96 with a pair of lightweight Ski Trab Gara Titan bindings and Fischer skins — which shaved not mere grams but several pounds off each leg. Oh yes! Unfortunately the setup proved very popular with my guests as well and it was a rare week that I had them all to myself!

blank

Light, comfortable and ski well: check, bank check, check. The fourth disquisitional gene in a ski touring boot is how they perform in walk mode. The walk mode on these boots is simply unbelievable. The specs advertise eighty degrees of ankle mobility simply information technology might as well be infinite — information technology'due south more than you'll ever use unless you're practising crossing the finish line in a XC ski race. They are by far the near comfy boots I've always used for walking, skis on or off. They feel more similar a calorie-free mountaineering boot on the feet than a ski boot when bootpacking or scrambling.

When grading the overall ski perfomance out of 10 I considered giving this boot a nine because it'south non a hard charging kick and the sole has some lateral softness. But to exist fair, it'south an overall grade I'm looking for. Is there a kick I would prefer to utilize on whatever given day? The answer correct at present is no. Then, 10/ten. A few times at the start I switched to a heavier performance-oriented boot in anticipation of challenging snowfall conditions, but it was ever a disappointment. I had become addicted to the lightness and comfort of the Travers.

Usability 9/10

Every kicking manufacturer these days has some gimmick that promises to get in easier to apply. The Travers is no exception. The boa lacing system saves weight and is supposed to make information technology easier to tweak the correct tightness. The single buckle manifestly is quicker to manage than a 4-buckle boot. My personal take on information technology is that every boot pattern has its pros and cons and none of them makes for a significantly more than usable boot in the big motion-picture show — and yes, I do have a pair of Dynafit Hojis (review to come up) which are no ameliorate in this regard.

I like the boa lacing organization but I don't trust it — it seems frail. With gloved easily information technology's difficult to manage (I got to using my pole grip to unlock the boa, which worked great).  I call up the boa likely sacrifices lateral stability of the kick (and may be a contributing factor in the cracking event I had, encounter below). The walk style lever had a flimsy plastic tab to make it easier to use but that wore off after a couple of weeks. I replaced it with some 3 mm cord with an overhand knot that is perfect for grabbing at transitions gloved or non. The lever also has a groove that locks into a metal bar for ski fashion. It's a bang-up, simple system merely it's prone icing. Withal, it's much simpler to deal with icing on an external arrangement than an internal 1 (eastward.g. my Quadrants), and I got used to dealing with it.

Overall the Travers is an like shooting fish in a barrel boot to utilize and compares well overall with any other boot out at that place.

Durability: vii/10

Keith Bontrager's famous quote applies to ski gear besides: "Strong, Cheap, Low-cal: option 2". In other words, there'southward going to be a compromise somewhere. Well, the Travers is "Low-cal". At about 1000 grams information technology's billed as a rugged ski touring boot that's only a few hundred grams heavier than the very lightest skimo racing boots. So that leaves the question, where did Fischer compromise?

The Travers isn't what I would phone call "Inexpensive". Just just under $900 the Travers costs at most fifteen% more than the average ski touring boot. Expensive is relative, so I'll let y'all exist the judge.

What about "Strong"? I asked Joel about this. He said that every kicking he sells has had returns for some reason or another, and the Travers is no exception. Of the many boots Joel sold, only a couple of people concluding winter — including myself — experienced some minor (non-catastrophic) bully around the toe rivets. For me this started at around twenty-four hour period 60 of use only I used the boots until the end of the season without failure.

Boots are made to withstand mutual types of use and corruption. The 2019 Travers was congenital and tested to standards mutual for Europe, including temperatures down to -20 Celsius. Simply the winter of 2019 in Canada was really common cold. And so common cold in fact that I used electric socks or heat packs every day of the winter into the get-go of March. I skied a few days in temperatures beneath -35 Celsius. When Joel mentioned this to Fischer reps in Europe they were astounded: "Who ski tours at -35?!" Joel of course had to answer: "Canadians." And so it sounds like the plastic used in the Travers wasn't tested for extreme cold; perhaps that'southward the explanation.

Also, in a typical winter I tin hands spend 120+ days on skis between Oct and June and as a guide I am e'er breaking trail, and I counterbalance about 90 kg. So I really punish my gear. I don't approximate a product past whether or not I pause information technology — because it volition interruption. Instead, I approximate a production by how long it lasts before it shows sign of wearing out, and most importantly past how well the store and the company stands behind it.

I texted Joel from the field to see what could exist done and he speedily responded telling me that based on my description it would be covered by warranty with a replacement. Unfortunately, Fischer was out of stock worldwide. So the proficient news is that I am due to receive the 2020 version of the Carbon Travers in time for the upcoming ski flavor. Reports signal that the new boot will be upgraded to handle colder temperatures meliorate and take a reinforced toe area where the corking occurred.

So I would say that Fischer is trying difficult to brand boots that are both strong and light and at a toll that makes them accessible. I believe they have succeeded for all merely the most demanding users. I'thou eager to see if they reach the impossible with the 2020 Travers.

Determination: nine/10

The 2019 Travers is pretty much sold out worldwide unless you lot're bigfoot and I still oasis't got my hands on the 2020 model. But based on my experience with last year's model and reports of the upgrades I can confidently recommend this every bit a solid choice. No kick can be all things to all people. But if your goal is a lightweight quiver of one ski touring boot, this is it!

More Reviews

I got to attempt out some pretty cool new gear in Winter 2019. Here'south the reviews (under structure, stand past!)

Fischer Hannibal 96 Ski Review
Ski Trab Gara Tinal Ultra-low-cal Binding Review
Fischer "Fish Scale" & Mixed Mohair Skins Review

Bank check out this review for another positive accept on Fischer'south awesome Travers boot, past Markus Baranow.

Great ski adventures

Bow Yoho Traverse –  An awesome hut to hut ski traverse in the Canadian Rockies. Minimum skill levels required: Intermediate ski skills; no prior ski touring feel necessary

Svalbard Ski and Sail – an exotic ski adventure in the high chill north of Norway. Access remote fjords and untouched slopes from the gaff rigged sailing vessel the southward/five Noorderlicht.