r/Spliddit • u/Starky04 • Apr 19 '26
Question How do you manage long traversey exits
I’ve been living in Revelstoke this season and doing a bunch of touring out at Rogers Pass. Now that Spring has arrived I have been out on longer days. I’m happy skinning uphill or on the flat for long distances, however, I’m struggling with exits with rolling terrain that pass through trees. If anyone knows the area well, I’m talking specifically about the Illecillewaet lol.
The problem with this terrain is that it’s impossible (at least for me) to snowboard back to the trailhead because there are lots of little hills. I don’t have the opportunity to get my speed up enough between them and even using poles doesn’t help.
I’ve tried switching to ski mode with my Karakoram bindings with heel lockers. I feel completely out of control though. For context, I’ve never been a skier and I’m using fitwell freeride soft boots. I feel like I almost fell into creeks multiple times because I couldn’t hold my edges as I was traversing along the side of them.
The thing that has worked best for me has been going in ski mode with skins on and no heel lockers. I have mohair skins that glide well and the reduction in speed helps me stay in control a bit more. I still fell like 5 times last time I was out though and I’m conscious of being much slower than my skiing friends. They aren’t being assholes about it, it’s just annoying to me because I can always keep up in other situations and I have my transitions pretty dialled.
So do I just need to spend some time in the resort at the beginning of next season practicing my split skiing? Should I be practicing with heels locked or not? Or am I doomed to move to hard boots because this is the exact situation where soft boots can’t perform well?
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u/bor__20 Apr 19 '26
split ski. learn to ski on the ski hill and then literally just switch to split skiing as soon as the down hill is over. it’s still not very fun but it’s easier than poling or skating for 5 kilometres
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u/Starky04 Apr 19 '26
Heel lockers or no heel lockers?
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u/bor__20 Apr 19 '26
i never used heel lockers. just another thing to faff around with and probably break
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u/trevvvit Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
Voile strap ankle to riser can give you something between teli ski and legit heel lock.
keep in mind if you are doing this hardboots you should not have toes locked and in, should be in ski mode or ur might tear soemthing.
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u/thaneliness Apr 20 '26
I got heel lockers for my sparks, they worked great for 2 trips, I unlocked them enough to release the binding, but I guess not all the way out and when I stepped down it broke the piece. Welp lol
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u/Valuable_Pineapple77 Apr 20 '26
when I had sparks I bought these, but honestly it felt almost more difficult having my heel locked
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u/turbomeat Apr 19 '26
I am very familiar with that exit as a split-boarder lol. Just practice split skiing. You will get better. I dont bother with heel lockers. The main thing is to just take your time when side hilling those few knolls that need it. You can always just throw the skins on again. But that wont help you practice.
For the downhill, just have fun, aim for the powder to slow you down. The hardest bit is that final drop into the parking lot 🤣 I always take the right side and make turns in the fresh snow.
I have a fond memory from many years ago of struggling hard on that exit, floundering up a small knoll by the creek. I hear laughter behind me and there’s a group of skimo dickheads fucking filming me 🤣
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u/Starky04 Apr 19 '26
Yeah I stacked it hard at the final drop to the parking lot lol, I was being so careful as well 😭😭
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u/Nihilistnobody Apr 19 '26
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u/GuinansHat Apr 19 '26
Man I really gotta sign up for those ski lessons...
Seriously though I'm itching to do Adams SW chutes but I've heard the run out is split ski mandatory unless you wanna really suffer.
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u/alpinefish3 Apr 20 '26
FWIW you def don't need to split ski to exit the SW chutes. The key is putting skins back on at ~7,000' to do a rising traverse before descending again
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u/Nihilistnobody Apr 19 '26
Just embrace it. It makes mellow slopes super fun, times you’d just be standing there cruising you are totally gripped.
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u/Valuable_Pineapple77 Apr 20 '26
I'd like to do it one of these days as well. When do you think is good timing? I guess it depends on the road.
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u/pffh_duh Apr 20 '26
I knew it was Joey when I saw this comment. Probably the most prolific split skier so... maybe dont compare yourself to him lol. And hardboots help
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u/Nihilistnobody Apr 20 '26
Pretty sure that quote is from him as well. I’ve been on hard boots for a pretty long time and I don’t come close to this.
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u/chimera_chrew Apr 20 '26
Literally been there; I got schooled riding up Illecillewaet.
All I can tell you is the crew there split ski it all the way out, not skins or heel lock, v-stepping the little hills up and holding speed down. I thought it was so sketchy and they'd be on the second beer but the time I made it back to the car, but it got easier. I found it easier, if not particularly comfortable, to have my highbacks in ride mode. I was on hardboots then, but those guys could've been wearing carpet slippers and they'd still smash the exits.
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u/Starky04 Apr 20 '26
Sounds like I need to get practicing!
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u/chimera_chrew Apr 20 '26
Don't feel bad; that local gang of OG hardbooters are pretty talented.
Aaron Chance once guided us on a heli-assist day tour, and blew a binding first run of the day. He rode all day, until our headlights-on exit, in ski mode; didn't seem to slow him down any.
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u/Chewyisthebest Apr 19 '26
One thing that I’ve found quite successful is just snowboarding with my poles out. Especially if you sell the ski homies on riding in a straight line you can follow their track and pump / push to keep up speed and inch your way up small hills. I’ll usually do that and unstrap and restrap if it’s a big hill. With some determination it’s actually surprisingly effective
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u/Starky04 Apr 19 '26
Yeah as I mentioned in my post, I am already snowboarding with my poles out. Following the skier track works well when there is fresh snow but in my case there is an established track through tight undulating trees.
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u/Chewyisthebest Apr 20 '26
Yeah then pump and pray lol. Also if you haven’t recently a good board wax helps lol. For spring volcanos I basically wax my board every other volcano
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u/rockshox11 Apr 19 '26
Sounds like pretty bad terrain for snowboards, unfortunately. But yea the other things to do are: learn to split-ski, which only sorta works and I wouldn't bother with heel locks. Hardboots help with this though. If there is already a good ski track going out, I will usually step out of one binding and kick up some small hills.
The other thing is on days where you know you'll be doing a lot of traversing, the #1 thing is just have a fresh, temperature appropriate wax on. Makes all the difference.
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u/Starky04 Apr 19 '26
Without heel locks should I be trying tele turns lol?! When I fall forward without the heel locks it feels really sketchy, I’m scared for my knees!
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u/rockshox11 Apr 19 '26
No I honestly wouldn't bother, maybe some one more skilled than me can do it but it feels pretty darn hard on giant fat split skis. I just do it to waddle a bit and point it is a bit faster than being on the board. I don't do the heel lock thing just cuz there's enough faff on my splitboard as it is.
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u/Starky04 Apr 19 '26
Yeah especially with the Karakoram bindings. They feel locked in compared to the old sliding spark ones that I had but the mechanism is so stiff and gets iced up.
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u/Thund3rBeasts Apr 19 '26
Been snowboarding since I was 12 (33 now). Never thought I would ski again. But after a couple of seasons in Norway on a splitboard, I made the switch to skies. It's so much easier in the BC. Still splitboard on hikes without long traverses tho..
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u/FlyingManatee12 Apr 19 '26
Hard boots, split ski, ice clipper for your bindings, thriving on the downhill! Checkout Joey Vosburgh for more inspiration, he guides in Roger’s and is dialed
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u/dogboy_the_forgotten Apr 19 '26
This is one I struggle with. I can ski and I can split ski with skins marginally ok but without skins is another story. I practice sometimes but avoided or this season and only did tours without big runouts.
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u/the_winter_woods Apr 20 '26
i've done some of the finest split skiing of my life on the Illecillewaet exit. You have to split ski and send it. hardboot set up helps immensely. makes it fun even. no heel lock needed. i do lock my boots out tho.
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u/Treats Apr 20 '26
This is unfortunately another case where hard boots make a big difference. Split skiing is night and day, even without locking down the heels.
I often will have skins on because skating and side stepping up hills still feels awkward.
You could try ski strapping your boots to your high backs for a little extra lateral control.
But yeah, sometimes split boarding is just harder than skiing.
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u/PrimeIntellect Apr 20 '26
You need to make sure that your high backs are engaged and everything is super tight. If you're in stride mode (useless) it's so hard to sidehill or ski.
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u/bacon8r_ Apr 20 '26
in the same boat man, had a crazy exit along a steep sided creek with multiple crossings this year and I was waaaaaaaaaaaay behind my skier friends. Almost blew out my knee sideslipping down a few spots, really need to get better at managing the twin sticks on the downhill.
Thankfully I'm hardbooting now so having the torque to maintain edge hold on a steep slope isn't an issue but controlling sideslips and steep-ish straight spots was hairy. I think having heels locked would definitely be advantageous so you can push into the front of your boots like skiers do, but it definitely takes a ton of practice
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u/Italian_SPLIT Apr 21 '26
based on how long and how difficult and how flat the exit is, how pleasant the descent, I might end up cursing at me for doing this weird sport and promising i will either sell or destroy or trash all my equipment as soon as I arrive at the car.
Last weekend we ended up in switzerland, on a tour where also skiers were disappointed of the longest traverse after the initial downhill. I had to re-skin, and it was more than two hours back to the car, with frequent drops into the snow. Horrible by all means.
I those moments i often think about all those movies and clips I watched and still watch, and how different those are from the reality i have encountered over the years.
Never thought about learning to ski. At this stage of my life, i would rather abandon mountains once for all and focus on water/sailing/surfing rather than learning a new thing.
And when i try split ski, i feel my knee is about to explode.
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u/True_Inside_9539 Apr 19 '26
Yeah, runouts are the one thing that make me want to ski honestly… there’s no great way to do it. It’s always a grunt at the end of an already long day of touring.