By Scott Johnston

I got my first touring skis in 1973 at a ski swap in Boulder. They were Bonna 1800 wood skis with three pin bindings. As my Telemark skills improved, I upgraded to a pair of Bonna 2000 (still wood) in a 215cm length also with 3 pin bindings and low top Narona leather boots. Now I really started to rip it up (relatively speaking) in the back country. For a ski trip on Mt McKinley in 1976 I switched to Bonna 2400 Norwegian army surplus skis (still wood!). These had screw on metal edges and a cool metal loop on the tip so you could convert them to a sled. So that I could use double leather mountaineering boots, I got some of the first edition Ramer bindings by driving to Paul Ramer's house and buying them fresh out of his garage machine shop. These bindings required daily maintenance but offered superior climbing with the first ever heel lift and the advantage of a lock down heel. At the end of the 30 day ski tour and climb, I burned my Bonnas at McGonagall pass, but brought the Ramers home to remount.

For a while I went to the other extreme and did all my tours on light weight skis. My Norwegian Elite wooden racing skis ($35 at Neptune Mountaineering) were fragile, but made quick work of many of the long classic Colorado ski tours. The Telemark turn was essential with the light skis and boots though in reality was mostly a wishful endeavor.

By the mid '80s my ski pendulum had swung back to the big guns and I was on Fischer Haebler Super Lights and Marker M-Tour bindings. This was my first modern touring ski and it was a dream compared to the old Bonnas. The M-Tour was a Marker rip-off of the venerable Silveretta 404 but with a couple of improvements. Dynafit had just come out with their plastic two buckle touring boots so it was no longer necessary to ski in plastic mountaineering boots. The M-Tours were mounted on a succession of skis including Fischer GS alpine skis, Hexcel (the first light alpine ski) and finally some Kneissl shaped alpine skis. Kneissl was the first to market what we now know as a shaped ski in around 1988 or 89 . Man, could those skis turn. The first generation of the shaped skis had a few bugs to iron out but the writing was on the wall and I knew I was never going back to the old school again.

The next real equipment revelation for me was during a ski traverse of the Wapta icefields in 1991. It was here that I saw my first Dynafit Tourlite binding being used by a Canadian guide. I was shocked that such a light and simple binding could stand up to the rigors of heavy backcountry use. I was on a pair of Epoke 900 fiberglass skis with three pin bindings and light leather boots. They sure were great on the uphill but with heavy packs, the down hills were more than challenging and certainly could not be considered fun. We watched in envy as the guide whooped it up on the great power runs. I was an instant convert to the light and strong school. The next winter I was on my own Dynafits and with the exception of a dozen or so days spent on Fritchis (before they broke). I have since toured exclusively on Dynafits. In fact I still am using the same toe piece I got in 1992! My original pair of Tourlites probably have over 500 days of use and they have never had an issue. These bindings are without rival in my book.

Evolutionarily the ski scene has only accelerated in progress and innovation in the past 10 years which has resulted in more ex's that I can even remember. But here are a few of the memorable ones. My Atomic Tour Guides were super light and passably good in most conditions. The ultra cheap Atomic Tour Cap was a great all around ski but a bit fragile. After I broke my second pair I began to shop around only to discover that skis were getting wider by the month. What we used to think of as wide now look like toothpicks. My Tua Sumos seemed unbelievably wide and while they worked well in really soft snow they were too specialized for very serious backcountry travel. The Atomic TM-EX seemed, at the time, like a dream come true and I was a sworn convert to them for 2 seasons. My allegiance was shattered on my fist date with a pair of K2's Mt Baker. I never, not even once, went back to ski those TMs. The Mt Bakers offered a whole new definition of user friendly for my style of skiing. So far no new ski has caught my eye, (other than the new Mt Baker Superlight).

But..... Where will it stop? I don't know but I am sure that my future ex-ski is just around the corner.