Leash or Tags

I am planning on doing some serious powder this season but don't want lose my skis so am planning on picking up either a pair of leashes or those tag thingies that you tuck into your boots.

With the leash it looks as though the ski will come off and bounce back to smack you one. On the other hand would the tassle/tags really stay above the powder and show you where the skis are?

So I was wondering what you prefer.

I'm sure there are skiers out there using leashes but they're actually intended for snowboarders or ski-tourers using bindings without brakes. Even then a lot of ski tourers won't use leashes as they're reckoned to be dangerous in an avalanche situation where you want to separate from your kit if possible.

That leaves powder trails or traces, I personally don't use them either. They're a total hassle to use and I don't know if they really work. I've never either lost a ski using them or skied with someone who has so I've never seen them work first-hand.

There's an art to finding a ski, partly from being able to gauge on any surface where it might have gone but also being disciplined in looking for it. The first thing I do is mark the point where I parted company from the ski using a pole, the other ski or an avalanche probe. Then I use either a probe or the other ski to probe the snow for the ski. I generally don't get split very far from skis though and I try to avoid falling at all on steep/deep slopes.

The other thing to do is make the DIN is set right, there's three basic settings. 1. So high the ski never comes off, 2. just right and 3. the self-righteous git level where the ski will fly off and hit someone else :D

ise wrote:

There's an art to finding a ski, partly from being able to gauge on any surface where it might have gone but also being disciplined in looking for it. The first thing I do is mark the point where I parted company from the ski using a pole, the other ski or an avalanche probe. Then I use either a probe or the other ski to probe the snow for the ski. I generally don't get split very far from skis though and I try to avoid falling at all on steep/deep slopes.

The other thing to do is make the DIN is set right, there's three basic settings. 1. So high the ski never comes off, 2. just right and 3. the self-righteous git level where the ski will fly off and hit someone else :D

Sound advice ise. If I do fall on a steep slope I try and make sure I'm in the company of someone who is good at finding lost skis, and has all the necessary search skills and kit listed here :D
If I look distressed enough, they'll most likely climb back up the slope to do the search too :D

And leash or tags? Neither!

I am not too bad at finding my skis but I am a tad lazy and just want to get back on them as quickly as possible.

I do like the DIN setting idea. :lol:

I think powder traces are cheap enough to buy so you might want to experiment with them, maybe they work for you. Leashes though I'd say are dangerous and best avoided unless your skis have no brakes.