SkiMo, meet ski bros. Skinsuits, meet Saucerboy.  It's here, the ultimate backcountry weapon. The roots of freestyle skiing have become its future with these dedicated ski mountaineering blades. Life is too short for long skis.
 
Lighter gear lets you climb faster, explore further, and have more fun doing it. But expensive, exclusive ski mountaineering skis suck all the fun out of descending. And that’s why we’re walking uphill, right?
 
So instead of listening to the lycra-sporting crowds touting their skinny, cambered, death machines, we innovated. Instead of shaving weight incrementally, we cut it. Literally. We cut the ski in half. They weigh half as much, cost half as much, and ski twice as well as those foam-cored, boring-looking touring skis you’ve been eyeing. 
 
Go uphill as fast as you go downhill and do both in style on our backcountry snowlerblades, the only backcountry-specific snowblade on the market. These were designed to ski one of the 50 Classic Ski Descents on a Friday, and then rip big park jumps on a Sunday. (And yes, we’ve done literally that, on the same pair of blades). Less is more. Lots, lots more.
 
For a pseudoscientific breakdown of why blades are better, check out this piece by Full Send blade athlete Cy Whitling: https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/What-Ia-ve-learned
 
Weight:    920g per Blade (Popular/Paulownia, Carbon layup)
Sidecut:   8m
Length:    110cm
Width:      110mm
Steeze:     420 style points
Speed:     69 mph (probably)
 
BINDINGS NOT INCLUDED
 
FAQ’s:
 
Why Blades?
 
Because they’re lighter, more fun, and more efficient. Backcountry skiing is hard, blades make it easier, on the up, and the down.
 
Should I get a Swallow Tail?
 
Do you plan on shredding a ridiculous amount of pow with your blades after a long tour to a remote couloir then you might want to invest in the swallow tail for optimal powder performance. Otherwise for inbounds blading the normal skin cut tail should work perfectly for the standard blader.
 
What’s the difference between the “ABS” and “Popular” Sidewalls?
 
The ABS sidewalls add damping characteristics and an increase in durability but come with an added weight increase compared to the Popular sidewalls. The Popular sidewall are quite a bit lighter but sacrifice some durability for the sake of lightness with some maintenance (lineseed oil application) that needs to be done yearly. 
 
If you want the lightest possible blades choose the the Popular sidewalls otherwise the ABS sidewalls will do for most bladers. 
 
If you are feeling especially spicy and want the absolute lightest blades, add a note to your order about a completely carbon fiber set up...
 
Wait you actually tour on these?
 
Oh yes, yes indeed! We logged a whole bunch of backcountry days on snowlerblades last winter, including two of the 50 Classics, as well as countless other backcountry days. And the results were conclusive. Unless you’re just out there popping pillows into deep pow, blades are better.
 
But how do they do in pow?
 
Great. The swallowtail helps the tips plane, and our rocker profile keeps you floating happily downhill. Would we take these to Japan in January? Probably not. But the Tetons in March? Totally!
 
But what about skins?
 
We’ll have custom-sized blade skins available by the end of the summer. Alternately, outlets like Skimoco sell skins by the centimeter off the roll, if you’re looking for the lightest weight possible.
 
What about effective edge?
 
Effective edge is only as effective as the force you can deliver to it in a controlled manner. Ultralight skis with lots of effective edge length are hard to drive in firm snow because they don’t have the torsional and lateral stiffness to drive that edge consistently. Our blades have less effective edge, but they allow you to use it very, well, effectively. 
 
What bindings should I put on these?
 
Whatever you have! If you don’t have any touring bindings, we highly recommend Moment’s Voyager binding for all-around touring duties. For weight weenies, we’ll be running ATK’s Trofeo binding. Massive bonus points if you mount a teli binding.
 
Where should I mount my bindings? 
 
We recommend mounting them with your boot center about 50-51 cm from the tail . Bump them a little forward if you like to blade switch, push them a little back if you’re planning on blading a lot of pow.