UKC

Has anyone done split board touring? How realistic is this kind of travel and are the boards strongly locked together or do they flex? Are there any issues with skins?
Any info much appreciated

In reply to mike steele:
Yes, done quite a bit. It's obviously a massive compromise although mostly in the skinning uphill bit. I find it fine for downhills especially after buying touring specific bindings.
It's in undulating terrain where my skiing partners will not take their skins off and contouring where there is less ankle support.

But it was easier than learning to ski and swapping between modes is not a hassle once you have practised it.

In reply to mike steele:
kit is much better than it used to be , boards do flex (get some Karakorum clips) , a scraper is handy when snow is frozen to board. I use Spark blaze binding, Spark skins, Jones solution board, Black diamond compactor poles, and Spark crampons. Bit of faff with boot crampons (either get grivel G10 wide or a splitboard boot to take C2 crampon)
Pay 'sick and the wrong' in Keswick a visit to see kit and get an idea how it works. Upbattle in Scotland in March is a good event.
BTW - I've got a 158 Burton Freebird in really good condition for sale

In reply to gali:

how much for the freebird?
is it a full setup or just the board?

In reply to mike steele:

If you don't ski they're great. Like Mike 99 says, they're a compromise, and less practical than a ski touring set-up. The actual snowboarding is fine. It's more the width/ski flex when ascending that can cause issues. In firm conditions you should apply ski crampons a lot earlier than skiers to prevent sliding, especially when doing kick turns. Reading the snow conditions in front of you is really important because it's way better to have your ski crampons on before you reach slippery terrain than to get in a sketchy situation and then try putting them on.

The set up that mike 99 describes sounds perfect for the Alps. Spark and Karakoram bindings help a great deal. Doing a course with James Stentiford or Neil McNab will be a real benefit too.
In saying all this, I've been snowboarding full time for 20 years, 12 winters in Chamonix however I much prefer using skis for touring even though my level of skiing is way less than my snowboarding. Skis are better in every way, especially if you wish to access climbs, and I wish I put more effort into skiing earlier.

In reply to gali:

Spark bindings here too. What a difference from using the adapters for standard bindings.

In reply to yodadave:

£160 board only pm for photos

In reply to mike steele:

Hi Mike, If you're interested in trying splitboarding this winter, without the outlay for a splitboard, there's a crowd funding campaign offering introductions to splitboarding which might be of interest to you;

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/splitboard-scotland-rental-equipment/

In reply to BUZZ1984:
Cheers for that, really useful, I'll most likely be signing up. Is it possible to rent the avi gear from you guys as well?