so with tax returns, dividends and birthday money coming in i am contemplating the idea of getting some ski gear. don't really know much about skiis since i have been snowboarding since high school. I will mainly be in the tahoe area, but it would be nice if i could use the gear for resorts as well.

yes this may sound like a dumb question but i am curious as to how much i would be shelling out if i went through with it.
i would need basically everything.

Dude,

Don't fall prey to "the dark side."

Buy a splitboard. If you already have boots and bindings, all you need is the board. Prices range from $600 to $1000 for a complete set-up (board, interface, skins, crampons.)

Here are the manufacturers that are currently making splitboards:

Voile - everyone licenses their interface. They're boards appeal to specific tastes, though. They basically have 2 models; supersoft (freeride) for powder or superstiff (Mtn. Gun) for steep hardpack

Prior - My personal favorite. They have a ton of different shapes, and they use an icredibly lightweight fiberglass... check out www.priorsnowboards.com

Winterstick - They have their first model, now. Basicaly a split version of the Sever Terrain 162

Neversummer - They will split any of heir shapes. The boards are works of art, but they are pretty $spendy$

Burton - They will have a few shapes next year, but noone is sure what they will be. We do know that they have dropped their interface and are licensing the Voile system... much more reliable.


Splitboards kick ass... You'll be amazed at how well they perform in solid mode. Jim Zellers, Tom Burt, Jonaven Moore and others can't be wrong.

Zach

how do they manage on traverses and such.. from what i heard they are more geared towards more straight up down due to the lack of an internal metal edge

You heard wrong...

Do-it-yourself versions do not have an inside edge, but all of the production models have it.

There are ZERO limitations with a splitboard. I can skin any terrain that a skier can, and i can go steeper if i need to. The performance of the production models is also comperable to solid boards, so I never notice any lack of performance on the descent.

If you're up in Tahoe some weekend, you can try to follow me on snowshoes, and you'll see what I mean

Zach

in addition to whatever you spend on skis or a splitboard, you need these things as well:

avalanche beacon - around $300 or so
shovel - $60 i think? been awhile since i bought one. get one with a good metal blade.
probe - $30 or so i think?
and most importantly, fresh batteries for the beacon - $2.

i always carry a slopemeter, and usually carry a small snow study kit too. this stuff doesn't cost too much.

adjustable poles are nice, but not 100% necessary if you only have fixed length poles. i use the same poles for hiking in the summer.

if you go with skis, the BD clipfix ascension skins are nice. get them wide enough to cover your entire ski, and trim them so your edges show. they are about $100. i've never used ski crampons, though sometimes i have sure wished i had them.

you do not want to flail in the backcountry - if you are a good snowboarder and not a good skiier, go with a splitboard unless you just really want to ski(and who could blame you for that?). ski rigs are getting much more expensive now because of the strong euro - AT bindings especially are going up in price. for a good AT setup, plan on spending about $500 on boots, $500 on skis, and maybe $350 on bindings if you go full retail. i generally just mount AT bindings on some sort of telemark ski. the skis especially will vary wildly in price depending on what sort of ski you are looking for.

i do all of my resort skiing in my AT gear, though ideally i would have another much lighter AT setup and a full on alpine setup for resorts.

i don't really care much about an adjustable tail since i trim my skins to fit my skis anyway.

true that. a couple of the folks killed in avalanches in utah this winter were located and dug out within a few minutes, but were already dead from trauma. but you really do need the shovel for doing most meaningful snowpack tests.