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Review: Tahoe Trail Tools’ Heel Up! for Marker Alpinist

By

Andrew Ross

Close up of Heel-Up! in high position, post-installation (and post test tour— please excuse the patina of grit from the dirty, late season snow). Note the big platform for your heel to rest on. Aesthetics-wise, Heel Up! looks pretty good, too. The best part? You can get it in any color you like, as long as it’s black.

Close up of Heel-Up! in high position, post-installation (and post test tour— please excuse the patina of grit from the dirty, late season snow). Note the big platform for your heel to rest on. Aesthetics-wise, Heel Up! looks pretty good, too. The best part? You can get it in any color you like, as long as it’s black.

The Tahoe Trail Tools Heel Up! riser performs as advertised: it increases Marker Alpinist riser heights by 12mm in both medium and high modes, making the binding easier to tour on steep skin tracks. It was as easy to install as the manufacturer claims; if I can do it, you can, too. Best of all,…

Responses

  1. Mason Sheats

    Haha yea you guys have been saying that tahoe folks need higher risers (for ease of settinf steeper ski tracks) on this site for a bit now. The perfect product

    1. Jason Albert

      That’s funny, I was thinking the same. But, to be clear, that was an Op-ed from a Tahoe reader. We can neither confirm nor deny the propensity for steep tracks around Tahoe. I can speak with little authority, that this debate, too steep or too shallow, was likely an issue at the dawn of skis and skins.

      1. Andrew Ross

        Nor can I comment on the Tahoe skin tracks! If memory serves, Collin mentioned the steeper-than-usual skinners out that way when I spoke to him, so I’m sure that was the source of some of the inspiration for Heel Up!

        As for me – this product has a place even on our modest hills here in the East.

  2. Slim

    Since we have 3 pairs of Alpinists in the house, I’ll keep an eye on these.

    Personally I wish it wasn’t as high. Either keeping the stock heights or just a touch higher would be my choice.

    I like having the near flat pins forward mode (skimo style) for fast laps on our tiny hill. I also like having a flat and low riser to flip between on longer skins, because I find the heel turret nearly impossibly stiff to turn.
    But I have good range of motion in my ankles and boots, so I could see others wanting more rise.

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