The time, late 1980s. The place, shipyards of Gdansk Poland (where the Solidarity movement began that eventually liberated the country). Shipyard machinists and fabricators made 250 surreptitious copies of the Silvretta 404, obviously by hand. The bindings were called the “Trawers” (Traverse in English) and used the heel clamp from a Polish alpine binding called the Gamma. Any of you European readers ski on these? More details in our Trawers Gamma Polish ski touring binding museum display.
At bottom of photo, ‘Trawers’ hand made copy of Silvretta 404 shown at top of photo.
See our Polish translation, thanks Sebastian!
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
