Circa 1986, this Ramer Comfort binding was made by Paul Ramer in partnership with VauDe to address the needs of the European market. This was my favorite Ramer binding — I used it for a bunch of ski descents over several seasons. Most interesting feature is the grafted Look Nevada step-in heel clamp. At the time I was doing quite a bit of extreme skiing, and enjoyed the step-in feature when I had to set up for a descent in an awkward position. Problem was that Ramer only went half way; you still had to bend down and lift up the toe wire over the toe of your boot. This was always a disappointment, as it would have been so easy to design something that kept the toe wire elevated, thus making the binding a true step-in. More details.
Ramer Comfort model ski touring binding used an alpine heel unit.
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.
