I was doing some fitness uphilling this past weekend and spied nordic jumping bindings (Winner SL) that have an elegant and simple torsional release mechanism. Got me thinking…
Winner SL ski jumping binding has release system that looks like it would work for telemarking. |
The safety release mechanism of these jumping bindings could easily be adapted for telemark skiing. This binding is made by Win.Air, a company that used to be part of Silvretta and no doubt still cross pollinates with them. Silvretta already makes their excellent telemark touring adapter for backcountry skiing — why not a radical telemark binding based on the concepts of jumping equipment, but with grail-quest virtues like free touring pivot and stepin/stepout?
If Black Diamond can spend millions on developing a new telemark binding, and Rottefella is no doubt doing the same, might there be another big player with a binding under their hat? We wouldn’t be surprised if Silvretta (Salewa) or Win.Air were working on something.
Nordic ski jumpers land in the telemark position and were thus keeping the tele alive long before the great tele revival excavated the turn from the sands of history. Thus, wouldn’t it be fitting if the grail binding ended up being based on jumping equipment? If you’re going to reinvent the wheel, you might as well start with a wheel.
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.