People love to get techy, especially telemark skiers. They love to talk about chord center, ball of foot, soft/hard snow performance, weight and other factors on a nauseatingly long list.
As of late I have been getting a ton of questions on where and how to mount up telemark bindings to alpine skis. I have personally mounted and skied hundreds of skis the past 5 years, so I have experience and know a thing or two about the process. The principles are identical to the alpine world, however, we have to measure and divide a bit more since our system isn’t standardized….yet.
I also constantly hear about binding pull out, binding failure and breakage…..things I have never had happen to me in the decade plus I have been doing this sport. Having the correct tools (jig and step drill), using your brain (not striping screw holes by over tightening) and using the ski manufactures mount recommendations (because that is where the ski is reinforced to handle the mount) are things a lot of people skip out on. Also understanding how the binding and ski work together lets you know their tolerances and how all the mechanisms work- so that you don’t go over them in the field.
Below is a video we I put together that I hope will quell the over thinkers and help everyone understand the process a bit better.
Think I missed something? Think I am full of it? Chime in and let us know your thoughts.
~Weston D
Nice job. I’m glad I have you to do my mountings. I know Jay B. is interested in your calculations. He is working on a pair of Surface with an alpine mount.