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Su-matic – Vintage Alpine Touring Binding

Bookmark and Share            By Lou

Another gem from the collection. Possibly the weirdest backcountry skiing binding ever made, Su-matic resembles a mechanical beast from Star Wars, or perhaps a horror flick nightmare. Full museum display here, with a movie! Comments are on, let me know what you think. Is summer insanity taking me over the edge? Want to see more old junk? Should I admit I actually skied on these things?

Su-matic vintage backcountry skiing binding.
Su-matic backcountry skiing binding heel unit. Circa 1977.

These Su-matics were imported by business in Aspen called Company 3, started in the 1970s by a group of local hardcore skiers that included Terry Young and Al Burnham. At first Company 3 imported Euro backcountry gear, then got involved with Paul Ramer as the first distributor of his binding. My old backcountry partner and ski mentor Kendall Williams got involved and designed some skis they had made. I worked in their shop as a ski tech and general gopher (and resident wildman). All the rando gear of that day really was crummy, so Young and Burnham got involved in the telemark revival (I’d already been through a telemark phase by then and was exploring rando gear as it was rapidly improving). Soon Company 3 was trying to make telemark skis. They sold a few decent skis, then went through a business evolution and became Phoenix Skis, the first company in the world dedicated to making high performance tele planks.

No doubt bindings like the Su-matic are one of the reasons we have such amazing high-performance telemark gear. If these clankers had worked better and been lighter, guys like Terry and Al would have probably have stuck with randonnee, instead they helped create modern telemarking.

Su-matic is still in business…

Posted by Lou on June 21, 2006 | Filed Under Binding Reviews 

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Comments

2 Responses to “Su-matic – Vintage Alpine Touring Binding”

  1. Mark June 22nd, 2006 7:18 am

    What a crazy contraption! Looks like it worked, though with limited range for touring efficiency.

  2. Darren Glick June 22nd, 2006 8:46 pm

    those things are a trip. It’s great to see some vintage a t gear. I am impressed to see people were trying to build bindings like that back in the early days.

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Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past forty years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

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Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you do any form of randone, randonnee and randonnée skiing. The information on this website is intended only as general information. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information, text and images contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using, reading or viewing the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of Wild Snow as well as content contributors of any liability for injuries or losses incurred while using such information. Furthermore, you agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instructions or templates at your own risk, and waive Wild Snow its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items for backcountry skiing or any other use.