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Homebrew Fritschi Anti-Insta-Tele Lock

Bookmark and Share            By Lou

A well known but thankfully uncommon problem with pre 2007 Fritschi Diamir bindings is the possibility of the touring latch coming undone while you’re skiing downhill. Here is blog reader Craig Woodard’s solution. He fabricated a pair of pins from 5/16 inch nylon stock, added a split ring, and it looks good for backcountry skiing. Bear in mind that current Fritschi bindings have solved this problem by including an ingenious mechanism, which I’ve detailed here.

Fritschi backcountry skiing binding lock
Pin detail

Fritschi lock

Fritschi lock

My only concern with Craig’s mod is that it might limit the sliding action of the heel clamp that compensates for ski flex. What do you blog readers think?

And here is a video to help explain. Thanks Craig!

Posted by Lou on October 2, 2007 | Filed Under Gear Mods 

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Comments

7 Responses to “Homebrew Fritschi Anti-Insta-Tele Lock”

  1. Big Sky Rida October 2nd, 2007 9:54 am

    Kinda seems like a pain in the ass when transitioning considering gloved hands, packed snow in the binding and small little rings to loose. I have been skiing on pre 07′ fritschi for ~5-6 years and never had a probelm…great idea though for folks riding more on-area? I like fast transitions I can do with skis on…this seems to make that a bit tougher. I like the at-home engineering posts though! Keep it up…

  2. carl October 2nd, 2007 12:50 pm

    How many cases of insta-tele have been with well mounted skis?

    Because it limits the ability of the binding to compensate for ski flex won’t this increase the chance of heelpiece/bar breakage? In order for the bar to work it’ll apply pressure on the heelpiece or the portion of the bar that holds it in place.

  3. Lou October 2nd, 2007 3:26 pm

    Carl, the binding still has some movement with this mod. Craig, what’s your take on that?

  4. Dirk Peters October 3rd, 2007 8:50 am

    Looks like a good mod for those who ski no-falls-allowed lines with the DIN maxed out. Touring on a daily basis, I really never lose my heel, in my mind the problem in heavy snow is caused by the lack of solid connection in the heel unit initially. The times I’ve insta-tele’d, there was snow in the binding initially that I just got tired of cleaning or couldn’t clean. Some kind of attachment to secure the pin when not in use would really make this thing more user-friendly. Could be cool.

  5. Craig Woodard October 9th, 2007 1:55 pm

    Thanks for the insightful comments and I have now had a chance to more closely examine the ski flex concern. Yes the pin does somewhat limit the bindings movement, and close examination showed the pin being forced forward when the ski was flexed.

    I set the ski up on 1.5″ blocks spaced 46″ apart and pressed down to bottom the ski, with and without the pin in place. Both readings indicated a force of 115 lbs was required. Next I increased the blocks to 2.25″ and again pressed the ski down until it bottomed out. This time it took 155 lbs without the pin in place and 160 lbs with the pin in place. So the pin does somewhat stiffen the ski and place a load back on the heel piece.

    I have been skiing with this fix in place for about 4 years now and I weigh 155 lbs. My friend who weighs 225 lbs has also used this fix for 4 years (and probably 300 ski days) and neither of us has had a problem with the heel piece slot being damaged.

    I am not sure the current design change that Fritschi has incorporated would fix the problem I had. In all cases when my heel released, the locking device was in the unlocked position, indicating the heel had not been released due to extreme flexing. In all cases I had stepped into the bindings at the start of the ski day and was confident they were not subject to snow or ice build up. I am still not 100% sure what caused my problem but the locking pin has solved it for me and not presented any further concernss so far.

  6. ForeR November 4th, 2008 1:11 pm

    How many cases of insta-tele have been with well mounted skis?

  7. Lou November 4th, 2008 2:04 pm

    Fore, no idea. It doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue as it used to be, perhaps because Freeride Plus has a thingy that prevents insta-tele.

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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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