Backcountry
Skiing Bindings
Virtual Museum (museum
index) |
Through years of testing and
product development, backcountry skiing bindings have progressed
from simple cable bindings to engineered machines that represent
state-of-art materials science and mechanicals. This collection
of backcountry skiing bindings covers the full historical range
of modern bindings. |
Ramer Comfort Backcountry
Skiing Alpine Touring Binding
When it was first released in 1974, Paul
Ramer's "R" model Ramer binding was a revolutionary
innovation in alpine ski touring. The R model
introduced the concept of a heel lift for climbing, was lighter
weight than any other offering of that era, totally field maintainable
and more. All Ramer's bindings
(after the "R" came
the "Universal" and " MT2000")
were not without problems and quirks, however, so in the mid
1980s Paul came up with a hybrid unit for Europe that solved
some of the Universal model's problems. The Comfort uses Ramer's
trademark toe mechanism that combines release with touring
pivot, but replaces the awkward and ugly heel clamp of his
other models with a Look Nevada heel release unit. Switching
from locked heel to touring mode is accomplished with a simple
sliding catch operated by pressing down with a ski pole.
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| Ramer Comfort backcountry skiing binding
had a normal step-in step-out heel clamp. It's not a true
step-in binding, however, as the toe wire will not stay
elevated for placement of the boot toe while stepping in,
so even with the step-in heel you still have to bend over
and hold the toe wire up to enter the binding. Click image
to enlarge. |
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| The Ramer Comfort heel latch mechanism
is beautiful in simplicity. You just push down on the red
divots with a ski pole tip, and it slides forward and backward
to various configurations.
Click here for a
video. |
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| Lateral (side) safety release was always
a big issue with Ramer bindings. It's not obvious how
it works, accurate adjustment is difficult, and the mechanism
has to be greased by the owner. Think of it as a tuning
fork The steel bars shown above are the arms of the tuning
fork. Each arm terminates at a ball-and-socket joint.
The arms of the tuning fork act as springs, when lateral
force is applied they flex and allow the socket joint to
come apart. Adjustment of release level is done
by moving the bolt in the slot visible in the photo. By
moving the bolt forward the lever arm of the spring is
shortened, thus making the release stiffer. Move it back
and the release is looser. Watch
the video to see the release in action. |
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| Logo is a sticker. Numbers to left
are an effort at showing a lateral release indicator loosely
based on the DIN release settings scale common to most
ski bindings. |
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| One of
the most innovative and succesful features of the comfort
(and other Ramer bindings) is easy boot length adjustment.
You simply squeeze
the U shaped metal clip so the small nubs disengage from
holes in the side of the binding, then slide the heel
unit for or aft. Micro adjustment is accomplished by
the holes on the heel unit being drilled in different
frequency than those of the binding plate. This offers
a finer adjustment than even some modern bindings. Click
here for Video of heel adjustment. |
Weight: One binding with screws, 32.1 oz., 912 g
Couloir Magazine profile of Paul Ramer
This binding was provided
by Paul Ramer as a gear sponsorship to Lou Dawson, circa
1987 during his Colorado fourteener skiing project. Lou used
the binding for a number of ski descents in the late 1980s.
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