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. | ||||||||
Tyrolia Tour - Backcountry Skiing Alpine Touring Binding Before the late 1960s, alpine ski touring was done with simple cable bindings that were either skied downhill with unlatched heels, or else latched down with simple side lugs. The problem with such "cable bindings" was they lacked side-to-side stability in touring mode, and it was inconvenient to latch your heels down. Sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s binding makers began to address these problems by adding an underfoot "plate" or "frame" to various touring bindings. This model from Tyrolia is one such effort, and represents a transitional design trending toward eliminating the cable altogether.
Weight: One binding with screws, 36 oz., 1020 g This ski binding was provided all the way from France by Stéphane Pennequin -- I traded him a few items of vintage climbing hardware for the binding. It's worth checking out Stéphane's historical collection of climbing nuts. | |||||||||


















