Vinersa ski touring binding, released around 1980.
Thanks to Vintage Ski world, I’m excited to acquire this classic ski touring binding for the world-famous collection. The Vinersa is the direct precursor to the Salewa plate binding, which used a nearly identical design only with improved materials and mechanicals. Did you use this binding? Wondering if it’s real or a fantasy? Curious how it relates to the Eagles rock band? Please check out the museum display via linkage below, but leave comments here on this blog post.
(NOTE: History buffs, I’m planning on rearranging the museum page bindings in chronological order — thinking it should start with the earliest, i.e., ascending order. Opinions?)
6 comments
I believe that I skied Hayden with Chris Landry on brand new Ramer Binders.I hit a buried boulder and broke the retention metal cord. We never found the ski but I skied down with the plate on my foot. A couple weeks later we were up there again,Chris did not buy a ski pass so he did a lot of skinning.On our way down we stopped to chat with some folks going up. It turned out to be Ramer himself. Long story short he sent me a new binding,free. A bigger word back then than now.
Re: NOTE: History buffs on rearranging your history page.
Yes, chronological order would show the development nicely, especially the punctuated equilibrium that began with “Lamer” bindings that broke all our legs back in the late 70s through mid 80s yet broke the trail for today’s backcountry bonanza.
Thanks Joe and Roman. Yeah, chrono ascending order sounds like the way to go, I’ll get on it. The challenge is I don’t have solid intro dates for a number of the bindings, but I’ll estimate. Once traveling in Europe is easier, I’m planning on interviewing a bunch of old-timers about the binding development dates. Good excuse to travel around and meet some folks, maybe I’ll sample some pastries or carve into a schnitzel or two. In terms of binding engineering, it’s worth noting that the safety problem with the Ramer binding was that it blocked lateral release at the toe, just as tech bindings do. (Paul Ramer claimed that lack of greasing caused the problem, but I never believed that to be the case, as I knew several people who broke their legs on greased Ramers). So, related to this, certain binding engineers have predicted a rash of tib fractures from tech bindings. It happens, but it’s not an epidemic. As I’m not a mechanical engineer I don’t have a solid answer as to why this is, but I suspect it’s because tech bindings “give” a little at the toe even though the tech binding releases to the side at the heel. The Dynafit rotation concept might even help with this, again not sure. In any case, it’s been amazing to see how well tech bindings have functioned over the years, considering that _in concept_ all they are is a Ramer binding that reverses the toe ball/socket, and uses the boot as the carrier plate by virtue of built-in fittings. Lou
+1 for chronological
Hi Lou. I had a version of this binding that I used mid to late 70s. Instead of a bail up front there was a pivoting toepiece, height adjustable with a stack of washers and a tension adjustment for release. I believe there was a marker style exploding heel at the back. There was a pivoting lockdown lever screwed into the ski behind that u catch at the back of the bar that engaged it for ski mode. Make was Vinersa like the clip on skins at the time.
I used the bindings for ski touring trips around Vancouver…yes they were heavy and so were the skis.
cheers TR
Hi Tim, the binding you refer to is the Vinersa FH, said to have been in retail from 1976-1982. It’s quite interesting, but I’ve never seen one in the flesh. We need one for the collection! Maybe your bindings are still floating around the Vancouver thrift shops… Lou
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