Circa 1986, this Ramer Comfort binding was made by Paul Ramer in partnership with VauDe to address the needs of the European market. This was my favorite Ramer binding — I used it for a bunch of ski descents over several seasons. Most interesting feature is the grafted Look Nevada step-in heel clamp. At the time I was doing quite a bit of extreme skiing, and enjoyed the step-in feature when I had to set up for a descent in an awkward position. Problem was that Ramer only went half way; you still had to bend down and lift up the toe wire over the toe of your boot. This was always a disappointment, as it would have been so easy to design something that kept the toe wire elevated, thus making the binding a true step-in. More details.
Ramer Comfort model ski touring binding used an alpine heel unit.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain. For more about Lou, please see his personal website at https://www.loudawson.com/ (Blogger stats: 5 foot 10 inches (178 cm) tall, 160 lbs (72574.8 grams).
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4 comments
Ramers are really cool. Don’t think I had ever seen these ones in use (except in your guide books). Nice videos.
Maybe I’m overstating it, but the simplicity of these bindings is amazing. The release is particularly intriguing.
Wow,these have to be the coolest i’ve ever seen.The aesthetics are very appealing to the eyes.
Years ago, I put aside a set of Look heelpieces, because I hoped to graft them onto a Ramer plate someday, somehow. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this setup, using exactly the same Look heelpiece shape.
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