Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information & opinion website. Lou's passion for the past 50 years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about
ski touring 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 ski touring news and information here.
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Backcountry skiing is dangerous. You may be killed or severely injured if you do any form of ski mountaineering, skimo randonnee and randonnée skiing. The information and news on this website is intended only as general information. Due to human error and passing time, the information, text and images contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using, reading or viewing the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of Wild Snow as well as content contributors of any liability for injuries or losses incurred while using such information. Furthermore, you agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instructions templates at your own risk, and waive Wild Snow owners and contributors of liability for use of said items for ski touring or any other use.
I had some great tours and skied a few peaks with those bindings. Glad to have them in your collection.
I’ve used the Silvretta 400, the same model but with lateral release. But for the 300s Mark Twight, in his book “Extreme Alpinism: Climbing Light, Fast, and High” wrote:
“Find the lightest ski and binding combination possible. Don’t fret over safety release features, because skis this short cause less twisting fall. There’s no need to go fast and out of control anyway. In the United States, Silvretta 300s are the lightest available mountaineering bindings – ones that leave the heel free or clamped down as you choose.”
I just acquired some Silvretta 400s, and am in the process of getting them all setup. When adjusting the length of the binding to fit my boots, I’m running into a problem. There is a small red arrow on the side of the heel plate which points to min, max or anywhere in between when the heel is locked in. The heel plate is adjusted by removing some clips, and sliding the binding to pre-set notches in the side rails, then reinstalling the clips.
The problem: my boot size (306) seems to be between notches: The needle is either pointing at the max line, or is just ‘above’ the min line. Is this a problem? My intuition tells me to go with the minimum setting. Any advice is appreciated.
Minimum setting is likely best. Try engaging the heel throw and see how everything looks.
Yeah, try it at the minimum and if the boot is held in the binding ok, you are good to go.
I am overseas, but in the US I have a pair of Silvretta 300’s in storage for my US size 12 boots. Will they go down to US size 8 boots, or were they made in several sizes??
I threw my first front flip on skis on these bindings! Wow…scary eh? Got them for $40 and toured for a couple years on them. Good design considering the era in which they were made!