A person emailed me this morning because they were having trouble getting their WildSnow binding template to line up with the screw holes in their Freeride Plus bindings. I checked the template, and when printed on my laser printer at 100% scale it lines up perfectly, so I’m hoping the guy’s problem is simply printer scaling. If not we’ll get things right. As always, with any paper binding template always compare to your binding before drilling any holes in your skis. (Update: problem was indeed a printing error, see comments below.)
On the other hand, while checking the paper template I accidentally grabbed one of this year’s Fritschi Explore bindings for the comparo, and noticed that the screw holes in the Explore binding front piece are about 1/2 millimeter farther apart than those of the Freeride, in the ski tip/tail direction. We attribute this to manufacturing variation rather than any intentional change on the part of Fritschi, and don’t see it as a big deal. Nonetheless, we did make a new template just for the Explore (see link above).
If you’re retrofitting the 2006 Explore on a ski drilled for earlier Fritschi bindings, the slight difference in pattern should be easily absorbed by the screws shifting slightly as you run them in, and should NOT require re-drilling. Other than changing to the 2006 Explore, all other hole patterns should match up exactly.
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.
15 comments
Lou-
I’ve also had a simliar problem with the Silvretta Pure mounting template. It’s off too much to use, and I’m fairly certain my print setup is OK. I’ve got the new Atomic MX412 bindings (rebranded Silvretta Freerides). My guess is that you made the template based on the older year’s models and that this year is slightly different. I’ve got a possible connection to use a jig, but thought you might want to know. FYI that there is no template included (there has been with all the older Silvrettas I own).
Could be Eric, I of course can’t check every year a binding was made…. On the other hand, I’ve only been contacted a few times in the past by people having problems with the WildSnow templates not lining up, and all those times were caused by the printer rescaling the template. To that end, I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll add a scale checker to each template, just a mark that’s an inch across and an inch high. If you print out the template and the mark measures correctly, your problem isn’t the printer…
Just added a scale checker to the Silvretta 404 template that you can download here:
https://www.wildsnow.com/bindings/silvretta-404-ski-binding-mount-template/
Eric, if you could download and print, then let me know if the scale check box in the lower left area of the template is 1×1 inch, I’d appreciate it. If the box does indeed print out correctly and the template doesn’t work with your bindings, I’ll add a caveat to template disclaimer saying it may not work with all model years.
So, if you have an older pair of fritchi titanal 2’s, and you upgrade to freeride pluses, you have to re-drill? I hope not, because I was planning on putting my new bindings in my old skis.
Frank, no, it looks like the only binding that is slighly off pattern is the 2006/2007 Explore, but even it should not require re-drilling. But let us know how it goes.
Lou-
Thanks for the reply-you were correct! I double checked the settings in Adobe Acrobat, and sure enough it was scaling to match the printer page borders. Turned that off, and it now matches up perfectly. I’ll be mounting 2 new pairs of these rebranded Atomics tonight.
From Central Lawson, thanks again, Eric
Thanks for the template source, Company,s don’t seem to want to supply them anymore. Just a note, the two fritchi templates are identical. You mention the explore is not the same, but I printed both and they line up perfectly with each other.
Thanks again Michael
Michael, the difference I tried to build in to the newer template was only a millimeter or so, and only in the toe unit part. Perhaps I made a mistake and just uploaded the same as both. Will check. As it is, either will work for any Fritschi since binding holes can be slightly off and the screws will still seat. As always, key is to keep the plate aligned with the ski tip/tail centerline as you tighten the screws.
Lou,
Thanks for the templates. I mounted a set of small Fritschi Explore bindings today, and found that the marks for the screw holes are accurate.
However, after making the template, I discovered that the distance between the lines for the toe piece and heel piece is off a little. Your figure is 305 mm, but that put the pieces about 2.5 mm too far apart. This could be another manufacturing variation I suppose.
Again, thanks for the good information you have put up here!
Thanks Bart, I’ll check on that right away. The dimensions on the template are from an original retail paper template for Diamir II, as far as I know the dimensions didn’t change, but I might be misinformed. Why they couldn’t just put dimensions printed on the paper templates that used to be enclosed with the binding is a mystery — I had to get the dimension with a ruler so there could be a tiny bit of error. I do believe the binding is tolerant of a at least a millimeter difference in position of the heel unit, so perhaps not a big deal. I just checked my actual pair of Explore size medium, and as best I can tell the dimension for that is 305 mm, so the template is still correct for that. But I don’t have a pair of smalls to check the dimension you’re dealing with. I guess I need to go find and shop jig and measure. ‘best, Lou
Never mounted bindings before, but used your Fritschi template and instructions and it’s worked perfectly. Thanks so much, Ross, UK.
Just wondering if anyone has come across a jig / template for the new fritschi freeride pro’s?
Pete, don’t they use the same mounting pattern as Freeride? If not, I need to know, and we’ll publish a new template!
Freeride Pro and Eagle use different mount pattern from Freeride Plus.
Apparently they need a new jig. At least my local shop managed to sell me a set of bindings a few weeks ago, and then discovered their old fritschi jig was no use. Waiting for a new one now. Frustrating as it’s started snowing over here (scotland) and first tracks have been made!
Mark, Eagle same as Freeride Pro? If so, my published paper template will work.
http://www.wildsnow.com/2197/fritschi-diamier-eagle-template/
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