Old mans binding dream.

[vsnofjohana]

As an old Little Cottonwood Canyon Telemark skier, in order to get longer and more days I would like to be able to lock my heel down to make more powerful and easier parallel turns without switching my 75 mm boots and current binding setup which is a BD 01. I realize that if I switch to an NTN system I'd be able to get that Meidjo system where I could lock my heel down and make parallel turns all day. My crazy crackpot idea is to get a look pivot heel piece and mount it so when I wanted to I could lock down. Any thought or previous attempts out there? I don't want to go full bondage and get an alpine system.

[fgd135]

If ya do that, be sure your health insurance is paid up.

[Andinista]

The Meidjo alpine heel has almost no resistance laterrally, about DIN 1 as I read somewhere, This is required because the second heel remains attached when using the alpine heel, so the DIN of the binding remains active, you don't want to increase it significantly, even less for alpine skiing where the risk of injury is higher if the binding doesnt release.
With the Look heel I'd think a low DIN adjustment would release vertically too early, so it might not work.

[vsnofjohana]

If ya do that, be sure your health insurance is paid up.

Our bindings have never been releasable. I think I did have a pair of releasable volie on a pair of 215 atomic arc Tele skis once, that was back in super Tele boot days.

[lowangle al]

I think the problem with having your heels locked down is that in order to do a proper faceplant while your skis are in contact with the snow you would have to snap your tibia and fibula on both legs probably ruining your day.

[Rodbelan]

I think the problem with having your heels locked down is that in order to do a proper faceplant while your skis are in contact with the snow you would have to snap your tibia and fibula on both legs probably ruining your day.

That's another kind of release... LOL

[fgd135]

If ya do that, be sure your health insurance is paid up.

Our bindings have never been releasable. I think I did have a pair of releasable volie on a pair of 215 atomic arc Tele skis once, that was back in super Tele boot days.

Being a ski patroller for over 20 years now I stand by my comments.
If you want lockdown heels, convert to the dark side and go with AT bindings as so many have done. Not only lighter wt. than what you propose, but much safer, too.
Don't forget, banging yourself up in the sidecountry or backcountry puts rescuers at risk when they assist.

[vsnofjohana]

You bring up a very good point. I need to consider others and my own body.

[joeatomictoad]

Any entrepreneurs here? My pipe dream has been to design an electromagnet built into the heel piece of a tele binding. The magnet would be paired with some sort of ferrous steel built into the heel of the boot.

Once energized, the electromagnet would secure the boot heel to the heel piece of the binding, making a temporary fixed heel.

Couple issues:
1. Injuries, legal, etc.
2. Failure mode. Believe the "default safe" failure mode for this would be in the unengaged / unenergized state. Not too hard for the electromagnet itself, but may take some clever engineering to ensure any failure to the control loop also fails in the same mode.
3. Source of energy for the electromagnet. Would a couple 9-volt batteries provide enough EM force?
4. Added weight. Would the added weight of the batteries and coils be marketable. Of course, less batteries and/or less coils means less EM force, so there's a tradeoff here.
5. Switch device. First prototype would have a hard wire, but eventually would need to have a wireless actuator (tx / rx) that would accomplish quick & seamless engagement/disengagement. Rx unit could be powered and built into the heel piece. Tx unit, maybe a microswitch that can be designed to be universal to wear on the outside of any glove, or placed on the handle of any ski pole. If market really enjoys this, then work with glove manufacturers to build into the glove itself.
6. One switch, two actuators (left and right ski). If one actuator energizes, and the other does not, this may pose a safety hazard, and would violate the aforementioned "default safe" failure mode. To mitigate, may need a feedback loop with low-level logic board to validate this. If one actuator fails to energize, then the whole system does not engage.

Again, this is a pipe dream, but I don't think it's made out of unobtanium.
How much should this cost? Probably cost about USD$60-70 to manufacturer from the beginning, so should retail for USD$200.

For sure, I cannot be the first one to think about this.
Any interest? Any ideas? Any comments?