Ski binding

[1] Sondre Norheim demonstrated telemark skiing before 1866, and the Open Christiania turn in 1868, both made possible with a binding design which dated back to the late 1840s.

[2] Starting in 1894, Fritz R. Huitfeldt invented a binding with a secure toe iron which allowed the heel to move freely and evolved through the 1930s as the standard design.

[5] A bent, pressed-metal plate had three or four pins that stuck into the toe of a square-toed boot, which was clamped down with a metal bail.

After victories at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, the binding remained the standard type for cross-country skiing through much of the century and continues as the Nordic Norm, manufactured by Rottefella and other companies.

[6] The introduction of the cable binding allowed the Christie turn to become a standard on downhill runs, and to further support this style of skiing the Swiss racer Guido Reuge in 1929 invented a cable binding with steel clips below the boot heel to enable clamping the heel down for downhill portions.

[8] This was a metal clip with a pyramidal top that fit into a slot cut into the sole of the ski boot.

During a fall, sideways torsion could overcome the force of the spring and allow the boot to release directly to the side.

This design was quickly copied by other vendors, notably Marker, and had the first real impact on the dominance of the fixed-toe bindings.

A heel-release binding faced the problem that there was no obvious place to attach to on the heel, so the Cubco solved this by screwing small metal clips into the sole of the boot.

[7] Marker introduced the Rotomat, which gripped onto the sole where it extended past the heel, and Look quickly followed suit with their Grand Prix design.

As more and more of the alpine skiing market came under control of European companies, the plate bindings disappeared, in spite of their excellent safety records.

[10] The disappearance of the plate and alternate systems was due to a combination of factors, notably the introduction of standardized hard plastic boots.

Plastic had the advantages of being much firmer than leather, not changing shape over time, and having predictable friction characteristics wet or dry.The new boots and bindings could be easily adapted to any ski for any skier.

Injury rates from alpine skiing began to fall with the gradual introduction of the Teflon anti-friction pad around 1972.

[17] Manufacturers of alpine touring bindings include: Atomic/Salomon, Black Diamond, Dynafit, Fritschi, Genuine Guide Gear, and Marker.

Subsequent generations engage a bar recessed in the toe of the boot and incorporate a single, thick ridge along the binding plate.

[20] The Nordic Integrated System (NIS), introduced in 2005 by Rossignol, Madshus, Rottefella, and Alpina,[25] incorporates an NNN-compatible toe attachment into an integrated binding plate on the top of the ski to which the bindings attach, allowing adjustment in the field with a metallic NIS key.

[28] In 2007, Rottefella introduced the New Telemark Norm binding featuring lateral release, adjustability, and a freely pivoting toe attachment.