Look Nevada

These basic mechanisms formed the basis for LOOK bindings for over 40 years, changing mainly in name and construction materials.

For downhill use, the cable was clipped down near the heel to keep the boot in firmer contact with the ski, and allow some level of lateral control.

Even small forces could produce torques able to break the ankle or knee, and spiral fractures of the calf were common.

Some designs address this by having the user screw metal fixings onto the boot sole to provide a more solid mounting point, but these would only fit a single style of binding.

"[3] French sporting goods manufacturer Jean Beyl made one of the first attempts to solve the twisting fall problem.

His design pivoted around a bearing under the foot, in order to ensure that torque did not built up to dangerous levels.

To mount it, the boot was fastened to a metal plate, which was in turn cut into the upper surface of the ski in a mortise joint about a centimetre deep.

The Nevada toe was the first modern ski binding that worked safely with any unmodified boot, eschewing attempts to attach to the sole or use add-on plates or clips.

In 1953 was replaced in production by the Simplex, which used a single cup like the Nevada, but retained the action of the Duplex and allowed straightforward release.

This allowed the Nevada II to be safely used at much lower tension settings, improving the chances of it releasing when needed while still preventing pre-release.

To fit these different styles of binding points, and the fact that the boots had no standardized size or shape, the rotating portion of the Grand Prix was mounted on a bracket that lifted it above the heel flange, allowing the user to adjust its height.

The Grand Prix offered step-in convenience; to put the binding on, the skier inserted their toe under the Nevada II, then stepped down at the heel.

The sole of their boot would catch a small plate or rod extending from the bottom of the binding, rotating it until it flipped up to lie vertically behind the skier's leg.

The N17 was replaced by the similar N57 and N77 from the mid-1970s, which was improved in a number of minor ways, notably the option of a ski brake just behind the toe binding.

The Nevada patents ran out in 1976, a similar models with long-travel toes quickly appeared from other binding manufacturers, starting with Salomon.

The ultimate evolution was the XM version, which also allowed the toe piece to rotated directly up, as is the case in a backward fall.

The original Look Nevada toe binding. Early examples, like this model, did not have a standardized flange to clip to on the toe, and the cup area is larger than later models. When boots were better standardized, the cup evolved into two "fingers", but the basic operation remained unchanged to this day.
A variety of Look bindings from the original N17 to models typical for the 1990s. The operating principles remain the same throughout, all that changes are the materials and basic layout.
Three decades of Look bindings: On the left is a Nevada II toe and Grand Prix heel, while the right side has a Rossignol-branded version of the 1990s Look Pivot. Both are sitting on a pair of Head Standard skis.