| Ski bindings, the metal and plastic contraptions that | | | | made a mistake, check to see whether the back or |
| hold you on, or let you off your skis, have come a | | | | front one is responsible. If it was the back one the |
| long way since the bone snapping bear traps of the | | | | clamp will have opened upwards, and if it was the |
| fifties. Now we hardly think about them. In most | | | | front one then the back will still be closed. This is |
| cases, they have become so sophisticated that you | | | | because front bindings normally return to their original |
| need to be a rocket scientist to understand the | | | | position after release and you won't notice any |
| technicalities. | | | | change. |
| I must confess that I could always tell you the name | | | | If you are out on the hill you can usually sometimes |
| of the ski I was on, but would be often hard pressed | | | | borrow a screwdriver from the lift hut - but don't |
| to tell you the name of the binding that was doing | | | | expect anyone else to do it for you unless you are |
| such a wonderful job holding me on and letting me | | | | very attractive, and they don't mind being sued if |
| go with such precision. There are times, however, | | | | you have a bad accident because of a maladjusted |
| when they may let you down - usually because they | | | | binding. Tighten in half clicks until the binding stops |
| have not been adjusted properly. | | | | pre-releasing. The harder you ski the higher you will |
| There is now a standardized din setting for all makes | | | | need the settings, but always crank up in small |
| of ski binding so that the numbers on the dials mean | | | | increments. |
| the same regardless of the make. They can be | | | | Sometimes bindings do pre-release in such unusual |
| adjusted to suit the weight and expertise of a skier - | | | | circumstances that there's no case for adjustment. A |
| the higher the number the heavier and/or better the | | | | few years ago we were skiing in the sun down good |
| skier - generally. They should be tightened so that | | | | hard pack snow. I decided to hang left on to a path |
| within a reasonable margin they will both hold the | | | | out of the sun, and hit it a bit too fast. It was classic |
| skier onto the skis and then let him go when | | | | ice, hard as rock and bumpy like a ship's bottom and |
| necessary. The back binding releases to prevent him | | | | I knew I was in trouble. There was a sharp left turn |
| from breaking his leg, and the front one releases to | | | | fifty yards down but before I was anywhere near it |
| prevent him twisting his knee ligaments. For reasons I | | | | my right ski came off and this was the one I really |
| won't bother with here, a safe back binding was | | | | needed for a left hand turn... I just about got the |
| quite easy to perfect, while a safe front binding was | | | | uphill one to start turning but I couldn't cope with the |
| more difficult. This is why there are far fewer broken | | | | bumpy ice and hit the lip on the outside of the bend |
| legs than twisted knee ligaments today. I say that | | | | at about thirty. Nothing was visible over the lip apart |
| generally bindings should be adjusted to suit the | | | | from the far side of the valley. At the moment of |
| weight of a skier, but his standard and the speed he | | | | launch my left ski stopped dead on the upward lip |
| skis, and the terrain he is skiing on can also be | | | | and I flew out of it. I described a perfectly executed |
| considered. | | | | parabola about twenty feet above the ground at its |
| What I recommend here is that whoever adjusts the | | | | highest point with just my boots on, and landed on all |
| skis for you in the shop is aware of your weight and | | | | fours twenty yards down the hill in soft snow. The |
| adjusts the bindings accordingly. If they then | | | | people coming up in the bubble lift a few feet away |
| pre-release and come off when you haven't even | | | | must have laughed fit to burst. |