Dostie's View #24 | Is Rugged Touring Telemark Touring?
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- Dostie delves further into the question of what direction should Scarpa’s new telemark boot LINE take? To the point, how wide should the range of use be? Should it include lighter, more XC oriented boots?
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About: Craig Dostie is truly a pioneer of backcountry and telemark media. He was the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Couloir Magazine from 1988 until 2007. His publishing company at the time also created Telemark Skier Magazine in 2003. He has contributed to countless articles on the subject of backcountry & telemark skiing and is the one that coined the term EARN YOUR TURNS. He’s a true legend of Telemark.
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Yes, Dostie.
To me the tele has always been about off piste BC. It never was about the piste. That was only there to improve one's technique so that one could ski the bc better....period. I guess that is why I never was interested in buying the big heavy and, dare I say, ridiculous T1's,etc.
I think I wrote you earlier, this winter I broke down and bought a pair of (duckbill) T1's on ebay, and I can't wait to get rid of them. Or maybe I'll keep them just to remind me why I choose the gear I do.
Now keep in mind I am not a heli skier in search of the extreme steeps. Maybe if I were, the bigger boots might make sense. But like most of us, I am not, and the T3 (or 4), or the Excursion level boot, is plenty adequate for backside skiing or where ever my legs and feet take me. In my humble opinion the tele industry lost its way with the big heavy boots years ago.
Also the duck bill has never bothered me, or any of the tele folks I know. I get plenty of "freedom" with the Voile three pin spring cable binding and hope to god that the industry doesn't turn it's back on us loyal duck billers who don't particularly want to buy ( and break in) any new boots if we don't have to. And on the rare instance where I have to climb a steep icy slope carrying my skis, the duck bill is nice to help kick into the icy crust for stepping up the slope. If those duck bills were gone, I would miss them when in this situation, and don't mind them otherwise.
Maybe the answer is to keep it the way it's been with the divide between the big area boots and the BC crowd. The best advice I could give the tele industry is to maybe make light plastic boots (T3-4-Excursion, etc.) and liners even more comfortable than they already are. Because to me the comfort could be better when compared with the supple feel and warmth of the old leather doubles.. ( Example---A third buckle at the instep on my T3's might help keep my heel down better.) So to keep working on the comfort fit factor, to me is a non- loser. I don't think the answer is in the binding for this. I don't want to have to adapt to the feel of a new system (NTN) again after all these years if I don't have to. I am too old to have to go through the learning and the falling phase I did when I was a lot younger. Why should I ? The change from leather to plastic was enough. It almost stopped me from tele skiing. But fortunately I persevered. But I was a lot younger then.
The other idea might be to think more about the release factor between boot and binding and ski for the BC crowd with the avy risk that's out there. Perhaps they need to go back to that idea and work some more on that. The avy lung and balloons are fine but a light, simple, reliable and releasable binding for those who do sometimes find themselves at risk might be another way to go for more boot/binding/ski R and D; although carrying an avy slope gauge on your ski pole and using it and listening to it may be the best advice here.
I don't know whether or not the new NTN tech bindings have this releasable tech built in or not, universally. If they do, that may make them worth it for those who push the limits of slope angle and avy risk.
It’s amazing that this conversation continues! Thanks for keeping it going though!
Here’s a point to consider: the lower cuff/ lighter boot you describe could also serve the majority of “tele mountaineers”, as stiffness and taller cuffs are working against getting into a tele stance and don’t offer benefit for telemark skiing until you have worked up some serious speed/ G forces. If everyone is being honest, most technical steep/narrow skiing is done carefully and relatively slowly, where plenty of flex is desirable to get into a stance fast without unnecessary resistance and where having tech toe edging is certainly a plus. So perhaps the ideal boot to round out Scarpa’s line by serving both meadow skippers and couloir droppers would be between t2 and t4 height, obviously lighter, simple buckles that are minimally exposed to catching rocks hiking, a replaceable duck butt because it wears down a lot hiking in rocks, tech inserts, a good range of motion, (and a bonus would be to be able to lock out the bellow somehow for climbing steeper ice).
Sounds like your boot is a lot like the one I suggested. I think we're on to something! Oh, if you used rigid crampons, you would effectively lock out the bellows if you are climbing a waterfall, ha.
I hear you. I came to telemark via nordic skiing. I currently use Alfa guard advance gtx with fischer 98s. I learned to make (weak) telemark turns on this setup but it hasn't been easy. When I'm at the downhill slopes with family, i practice with my setup, but sometimes my wife and i rent proper telemark equipment because I'm simply not able to ski with my setup on anything steeper than mild blues. While the turns come so easy in those rental boots (too easy?) I can't stand the weight and clunkiness of that gear. Forget about alpine boots, I'll never wear them. Compared to my leather boots and nnn-bc bindings, it all feels like overkill. I know i just need to keep practicing and I'll improve skill instead of compensating with gear. But, there is still room for some compromise and not everyone is willing to torture themselves the way i do. I confess I've never used the T4s and I've heard they're a good middle ground, but I would also like something extremely lightweight that can be used in both backcountry and ski center situations that isn't duckbill style. If it were nnn-bc, i would be all for it, but that's likely too much of a departure for most telemark skiers. So, something like the t4 in double pin tech would likely be a good option. It would require new skis, bindings, and boots for me, but since I'm unlikely to buy the heavier kits anyway, this would probably get me to lay out the cash. Perhaps I'm too far on the Nordic side to be relevant here, but ininagine there are hundreds of thousands of people like me who would like to have something versatile enough to work both at the ski center with family and friends as well as in more demanding back country.
Interesting thoughts thanks! I love your talks. I'm curious what you think about the new Rottefella Xplore binding and Alfa boot system that is supposed to come out this fall. It looks to me like it could revolutionize the nordic backcountry. Decend like a 3 pin and diagonal stride like a nnnbc.
For myself being a bit younger and coming from a cross country back ground I'll not miss the duck bill for the flats. And I wish I'd got an NTN binding/boot system back when I bought my heavy tele set up, but you are so right that justifying a whole new system is difficult with the price of ski gear. That is still a big problem with the new rottefella system which is looking really expensive.
I started telemarking because I saw this guy once at Vail who was just floating down the hill and I had no idea and asked my buddy, "how do you turn like that?" Then I rented some tele gear at Smuggs and had a lesson and the rest is history. Funny thing is, since that time some 20 years ago, I now have way less days on piste and purchased nordic gear (nnn-bc and hardwire) to go out either in nordic areas, tool around in whatever woods I can find, hike up the back side of resorts, or pull the Steve Barnett trick and just do lift served XC to improve my technique. I love my excursions and yea, if they could invest a little and come out with a 2-pin, wow! So comfy and warm 🥰
Yeah, this is exactly my sentiment.
Spot on! The beauty of telemark is that you can have a great time in the backcountry and challenge yourself on lower angle terrain. The missing piece to being able to do this with modern equipment is a lightweight boot with great range of motion. A boot that can make long, flat or even bumpy approaches quick and comfortable.
Do all those ATers WANT to go into sketchy avalanche terrain or could some of them rather prefer the challenge of backcountry telemark turns on safe terrain if they had the chance? I don't know, but I kind of hope so. Personally I prefer to drop knees in super safe surroundings than taking too much avalanche risk.
The lower (western) Unitas are my backyard. You’d love it here.
Great comments Dostie. I'm in the same situation. I have some great local trails which are too tame for my Tx but something like my Alpina Alaskas are too wimpy for driving modern fun skis like Vector BC, or even the Objective. I've dumped all my 75mm gear in favor of NTN, so it doesn't really make sense to get pair of T4, and after touring on Lynx it would be a little painful to go back to the 3 pin world with plastic boots anyway. So I've put off doing any sort of upgrade to cover that gap in my equipment. If a new NTN boot similar to a T4 came out, I'd buy a pair (assuming the last is like the usual Scarpa fit) and use them for trail skiing, some mellow days doing turns (like when the avy danger is Considerable or higher) and for long days including hut trips. Scarpa--- Please. PLEASE!
I’ve been skiing T3”s with switchbacks in the BC for years. I love that balance of comfort and freedom of movement and control. I threw away the stock liners for some better ones that are lighter and more comfortable. But it’s still a heavy setup compared to my friends AT gear. I would love something lighter for the BC but without sacrificing comfort and control. Also something that is a little less of a transition from downhill mode to touring mode would be great. Until then, I’ll keep using my current gear until it disintegrates.
I'm a tele skier of 29 seasons and my preferred boot is the T2. Spent first six seasons on 2 buckle leather Alico, then returned to them for 3 seasons in CO 2002-2005, and a season in exile living in DC metro area with a pass to Whitetail. I loved those leather boots, mopped up all the sloppiness that one gets away with on plastic. I've spent a season on the Meidjo and TX Pro. Meidjo good, TX Pro bad. Not interested. When I started my NTN journey in early 2020 I premised my purchase decisions mainly on reviews since demoing is not much of an option for me. Going into this season I regret my decision and was wondering if anyone felt the same. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one wishing for a T2ish boot. It seems to me it's the T2 diehards that are the last to transition. The boot flex is way more important to me than the lateral stability of the binding, which is nice, but what I like most about "the turn" has been taken away. I want more flex in my ankle regardless of being backcountry or resort skiing. If there is no T2 equivalent in the works then my telemark journey ends when the T2 is discontinued. I love the tele turn, but not on Crispi boots all lines, or TX Pro.
For years I watched Tele gear get bigger fatter heavier and never understood the motivation. Too many powder ski movies I guess. The older I get the lighter I want my gear. Resort skiing does not apeal to me.
100%. This is why I left this about 8 years ago. I feel like tele is designed for 20% on piste and 80% off piste. But those tables have been turned.
@@davidbanks6896 My sentiments exactly. I still use my T3's from 1996 with the spring cable three pin. Simple and not much to fail. I mounted them on a new pair of Voile Ultra Vector BC. And I love them. Don't need anything bigger or heavier.
I've spent a lot of time on waxless skis with T3's, voile 3 pin mountaineers. On a waxless setup the duckbill does provide resistance reducing freedom in the stride...The duckbill/3-pin combo allows the freedom of zero transitions, which is a real fun way to make laps or travel through rolling terrain. I would think that if Scarpa were to keep any 75mm boot in production it would make the most sense to keep the T4 for this reason.
A T4 style boot with tech toe bindings and cables would be great. Total freedom of movement when touring but resistant on the downhill with cables.
Well Dostie you expressed this topic with far more depth than I could. I find myself at this intersection that you described. I ski Nordic often as my local terrain suits it and I started on the old skinny skis. I really dig lift tele too and have embraced two pin tech. I don't want to have to cobble my own boots in order to have lighter but capable gear in the back country but I have seen a decline in the numbers of people I find out there for some years now.
What to do eh?
I would buy an NTN version of the T2 as soon as it came out to pair with my Lynx and Voile Ultra Vector skis (not scaled) for the long day set up. I would probably still tour with my Tx Pros depending on the objective. I would also purchase an NTN T4, but not right away. As Dostie points out, that would involve a further investment of a scaled ski and another Lynx for me. That would be a great set up for multi day spring Sierra tours!
I use my old duckbill T3's with an Excursion liner with the old Voile spring cable on my Vector BC's and I love them. No new boots for me.
Re: tech binding price vs 3 pin. The Voile TTS binding isn't a lot more than the 3 pin hardwire @ $369 USD. $100 difference. And it's possible it will drop over time. That's damn cheap for a tech toe binding!
One complication in the low angle touring / XCD stuff is Rotafella's new "Xplore" system introducing yet another binding/boot standard in the Nordic world... One with a pin, but backwards, and different from Dynafit. So more market fragmentation, and maybe that would make Scarpa less likely to want to venture into that segment?
Re: Scott & Crispi I thought the Fey brothers had their hands on a prototype Crispi boot a while ago?
(Anyways, thanks for this video, I'd love a boot like that. Where I am in Ontario something like that makes the most sense. I use Crispi Svartissens on 3 pin on Altai Koms, but they don't turn very good; but my Crispi NTN boots are overkill/heavy outside of the resort)
As an ex British Mountain and Arctic Warfare specialist with 5 winters of 4 months per winter served in Norway skiing every day (87-91), i can categorically say that Telemark is "back country" first and foremost. In that role all the skiing i did was "back country" above the treeline most times. As per its invention.
The US skiiers are once again getting tech first, when in reality 'billy basic' is the best and only way to be.
Even on the slopes in Norway this season, you would have Norwegian telemarkers in their colorful wool jumpers, and older equipment, gracefully owning the slopes.
TX, MX, XY, PRO, MXT, SCARPA THIS AND THAT......etc etc innovation, innovation, innovation.
Progress should be a forbidden word in telemarking......that is if you are a purist, which i certainly am.
Lets see how good some of these telemark skiiers are on spring bindings, leather boots and straight thin 2,10 skis.
Watching the Langlauf and Biathlon World circuit events this year, i saw lots of Norwegians like Eckhof, Boe, Klaebo, Laegreid, Johaug etc.....but then i would, they are ranked world no1in both disciplines....... you could even go back to Bjorndalen and his 13 Olympic Medals.
Watch and learn from the Norwegians, and keep it simple!
That is how i continue to be as of today, and into the future.
Screw Scarpa.
Rottefella is working on a new XCD binding that has a tech toe to replace NNNBC..saw it on another RUclips channel. With a light NTN tech toe boot like a T4 version would be great for low angle with kick and glide with this type of new binding. I do 75% resort to 25% backcountry with my NTN set up with Crispi Shiver boots on 22 Design Outlaws on a 95 under foot ski. Works good for both situations however I do not do long tours where weight is a big deal. I also have a XCD setup with NNNBC bindings, terrible NNNBC BC7 boots on metal edged 70 under foot xcd skis...I cannot make a decent turn either tele or parallel on those skis, only good for kick and glide and survival descents, although I have seen some people do some amazing tele skiiing on that type of setup.
Great video. I have been wanting to break into more and more tele. For me and my I just got fish scale base skis from homegrown and plan to tele turn all over the low angle hills surrounding our ski hill. Most of these are not big enough to justify taking on and of skins like when we go do longer approaches. I couldn't be more excited to start making tele turns this winter with my lady friend!
Low and mid angle glades and meadows is my local scene along with longer tours of the highland plateaus. Ultravector BC on 3 pin cables is my jam. I run Alpina Alaskas (soft boots) on longer traversey touring days with only the 3 pins on the loosest setting. Super smooth and efficient breaking trail. I can click the toe harder and add cables if the snow firms up or gets cruddy. Makes for real exciting low angle turns and technique practice. I also run t4s when going up and looking for turns. Toe only climbing and powder turns. Add cable for firm snow. It's amazing how playful 3pin toe only are in a foot of pow on a 20 degree slope. Hopping like a bunny rabbit. Keep the duckbill and t4 concept. Add a power strap option for big descents and lighten the boot overall to meet tech standard of the rest of the Scarpa line. 3 pin plus cable is cheap, versatile and offers redundancy if you have a binding or boot mechanical. TTS may be the only alternative for this use, but gear gets crazy pricey quick and you loose the soft boot option
Let's face it...the backcountry tele/touring crowd is fairly conservative when it comes to updating equipment. Few people are going to pay up for gear that is a "little" better. Most tele/touring folks are minimalists; more interested in being "out there" than shredding it, and subsequently tend to hold onto their gear for a long time. While my heavy duty in-bounds/side country gear gets updated fairly frequently due to breakage and just wearing out from aggressive high mileage, my tele-touring stuff is mostly 20+ years old!
Seriously though the Garmont Shaman and Dukes were a thing for a reason. And on the BC side Nordic folk don’t spend a lot and tend to make whatever work. Hard to say if they can be persuaded to ante up for $700 boots.
That IS the pertinent question. Will rugged touring folks pony up for high-priced low-tech bindings and boots?
@@FreeheelLife I hate to say it.. but as tantalizing as a light and flexy NTN boot is: nope. Spent enough money to get a Lynx+TXpro rig this season. The light touring spot in my quiver is filled by leathers and 3 pin cables and they do the trick.
If a light NTN boot comes out and absolutely rocks, what binding would best match the boot and not overpower it? TTS? Although Meidjo offers a more adjustable flex that's a while other wad of cash that I absolutely can't spend...you're right to call nordic-leaning telemarkers frugal..
The issue with making an ntn light plastic boot for backcountry nordic style trips is you wouldn't be able to use leather boots and the ntn light plastics on the same set of skis. Currently you can ski a leather boot for light duty applications or a scarpa t4 when the conditions get steeper and/or more icy on the same set of skis. What if you could have a t3/t4 style boot that used the roteffela xplore binding, even better if you could attach cables to the xplore, and then you could also use leather xplore boots.
Very interesting topic! I was based on the Alps and started touring and earning my parallel turns. Absolutely loved it. Moved away from Italy 10 yrs ago and now living in Finland. So what do I do here? Xc off course. But then I started xc out of bounds, so wider, longer skis. Finally landed on old wooden skis with a 3 pin binding and leather boots and i think it's the best solution for doing that.
At the same time my Italian friends, at least some of them, switched to telemark. So i join them once a year and tried telemark and I'm hooked!
The thing is here in Finland it doesn't make sense to me to go around with those huge boots, because in 4 turns our hills are over. At the same time it's impossible for me to make my 220cm wooden skis turn, plus they don't have edges, so I'd need some skis... I was thinking I'd like to try my leather boots on the targa g3 i use on the Alps. That would make sense around these hills: light, chilled and freeheels!
Thanks a lot for these videos, you get me hooked thinking about my Alps, my home.
YES! The future of backcountry telemark should focus on lighter and better performance boots. I see nothing wrong with keeping the duckbill as the current bindings work very well for me in the bc. If switching to a tele tech toe can save significant weight then that move may be prudent - but aren't we just talking about a 100-200 gram decrease in toe-piece weight and a huge increase in cost? Further, I think free-pivot-mode 75mm bindings are way overrated - they do allow a long stride but are awkward for kick turns, negotiating obstacles, and provide one more possibility for gear malfunction. Have you ever tried to descend in free-pivot mode? I do just fine with Voile Hardwires in the backcountry, but would love a lighter Scarpa T3 or T2!
I'm doing this!! In the woods of the Northeast, even...
Love it. - Madsen
What comes first? The boot or the backcountry telemark skier? In the east, I see more people skinning than ever before. Many are on lightweight skimo-ish rigs; they ski down on the groomers looking sketchy. It seems that an alpine turn necessitates a stiffer/taller boot than does a telemark turn, but the current crop of ntn boots suggests otherwise.
I parallel groomers on T3's and sometimes my double leathers and do just fine. No heal lock, no huge heavy cuff.
@@scottbalsai With a locked heel, do you you prefer a taller, stiffer boot?
@@joeldemont1782 I've never used or use locked heels. (I am an advocate of the Paul Parker school of skiing. Free the heel and free the mind, etc....) I am not sure how much a locked heel really does, but then I've never used one. It's about weighting your skis properly....I guess. For that, I think a locked heel may not be necessary. And you can avoid a lot of knee and lower leg injuries as well. I suppose a locked heel does have its advantages, but I can't tell you what they are.....maybe for parallel in powder. But then I telemark in powder.
I started as a Nordic skier and went to telemark and then learned to parallel with my tele gear...originally on double leather boots and three pin/cable bindings on groomer runs.
When I got the Scarpa T3 in 1996, it did make the parallel even easier, but the ski width can be a factor. The skinnier skis work good with leather. The fatter skies need a little more sole rigidity to get them on edge. On my Voile Ultra Vectors, (123-92-108) and my Atomic RT 80's (119-80-105) I also put on a 20/25 millimeter riser to help with leverage from edge to edge on hard snow. Although I haven't tried them with the leather on groomers, I bet I could get them to turn well with my leathers if I wanted to, but the plastic works better because of the sole rigidity.
I have relatively short legs, so my T3's and liners run up my leg to about where my lower calf bulge meets the back of my leg or so. A larger boot would constrict my calf and shin unnecessarily. I guess I like to use my ankles when i do turns and the lower cuff does allow me to do that better.
Keep in mind though, I would say that I am a strong intermediate to low "expert" free heel skier or so. If I was an "extreme skier", I might have a preference for a higher boot. But for the bc powder slopes and groomers I ski, a bigger boot is just not necessary.
Should skiers rely on gear innovation? Perhaps there is enough gear and what it needed is skill development? My "heaviest" XCD/telemak gear is Madshus Glitterind boots that I use with nnn-bc magnum bindings mounted on Madshus Panorama 68s. Super light and comfortable and I have a lot of control. Partly because on the other end of my 4 set quiver I have a pair of skinny Fischer Spider 62 with nnn-bc that I use with lightweight Fischer OTX BC boots that I can do tele turns on. All that said, I will probably get some slightly heavier Alpina Alaska BC boots. But in the end I am content on taking bc adventures on moderate terrain that is almost always untracked and will ski progressively more difficult areas as my skills evolve. Another perspective on "earning your turns". The other thing is that the gear I have is so much more affordable. What I paid for skis with bindings is about the same as a daily lift ticket price at Vail or Aspen Mountain.
A T2X NTN would sell. Nice compromise. IMO big iron bindings and big plastic boots are passé.
I really like where this is headed. I want a "T3" TTN to use with some Voile Objectives, or Hyper V6s. The problem is, they don't warranty the lighter skis for the mounting of telemark bindings. Or should we just not care? (I've never broken a binding or ripped one off a ski in 35 years of tele......yet).
re: voiding warranty with telemark bindings. Dirty Harry said it best. Do ya feel lucky? Well? Do ya?
I broke a Voile Objective ski mounted with tele bindings. These are not robust skis but I believe the cause was not the binding or the turn, it was due to water infiltration into the screw holes. The ski broke right across the Hardwire screw holes. Be sure to let your skis dry in a conditioned space after every trip! Voile wouldn't replace the ski - they said because it was two years old and of course they weren't impressed with the fact that I mounted tele bindings.
I agree! lightweight, low-cuff NTN boot to go with 2-pin NTN binding. However, a problem with Meidjo and Lynx (but not TTS) is, the descend-to-climb mode switch requires ski removal. Maybe OK when using skins, but not with no-wax or grip-waxed skis. Any solutions to mode-switch problem out there?
I would go for a boot with a height midway between a T3 and T2, 3 buckles that are beefier than T3's, plus a top strap, good intuition liners, not like the crappy ones that were in at least the older T3's, NTN with tech fittings, fairly soft bellows, two forward lean settings, and better walking mode. Perhaps an easily removable tongue to make walking/striding easier.
Hey Craig, what do you think about crispy shiver?
Regarding the cost of a new set up with bindings, AT stuff is selling like hotcakes in Colorado, and many of those folks are new entrants. This season people are buying skis, bindings, boots, skins, poles and avy gear all at once. So apparently there are people with money who want to get out there. Maybe a lot of it is pandemic-driven, but I think there is more going on than that - like dissatisfaction with lift skiing and a desire for a certain kind of image.
There are obviously two major markets, BC which is beautiful, traversing quiet untouched terrain, going places where no one has gone before /grin, and the other is guys turning heads telemarking under the lift (lets be honest). Those in the BC camp already have their ways, XC, XC-BC, Tele, AT. They aren't going to change their ways much. That market is small, flat with mostly just replacement gear.
However with all the inventions in alpine world, especially parabolic carving and the death of skidding and zipper line moguls everyone on piste now looks the same, wannabe racer, at least for an untrained eye. Some come to ski only a few days a year to went themselves, and them it's all fine, but for those who stay longer (usually older, retired, 60+ kind, right) this get's old pretty quick, and if you are use to turning heads above on the chair lift, what you do is not interesting any more. Nothing is interesting to see there any more. That's the market where Telemark is going to grow. Offer alpine convenience and safety and stop saying "free heel, free mind thingy" and they will come in hordes looking for a new trick to show off.
Ok someone has replaced the Dostie I know with an imposter. This is the second video in a row where I heard “weight is great”. I mean WTF? And in the ski video he pulled down skis from his quiver that I would ski... His skiing head gear is still lacking, so maybe he took a hard fall?
Maybe they would make boots in size 31+ Mondo first. Then they can think about the next generation telemark boots. So far, we "big feet" tele-skiers are doomed to 75mm and we are exempt from paying for new expensive inventions. On the other hand, I am surprised that Voile is somehow sluggishly entering the NTN norm, there is still so much to do. Well, time will tell, maybe with a departure of 75mm the whole telemark will be forgotten ...
Scott hasn’t really done anything with Garmont. And my bet is they won’t. Sad.
I’m with just can’t handle the alpine boot
The best boots are those bumblebees sitting over your shoulder
For what?
I got a pair in 91/2. Do you want to buy them ?
Lighter and wider
Out of curiosity where do you live? Thanks for checking out the video. - Madsen
New York, New York
@@automat8 - right on. Always curious which zones people are from and what things they are looking for. Cheers.
When you see Rottefella in your sport, you know the sport is eternally dying. They mastered their anti-competition skills in XC market and if not for persistence of Salomon, XC will still be in the 75mm rattrap.
No other manufacturer wanted to stay in XC world where a norm (or a standard for equipment) is patented by the competitor.
If binding manufacturers could freely work on new ideas there could be hundreds of safety bindings now available for telemark. But no , they will be waiting for NTN patents to expire before stepping in.
Such a thing like holding a boot down buy clamping on a piece of plastic molded on its sole should not be a patentable matter wherever that piece might be.