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Whatever happened to Silvrettas?
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I have a pair and love them. You'd think with all this hooplah about Skimo or approach skis there would be more silvretta like bindings on the market. What happened to silvrettas and why is it that there are no more universal bindings for mountain and ski boots? |
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I think you might get the idea that there's a lot of chatter about such a product reading online forums but most likely it's still a hugely niche market. Ski companies are cashing in on the BC ski boom, they probably can't make enough pin bindings to meet demand and I imagine it'd be hard to convince the bean counters that this is where they should spend R&D funds. |
The Teleban wrote: From wildsnow.com/backcountry-sk… Lou Dawson writes, “In 1994, the Dynafit binding was winning the weight wars by a healthy margin. Competitors to the Barthel “tech” binding were scrambling. Somehow, Silvretta worked out a deal with boot makers to include a fitting that functioned similar to tech fitting sockets: that of attaching the boot toe to the binding so a “plate” or “frame” between the binding toe and heel wasn’t necessary — thus producing substantial weight savings. “ “The binding Silvretta designed for this is called the SL (presumably meaning “super light”). It was a noble effort, but rushed to market too fast with a fatal flaw. With no way for the toe to release during a fall while in touring mode, the binding would explode into small pieces if you took a forward beater. Such breakage was rarely field repairable. Disaster is a weak word for the ensuing consumer nightmare, not to mention financial problems that haunted Silvretta, leading to their eventual sale to Salewa and Silvretta ceasing to exist as a brand.” |
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Technology has improved and they are obsolete. At 800+ grams per binding they can't compete with something like the 150g Dynafit Superlite. Moreover it's entirely possible to climb ice in one of the modern race boots like the PDG, or even a charger like the Hoji. Even if carrying mountain boots, a lightweight modern ski setup with ultralight bindings is probably going to be lighter than a silvretta setup AND has the benefit of skiing well with reliable DIN release. |
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They are still widely used in Alaska when paired with short fish-scaled skis. Most of the approaches are long relatively gradual, like a frozen creek bed with deep snow. No one wants to carry to sets of boots or climb in ski boots. I was told that the last year Silverettas were made they only had a production run of a couple hundred, half or so of which were sold in Alaska. |
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Lots of Silvrettas are still out there - I have a ski setup with them that I use for ice climbing approaches and another pair of carbon silvrettas waiting to be mounted. Like the other guy said, they are frequently used in Alaska to this day... in fact, I used a pair in the Wrangells a couple of weeks ago for a mountaineering objective. |
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Used by all the hardcore Alpinist for hard winter ascents, someone is really going to have to make a small scale production run of something like these as you have people like Colin Haley looking for parts. |
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I still have Ramers mounted on Hexcel skis for approach . |
Terry E wrote: I broke my tibia and fibula because of that lack of toe release. A rod and seven screws. I never sued, but I am sure it was justifiable. |
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I have a set of silvrettas mounted if anyone is looking for a set. |
Gerald Adams wrote: I used Ramers. On surplus skis (white). Only the red dot on the climbing post and a very small angle cut by the edge in a wind-packed piece of powder made the ski findable over 100 yards away. I have been looking at ebay for used bindings and surprisingly Ramers are selling for over $100. They used to be called 'Lamers'. Why the high prices?? |
