Tag Archive for 'Dynafit'

Update on Dynafit Radical Series Climbing Post Breakages

Published on March 14, 2012 by a ok.

As some of you have already heard – but hopefully not experienced – the Dynafit Radical Series bindings can suffer a climbing post breakage, in which nearly the entire top of the binding plate shears off. As noted in the link, once the pieces are found, one can be skiing on their merry way. Skinning for the  remainder of that day, however, will be tough as the only position then available is the ‘flat on the ski’ heel riser setting.

Dynafit has looked into the issue and come up with ‘hydrogen embrittlement’ as the cause behind this occurrence. For those of you who might be wondering, hydrogen embrittlement is not a fancy way of saying, ‘metal too thin!’ Rather, it’s a manufacturing issue. For more details, I’ll turn it over to Jim Lamancusa, Director of Sales and Marketing at Dynafit:

Dynafit has seen a recent increase Continue reading ‘Update on Dynafit Radical Series Climbing Post Breakages’

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Dynafit Broadens Product Offerings

Published on February 1, 2012 by a ok.

For the human powered lot – and who are these people, anyway? – some big news arrived courtesy of Dynafit, via the Outdoor Retailer show. Dynafit has broadened their boot selection substantially. Broad Peak? (wink) Broads? (double wink) Broadened? Enough to cover a wall with different boot models. By my quick count, there were about 15 makes of male ski boots. A similar number were on display, oriented towards women.

Nearly 1,600 grams of 3 buckle touring madness. The Vulcan TF.

I may be one of about nine people – possibly the only one not regularly wearing spandex – to be slightly saddened to witness Dynafit moving steadily in a heavier, stouter direction. All but four or five of the boots are Continue reading ‘Dynafit Broadens Product Offerings’

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Shedding Ski Gear Weight

Published on May 5, 2011 by a ok.

In the backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering worlds, a clear trend has been emerging towards the use of ultra lightweight gear. The trend has long been in place, represented by slogans such as, ‘Light is Right,’ ‘Light and Far,’ and ‘Light and Fast.’ This concept stretches across many sports, whose manufacturers and participants have both benefitted from the progression. But lightweight ski gear has only just begun to catch up to the practitioners in recent years.

Some call this gear silly light, others smart light, and yet others stupid light, but all mean the same thing: ‘Surprisingly Light.’ It’s been possible for some time now to get the skiing triumvirate of AT boots, bindings, and skis in a lightweight setup that tips the scales at less than ten pounds. Further, gear that was once used almost exclusively on ski mountaineering race courses has made its way to fierce mountains – both up and down steep lines.

When getting to the mountain top(s) is a human powered pastime, dropping weight is critical. And here I don’t refer to Continue reading ‘Shedding Ski Gear Weight’

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Bail Options

Published on January 24, 2011 by a ok.

Today was supposed to be a return to skiing as usual (all considered, perhaps this is the usual) after a few days of being away from the mountains. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always go according to plan out there.

Strangely, I said ‘no’ to two separate ski invites for the morning. This rarely happens – either the two-for-the-same-morning invites part, or the saying no part. But in this case, I had to spend time mounting bindings on some newly acquired skis, then trimming skins, etc., as well as a few other things. By the time I was standing on the snow at the White Pine trailhead, it was 2:13 pm. This, after Continue reading ‘Bail Options’

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A Broken Fritschi Diamir Binding

Published on October 30, 2010 by a ok.

Coyle skinning the ridge.

A broken Fritschi binding screwed up the ski outing on Friday, as the day’s partner, Andy Coyle, suffered a broken binding screw that resulted in a hike down to the truck after about a dozen turns. I’ve used Fritschi’s in the past, although not since I joined the biblical Paul – who was apparently converted on the road to Damascus – with a full blown conversion of my own. Still, I never had the slightest issue with my Diamir’s functionality, and it surprised me to find that one section of the binding (the heel retention unit) is held in place with only one screw. I don’t think there’s a way to break a solitary screw on a Dynafit binding and have it ruin your day. Perhaps the solitary lateral DIN screw could break, but I suspect it’s not subject to large binding forces. Musings aside, my tiny spare parts and tool bag Continue reading ‘A Broken Fritschi Diamir Binding’

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Greg Hill and 10 Reasons Why He Rocks

Published on October 25, 2010 by a ok.

Inspiration comes to us from all directions if we’re paying attention. Sometimes I’m inspired by a mere line from a book or a movie, at other times, it’s the actions of another person which I find motivating. If you ski the backcountry, you’ve probably heard of the Dynafit sponsored athlete Greg Hill by now. For those who haven’t, Greg is aiming to pull off a massive personal challenge – and he’s getting close to achieving his goal. He aims to ski 2 million vertical feet – of ascent – as well as 2 million vertical feet of descent, in one year. All of this under his own muscle power, with no chairlifts, snowmobiles, or helicopters, and completely without yak assistance! That’s right, there are no yaks, this is pure Greg Hill.

The math on this project is mind-boggling. If Greg missed not one day all year due to illness, injury, tiredness, or other commitments, he’d be looking at gaining 5,479 vertical feet every single day. That’s a lot of vertical! Taking off just 57 days during the year – just more than once a week – the vertical rises by over a thousand feet per day. Unenviable.

He’s coming along on his goal, and is well past the 1,600,000 vertical foot mark, especially since Continue reading ‘Greg Hill and 10 Reasons Why He Rocks’

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