Sep 18 2011

Review: 7tm Tour (2005-06)

2005-06


Coul Archive: This review was first published in
Couloir XVIII-4, Dec.’05

We asked for it, and 7tm delivered it. The 7tm Tour is a telemark binding with safety release and a way to switch off tension on our heels for touring like our randonnée brothers and sisters. A simple latch beneath the toe plate allows the 7tm Tour to simply swing on a hinge with not even a squeak of resistance to uphill skinning. Ah, free at last.

Weight: 4lbs. 1oz./pr.
Rise: 33mm
MSRP: $319
+ $29 for brakes
+ $24 for climbing bar

While the binding may seem heavier than simpler, non-release bindings, the elimination of over 10-plus pounds of flex resistance every uphill step of the way more than makes up for a few extra ounces that deliver safety and convenience. The latch to switch between touring and downhill modes does require bending over, but what telemark binding doesn’t involve bending over?

Our only gripe is the lack of power in downhill mode. Could a 7tm Power Tour be coming soon? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

© 2005

Review of 7tm Power Tour from Couloir Online Dec. 2006
Review of 7tm Tour 2004-05, from Couloir XVII-3, Dec. ’04

 

Sep 17 2011

Review: 7tm Tour (2004-05)

2004-05


Coul Archive: This review was first published in
Couloir XVII-3, Dec.’04

The biggest innovation in telemark bindings this season (’04-’05) comes straight from 7tm and Karhu. We’ve begged for an easily accessible, integrated, free-pivot for telemark touring, and our pleas have finally been heeded. What? The binding releases too? Sweet Mary, the Grail must be near.

The 7tm Tour - first tele binding to offer a free pivot for a real free heel.

When I first got on the 7tm Tour and stretched skin to ski, the initial steps brought one reaction. Smile. Make that a BIG smile. The stride felt so free and easy, much bigger than anything outside the world of AT or splitboarding. The changeover between climb and descend is quick and easy, once you get the hang of using a pole tip to lock and unlock the lever. One potential problem; in the right, er wrong, conditions the lever can get iced up. But it frees up easily by hooking a ski leash to it and pulling it free. If you like to rack up vertical and still want to feel fresh for the downhill, what are you still slogging for? Break trail like a caribou. The answer is here.
Keep making backcountry turns

Sep 12 2011

The Table

It's the first thing you notice...

What draws your attention the most
is an oval slab of granite…

It’s the first thing you notice when you enter Selkirk Lodge, which is odd considering it’s just a table. Sure you’ll spend a fair amount of time at it in the coming week as you log long days of backcountry skiing, but the skiing was the point of the vacation, not the table, right? Later on, when your vacation is done and you’re thinking back on the moments that defined the trip, I’ll guarantee half of them are at the table.

Rectangular in shape, the eight-by-three-foot top is a book-matched, edge-glued piece of local Revelstoke birch, with a spline of black walnut and a breadboard end. The finish is a clear satin varnish, thick enough to enrich the texture in the grain of the wood, but not so thick as to steal the show with its own glossy sheen. Instead of traditional posts, its legs are two pairs of laminated birch arches drawn like a bow, adding an under-appreciated touch of elegance.
Keep making backcountry turns

Sep 08 2011

Review: G3’s Ascent – 2011 update

Don’t have a free pivot yet?

Stop making excuses and get one.

Targa Ascent - MSRP: $279
Weight/pr: 3 lbs., 2 oz. (1.42 kg)

G3’s Ascent seconded the importance of that back in 2005. Unfortunately when you compare it feature for feature six years later, it comes out the runt of the litter for the BC worthy tele pack.

The Ascent does exactly what you’d expect a Targa to do with a lift kit under it. Unfortunately, that lift kit is rather prone to icing up. Compared to no free pivot it is not a deal killer. But compared to other real free heel bindings, it is annoying how often it ices up. In moist conditions, a lot. In dry conditions, sometimes.

Experienced users learn to simply make sure they toggle the mode switch once or twice with their heel raised. That usually breaks off the ice that builds up on the latch at the back of the toeplate. It isn’t really that hard of a maneuver to make, but some folks either can’t figure it out, or won’t even try. In some cases it doesn’t matter, you have to exit from the binding and chip the ice off with some sort of tool anyway. Arrrgh.
Keep making backcountry turns

Sep 07 2011

Review: G3’s Targa Ascent (v1.0)

  • RERUN: This article first appeared on Couloir Online 12dec05.
  • Revised 12apr06, 07jan07, 10sept11.

 

For years now I’ve heard fellow telemarkers refer to the uphill leg of a backcountry tour as the slog. If ever there were a kill joy term aimed at turning friends off to the allure of the backcountry, slogging is it.

G3's Targa Ascent
Estimated Price (dec05): $269.00 USD
Weight/pr: 1400g ⋄ 45.6 oz. (3lbs, 2 oz.)
Springs avail: World Cup or X-Race
Optional: Ski Crampon ⋄ Climbing wire extension

Thankfully, binding manufacturers are responding to the call for a return to the freedom implied in a free heel. The latest evidence of that is G3’s announcement of the Targa Ascent binding. Functionally it is the popular, award-winning Targa T/9 binding with a hinge tucked under the toe bar. The hinge allows you to pivot your boot at the toe with essentially zero flex resistance while skinning uphill. When you eliminate that resistance, two things happen; your stride gets longer since your heel can lift higher without resistance, and you’ll spend less energy with each step. The net result is you reach the top of the next run faster and more efficiently. For the average telemarker that translates into more freshies in the backcountry, and I’ll wager it opens the door for a telemarker to win one of those AT dominated rando rally’s some time in the near future too.
Keep making backcountry turns

Aug 25 2011

Testimonial: Aetrex Footbeds

Like skinning, today’s run was a pleasant reminder of how much I love trail running. It’s a big part of why I’m rather inclined to like the earning part of backcountry skiing, for that steady state aerobically induced runners high.

Terry Fisher in the running zone on the Tyndall Plateau, Sequoia National Park.

There was a time, not so far back, when both activities were in jeopardy. I should have known there’d be some price to pay for the obnoxiously hedonistic thrill of riding a snowboard. The price was my knees. It felt like the ball joints were going out and the pins holding them together were about to fail. Tom Burt told me it was because of the Clicker™ bindings; the rear one should have been canted forward. Medically speaking my medial ligament was torn.
Keep making backcountry turns

Aug 20 2011

Review: Rottefella’s NTN Freeride

It’s been five years now that NTN has been available – four if you only count the retail seasons. In that time it has managed to develop a small but enthusiastic band of converts that is growing steadily. When first introduced to the media in January 2007, it was a rather impressive system. Though a tad heavy, it functioned far better than expected. Even so, growth has been slow, partly due to a poorly matched system during its debut year on retailers shelves, and reduced demand for tele gear ever since.

Why do you want NTN Freeride? Jason Layh demonstrates with breakable crust.

Superior Turning Power
Despite these troubles, NTN showed right away that it was possible to deliver more lateral rigidity for better edging than ever before seen with a telemark system. Better than 22 Designs Hammerhead, arguably better than Bomber’s Bishop. That feature of NTNs performance has never wavered, nor has its range of tele resistance, the forward flexing resistance of the spring system. It isn’t as easy to adjust as Axl or Hammerhead, but it’s simple and allows micro-adjustability. Combined with the range of bellows stiffness available from Crispi, Garmont, or Scarpa, there is an NTN boot/binding combination on the market to satisfy your particular flex flavor.
Keep making backcountry turns