DRep Posted April 26, 2008 Posted April 26, 2008 (edited) So, last saturday my friends Steve, Ryan, and I decided to take advantage of some perfect conditions for ski mountaineering. A new line had filled in on the north face of Black Mountain that has never been skied before. Alex Lowe and Hans Sarri made an attempt on it but the conditions didn't grant them entry onto the face from above. We were stoked from seeing a recent picture of it and decided to go get it. If the face wasn't in we would ski the awesome 50-60 degree Y-Couloirs. The only thing that we thought could potentially hold us back was this appocalyptic storm that the local weather "experts" were calling for in the afternoon. Due to the seven miles and 6,000 vertical that the peak requires we decided to leave Bozeman at 3:30am and start skinning in at 4:15. On the approach we came upon a pack of wolves (kinda scary, but they wanted nothing to do with us), and tons of recent avy debris. We were six miles in and 4,000 feet up by 8:00am and were in view of the face, IT WAS IN!!! We had to scramble over a rock band so we stepped out of our skis (Steve=Naxo, Ryan=Fritschi, Dave=Dynafit). Upon stepping out, Steve snapped the entire heel piece off of his Naxo! OH S**T!!! After determining that we couldn't go on we tried to find a way to get steve down. Tried duct tape, straps, everything, nothing would hold his boot on given the approach conditions. Ryan and I decided not to go further because the oncoming storm had us concerned about Steve descending safely. we turned around and reached the car in the same amount of time it would have taken us to summit and ski out. This is not the 1st time I have heard of these heal pieces breaking off. It has happened to another friend 3 times this season. I find it ironic that I get made fun of for going Dynafit by the people whose bindings are breaking? Moral of the story is that Naxo's slogan of "Stomp the landing, not the approach" is at least partially true We were just glad that the binding failure didn't happen on the face because Steve would have probably gone over the 1000'+ cliff in the face. NAXO SUCKS!!!!! I have a cool video from the day that I will get on here soon. vMqtRQQHyco Edited April 26, 2008 by dave repnik Quote
hemp22 Posted April 26, 2008 Posted April 26, 2008 that's a serious bummer about the binding. What model of Naxo was he using? some of those bindings I certainly wouldn't want to abuse too hard - but to break while just stepping out of it is messed up. Quote
DRep Posted April 27, 2008 Author Posted April 27, 2008 He was using the NX21, the beefiest model. Naxo must be dealing with alot of waranties this year. Quote
DRep Posted April 27, 2008 Author Posted April 27, 2008 not as easily as that other crap out there. Quote
Hugh Conway Posted April 28, 2008 Posted April 28, 2008 not as easily as that other crap out there. Again, news to me. Quote
DRep Posted April 28, 2008 Author Posted April 28, 2008 (edited) At the local backcountry shop I just quit working at, we saw tons of Naxo and Fritschis come back for warranty compared to the small number of Dynafit. Our shop actually quit carrying Naxo because of all the warranties. This is in Bozeman where about half of the people who are serious about backcountry skiing use Dynafit. My neighbor fell off a 100' cliff in crap conditions on Gorra Blanca only cracking his heel piece. I'm not saying that Dynafit is indestructable, but it does have less moving parts and has far less plastic than others. From my past experience and education on this subject why would I choose another binding? Whats your story? Edited April 28, 2008 by dave repnik Quote
snoboy Posted April 28, 2008 Posted April 28, 2008 In the last year I have heard of a lot more people using Dynafits. I have also heard of a lot more breakage issues lately. I would be far more interested in % than absolute #s. Until Dynafit was still a fairly small part of the AT market, at least in BC. AT generally seems less breakage prone than tele though. Quote
DRep Posted April 28, 2008 Author Posted April 28, 2008 Yeah, I would be interested in the % as well. What kind of breakage issues? Quote
Hugh Conway Posted April 28, 2008 Posted April 28, 2008 From my past experience and education on this subject why would I choose another binding? Whats your story? I don't know why you would - I don't know you or how you ski I have both Fritschi and Dynafits. I've broken parts on both of them (specifically the heel pin on Dynafits and the toe jaw on Freerides). The Dyanfit is lighter and more rigid and all in all a better binding for straight out touring - I used them on the Spearhead Saturday. The Fritschi has better release, better brakes, better mode change/heel elevator and all in all is better for resort/sidetouring use. In the interests of only taking 1 pair of skis I've gone on multi day tours with Freerides and resort skiing with Dynafits and both worked fine. I question various reliability data on Fritschi vs. Dynafit because most of the Fritschi owners I know put 10-40x the amount of down vertical on them vs. Dynafit. The main breakage issue I've heard of is the heelpiece pin. Quote
DRep Posted April 28, 2008 Author Posted April 28, 2008 OK Hugh, I see where you're coming from. I think in terms of ski mountaineering and touring for faceshots. My setup is used strictly in the backcountry with occasional sidetours. I won't argue with you about the great features that the Fritschi has, its a great binding; I used to have Fritschis. However, My experience in the shop, and the feedback from customers leads me to believe that Dynafit is a more reliable binding granted you're not hucking cliffs on them or any other binding. I guess the only way to settle this is to have a debate for the sales reps for each binding to duke it out (like we'll ever see that)! Quote
korup Posted May 5, 2008 Posted May 5, 2008 I would be far more interested in % than absolute #s. Until Dynafit was still a fairly small part of the AT market, at least in BC. "in the BC"- why the hell else would you buy Dynafit? People are insane! Naxos and the newer Silvrettas are truly junk. Pick them up in the store, yank, push and pull a little, and it will be pretty obvious. Add in some nice, cold temps to make everything brittle, and SHAZAM! Fritchis and Dynafits are way better. Quote
Hugh Conway Posted May 5, 2008 Posted May 5, 2008 "in the BC"- why the hell else would you buy Dynafit? People are insane! Naxos and the newer Silvrettas are truly junk. Pick them up in the store, yank, push and pull a little, and it will be pretty obvious. Add in some nice, cold temps to make everything brittle, and SHAZAM! Fritchis and Dynafits are way better. You'd fit in perfectly here: http://tetongravity.com/forums Quote
snoboy Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 in BC in the BC Note the subtle but essential difference between what I wrote, and what you thought I wrote... They all break eventually if you push it. Even tele gear. Quote
denalidave Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 I recently broke the metal toe mount section on my FreeRides when we had the last good powder dump a few weeks ago. After our first run I was skinning up some very steep stuff at a weird angle when it broke just under one front screw and also right next to the rear screw. It got torqued in a way it should not have. Although I could still use it in down hill mode it ended my day. I was able to fix it with a fabricated steel splint/shank gizmo and it seems to be holding up fine now. Although I will be sure to take it easy on them. That's what I get for buying used gear... get what ya pay fer! Bummer on the Naxo's though. Quote
korup Posted May 7, 2008 Posted May 7, 2008 DOH! My third grade teacher should be kicking my ass for "reading comprehension skills." By the by, I wasn't calling anyone here insane (TGR-ness is BS). Quote
DRep Posted May 7, 2008 Author Posted May 7, 2008 TGR is definitely a less "sophisticated" site than CC. Quote
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