Silvretta 404 ski bindings for mountaineering boot

[DanO]

Hello,

I got out my old alpine skis and Silvretta 404 bindings. I

got this set up some years ago on ebay. It looks like a matched set. I am a low to intermediate downhill resort skier. I used my leather boots and the combo worked great going uphill. Downhill though I really had a hard time. I had the heals locked and and had a hard time turning and skiing on extremely easy terrain. Gentil slope on a snow covered road.

 

I could only go downhill when I was really crouched forward with my knees and I felt like I could fall over backwards very easily.

I really had to keep weight forward to stay in control and to even

turn a little bit.

 

The main question is , I think the bindings are mounted a few inches to far to the rear of the ski. I wonder if there is a place

I can go to figure the proper mounting out? I live in Mount Vernon

Wa.

 

I also, if any here used these skis downhill using leather mountaineering boots, is this outfit that hard to go downhill

with?

 

Dan

[PaulB]

Your troubles are more likely a function of the boots rather than the location of the binding.

 

When I wear my leather mountaineering boots with my 404s, I can't do much more than make snowplow turns, but I'm not a great alpine skier.

 

Check out this thread from a couple months ago about skiing in plastic mountaineering boots.

 

You can probably find a copy of the mounting template for 404s if you do some digging on wildsnow.com. If nothing turns up, PM me and I think I have a paper copy around that I could scan for you.

[rat]

agree with paulb regarding boots being the likely source of the problem. that said, many skis have a line on the topsheet or side where the mid-point of your boot should be when mounted.

[BirdDog]

I agree with the others, problem is the boots; there's no ankle support. Here is what I did to solve the problem. Buy 4 power straps. Get some fairly stiff high density foam, like the stuff they use for casts and knee braces. Cut the foam about a 14" tall and wrap around your ankle and boot. Tighten the power straps; one on your shin, one around the boot cuff. This really give some support to the ankles, and allows you to ski; sort of.

[rob]

I had the same experience with leather climbing boots. The foam solution above is interesting, but I was able to successfully solve the problem by simply not skiing in leather climbing boots anymore.

 

Problem solved!

[DanO]

I guess the obvious solution is to buy a set of plastic climbing

boots of some type? Any recommendations? Or should I give up

until I can get one of the more fancy touring outfits? The cost is

painful!

 

I guess the cheaper alternative it plastic climbing boots if they

would work good enough to ski? Any particular type better than

the others?

 

Dan

[Serenity]

Plastic mountaineering boots won't be much better. Head down to a reputable ski shop with a knowledgeable backcountry ski staff, and have them give you a personal run down on the types of randonee ski boots. You'd be surprised at how functional and comfortable a pair will be. Most good pairs will be able to perform multiple functions. Ski, slog, and even ice climb fairly well. Pick the jack of all trades, master of none style.

 

I lived in a pair of Dynafits one winter. Got to the point where I regularly wore them into the restaurant, bar, driving to and from wherever, and never even noticed until someone pointed it out to me.

[DanO]

 

Alpine Trekker touring adapter

 

An alternative to randonnee AT gear

 

http://www.wildsnow.com/articles/alpine_trekker/trekker_review.htm

 

Any opinions on this gear, worth while?

 

I doubt I afford Randonee gear this year for me and GF.

Will check on it though.

 

Dan

Edited December 3, 2008 by DanO

[PaulB]

Alpine Trekker touring adapter

 

An alternative to randonnee AT gear

 

http://www.wildsnow.com/articles/alpine_trekker/trekker_review.htm

 

Any opinions on this gear, worth while?

Alpine Trekkers seem like a good idea but in reality they are a PITA. There's a reason they're always for sale on gear swaps. People buy them, try them a few times and realize they should have just got some AT bindings. They also break easily as the pivot does not handle lateral forces very well.

 

The 404s you have are better than Trekkers. Buy a cheap pair of alpine ski boots and use them with your 404s. It won't be the greatest touring setup, but it'll be better than futzing around with Trekkers. Better yet, spend the money on some nice AT boots this season, and upgrade your bindings next year. 404s aren't state of the art, but they'll get the job done.

[sweatinoutliquor]

I know this may not help with the direction of this thread, but shortly after buying a pair of plastic AT boots I just got rid of my Koflachs. The AT boots basically climbed/slogged just as well and obviously worked out a little better for the skiing part!

[highangle]

Hey Dan-

 

You can put a pair of alpine boots in the 404's and verify that the center mark on the boot is pretty close to the center mark on the ski.

 

I have a paper template for mounting 404s that I'll try to scan and post up if you want. I have mounted some using this template and had pretty good results. It may be too big for my scanner, but I'll see what I can do - or I'm in Mt. Vernon too....

 

Pretty much what I found is that climbing boots are tough to ski in, so it may have less to do with your mount than you think. Put my alpine boots in the 404's and I can ski them just fine. Spent several days in bounds with my climbing setup and figured out how to ski them better (but not great). I'll do that for a morning or two each season to remind myself.

[Mark_Husbands]

also, if you are going to try to ski in an approach set-up with plastic climbing boots, lighter, shorter skis will be easier to turn. you may have these 404s on an old, long pair of skis, and it doesn't help. those 404s are pretty desirable as an approach binding. no matter what, climbing boots = survival skiing (for just about anyone I know). I've never tried any wraps or straps; i just snowplow, sideslip, and kick-turn my way around anything remotely challenging (I have 300s for approach).

 

Also if you put an alpine ski boot in the 404s, remember that the DIN function is not the strong point of those bindings...