Adjusting Silvretta 404 bindings?

[Jon H]

Can anyone help me out with the process for adjusting old school 404 bindings (length and DIN)? I found the mounting instructions on WildSnow but they don't cover adjustment. I'm leaving for Chamonix in a couple days and dug my old approach skis out of the closet to bring with me, but then realized that I'm using new climbing boots and my bindings need to be slightly tweaked. They're the right size bindings, but my new boots are about 1/4" shorter than my older clunky boots, hence the need for an adjustment.

 

[Dane]

http://www.wildsnow.com/backcountry-ski-museum/silvretta-404-backcountry-skiing/silvretta-404-mount.html

 

First picture in the link shows the 404 in Purple.

 

 

The small purple lever mid sole of the binding (just above the Silvretta label) unlatches and rotates to unlock the heel piece which in turn can then be adjusted for boot sole length. You can easily do it by hand, no tools required. Small windows below boot soles that tell you if you have too much or too little forward preassure. Easy and quick once you realise how to do it.

 

I did mine the other day (from BD Primes to Spantik) while waiting in the queue for first lift on th GM.

 

DIN? Better find a chart for your boot sole length, skill and age.

[wfinley]

DIN? Better find a chart for your boot sole length, skill and age.

The chart will say between 3 and 10.

[rob]

Doesnt' matter, anyway. With a soft climbing boot in there, it's anyone's guess when it will release.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Somewhere I ran across an old website that had a sort of home DIN check, basically strapping your boot and ski on and wedging the ski under something and torquing your boot around on each axis to get it to release. Somewhere around 6-7 you should be able to try really hard and get a release still before it feels like you are breaking your ankle. It's about as reliable as the old bindings on non-ski boots anyways. I mostly feel happy when they don't pre-release and they still come off when I wreck.