A ski binding is a device that connects a ski boot to the ski. Before the 1933 invention of ski lifts, skiers went uphill and down and cross-country on the same gear. As ski lifts became more prevalent, skis—and their bindings—became increasingly specialized, differentiated between alpine (downhill) and Nordic (cross-country, Telemark, and ski jumping) styles of skiing. Until the point of divergence in the mid-20th century, bindings held the toe of a flexible, leather boot against the ski and allowed the heel to rise off the ski, typically with a form of strap or cable around the heel. To address injuries resulting from falls while skiing downhill on such equipment, ski bindings emerged with the ability to release the toe of the boot sideways, in early models, and to release the boot forward and aft, in later models. Downhill ski bindings became standardized to fit plastic ski boots and incorporated a built-in brake that drags in the snow after the ski detaches from the boot. Cross-country ski bindings evolved from being simple, bent-metal attachment plates with pins, which held a square-toed leather boot toe under a wire bale, to becoming standardized systems that held a plastic boot, attached to a bar in a recess in the boot's toe. Back-country, jumping, and alpine touring ski bindings incorporate features found in alpine and Nordic bindings.
History Prior to the 1840s, ski bindings were a leather strap fastened over the toe of the boot, similar to those used for snowshoes.
Norheim—ca. 1850 Sondre Norheim demonstrated telemark skiing before 1866, and the Open Christiania turn in 1868, both made possible with a binding design which dated back to the late 1840s. This added a loop of twisted birch roots that ran from the existing birch root toe loops around the boot heels and back. This allowed the heel to lift as before, for walking and gliding, but better held the boots to the skis allowing greater control. This enabled Norheim to control the skis with his feet and legs, replacing the former technique of dragging a large pole in the snow on one side or the other to drag the skier in that direction. This control led to the development of the telemark and stem christie ski turns.
Huitfeldt—1894
Starting in 1894, Fritz R. Huitfeldt invented a binding with a secure toe iron which allowed the heel to move freely and evolved through the 1930s as the standard design. His innovations included:
Adding vertical metal brackets on either side of the ski to hold the ski boot (1894), augmented in 1897 by passing the iron bracket through a rectangular hole from one side of the ski to the other, before bending up the tabs. Passing toe straps through the rectangular hole and providing a buckle over the top of the boots, attached to the brackets and firmly bind the boot in place. Passing a strap over the free heel, augmented in 1904 with a cam lever substitute for the buckle over the heel, called the "Hoyer-Ellefsen toggle". Skiers wishing to affix their heel to the ski, employed a "long-thong" strap. Further innovations included:
Mathias Zdarsky's development of a ski binding that replaced the heel strap with a long metal plate under the sole of the boot, hinged at the front to allow the heel to rise, in the early 1900s. The heel was held to the plate by a short strap attaching at the back. Marius Eriksen's 1920 introduction of pre-formed plates that were screwed on top of the ski. Guido Ruege's 1929 invention of the Kandahar binding, which incorporated a front-throw lever that tightened the heel cable past the ski-mounted toe brackets and became known as the cable binding.
Rottefella—1927 The Rottefella binding was developed in 1927 by Bror With. "Rottefella" means "rat trap" in Norwegian. A bent, pressed-metal plate had three or four pins that stuck into the toe of a square-toed boot, which was clamped down with a metal bail. After victories at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, the binding remained the standard type for cross-country skiing through much of the century and continues as the Nordic Norm, manufactured by Rottefella and other companies.
Cable—1929
The introduction of the cable binding allowed the Christie turn to become a standard on downhill runs, and to further support this style of skiing the Swiss racer Guido Reuge in 1929 invented a cable binding with steel clips below the boot heel to enable clamping the heel down for downhill portions. He named the product "Kandahar" for the international Kandahar Cup ski races. In use in alpine races, the Kandahar binding led to serious leg injuries, and by 1939 experimentation began in earnest on bindings that would release the boot in a fall.
Saf-Ski—1937 Hjalmar Hvam broke his leg skiing, and while recuperating from surgery, invented the Saf-Ski toe binding in 1937, which he later sold under the slogan "Hvoom with Hvam". This was a metal clip with a pyramidal top that fit into a slot cut into the sole of the ski boot. When the boot was rotated forward, the slot on the toe eventually rose above the metal pyramid, allowing the toe to release from the ski. The system was considered with suspicion by professional skiers, especially when Olaf Rodegaard released during a race. However, Rodegaard credited the release with saving him from a broken leg. In the post-war era, Hvam sold several thousand pairs of Saf-Skis, in an era when alpine skiing was in its infancy. Hvam continued to sell the Saf-Ski into the 1960s, but in 1966 his insurance rates increased so dramatically that he was forced from the market.
Look Nevada—1950 The introduction of the Look Nevada in 1950 represented a significant advance in ski bindings. The Nevada held the toe centred over the ski using two metal fingers shaped into an upside-down V. The fingers were pivoted to allow motion to the sides, and centred with a spring. During a fall, sideways torsion could overcome the force of the spring and allow the boot to release directly to the side. This design was quickly copied by other vendors, notably Marker, and had the first real impact on the dominance of the fixed-toe bindings. By the late 1950s, there were about 35 different release toe bindings on the US market, most of which used a normal Kandahar-style heel cable.
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