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Have you ever seen this crazy binding?

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
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I’m not even sure what it is for.
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Yo Momma

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They would have gone great w/ my orange Kienzler skis from back in the day w/ screw in edges! LOL
 

James

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So was the Olin MK VII a touring ski? Never knew there was a 7.
 

crgildart

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Thought the VII was a GS and the VI was an SL. "Property of the US Govt"?? Uh oh... someone's in BIG trouble!
 

skiJ

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yeah (yes) - perhaps Erik can provide a little insight to his collection
( see the Atomic Arc SLs mounted with Silvrettas ) ;

I don't see any trouble with someone having a pair of thirty-five years old government surplus skis mounted with forty-five years old bindings -
The government always has surplus equipment for sale ; these were probably Sold twenty years ago...


Erik - can You tell us more about your collection ? thanks...

Thank you. skiJ
 

cantunamunch

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Yes. The credible part of that is that USFS have their own rangers, separate and distinct from Park Service rangers. There is every reason to think they might have had touring or approach skis as part of the job.

In other words - NOT surplus but purchased off the market by the agency.
 
Thread Starter
TS
Erik Timmerman

Erik Timmerman

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They were screwed onto a wall in the Girdwood brewery. I’d just never seen anything like them. Tommy Moe’s Legend Pros were next to them.
 

ted

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I’m scared of either being right or wrong on this, just the fact that it is in my head is frightening - but my memory says the Mark VII had a Kevlar honeycomb core.
 

cantunamunch

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Bad Bob

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They were screwed onto a wall in the Girdwood brewery. I’d just never seen anything like them. Tommy Moe’s Legend Pros were next to them.
I like the Girdwood brewing Company part. Please tell us more.

'Goodweed' has always been an interesting community.
 

Nobody

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Yes, seen guides skiing on that. Seen also a version with a Salomon 337 toepiece...
So was the Olin MK VII a touring ski? Never knew there was a 7.
The first pair of skis I mounted touring bindings on (Silvretta), were my decom (but not totally un-useable) Maxel 200cm GS skis.
I hated the quirkiness/instability of the short touring skis of the late '80-early '90s, so decided to "experiment"...
Those Maxel with the Silvretta are now the "Gate Guardians" into my ski depot/basement...
 

cantunamunch

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The first pair of skis I mounted touring bindings on (Silvretta), were my decom (but not totally un-useable) Maxel 200cm GS skis.
I hated the quirkiness/instability of the short touring skis of the late '80-early '90s, so decided to "experiment"...
Those Maxel with the Silvretta are now the "Gate Guardians" into my ski depot/basement...

LOL, I was on all-fiberglass Tuas at the time.

I have since become a bit of a Maxel fanboy and I am still totally looking for NOS or minty GS skis from them.

 
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DebbieSue

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My first new skis were Stratos, 105s if I recall, with a big R with gold circles around it, in front of the binding. I wanted them because anyone I saw on Stratos was a finesse skier (and taking French in school I knew how to pronounce Rossignol). I was not a racer but as a teen, mid 1970s 5’5, and 112lbs, I figured I could get away with the Jr. Race version, at much lower price. They were 165s I think, short but I didn’t ski fast, so it was enough ski for me. I was very happy to be on those skis for my sporadic skiing over 15 years. My next skis were an Olin women’s all mountain ski, when women’s skis were new. With 10 more pounds on board, I figured I was too heavy for jr. race ski and the idea of a women’s ski made sense. It was maybe 1993? I cannot dredge up the model but I think it did NOT have a Roman numeral. Got my first shaped skis maybe 2007….ski manufacturers were not making a lot of money off of me thru those decades, but I am nostalgic about the choices I made.
 

Choucas

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I owned a pair of the Iser bindings back in the early 80's. The concept was good. There was lateral release at the toe, and you had a Marker rotomat heel for good hold down and forward release. They skied just like an alpine binding. They were relatively light compared to the Silvretta 404 which was the default touring binding in most cases. The advantage of the Silvretta was that any boot would fit in it but it had mega slop in all directions. The rotomat heel was mounted on a flexible plastic strip that ran under the boot. To transition into tour mode, you'd pull the end of the plastic strip out of a clip that held the strip down in ski mode. You had to take the boot out of the binding to transition and bend the flexible plate to get it into and/or out of whatever mode you were in. My first run on them was in a blizzard off the top of the Grandes Montets down to the Argentiere Glacier. I had Koflach Valluga touring boots that were like (painful) sneakers, no technical clothing (lots of wool), and a pair of 190 alpine skis that were about 66mm underfoot, and full backpack that was big enough for an Everest expedition. What could possibly go wrong?
The bindings worked fine. I never came out of them.
 

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