Mounting Fritschi bindings, help!!!

I just bought a new pair of skis, and am planning on taking the Fritschi bindings off of my current backcountry skis and putting them on the new ones--hopefully in time to take them out this summer if I get a set of skins to fit them. The question is then, should I take them to a shop or is it easy enough to do it myself? I've mounted alpine bindings on several pairs of skis with no trouble. I would much rather do it myself if possible, so if anybody has any advice for me it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

AT bindings are usually easier than alpines, since they usually come with a template. So, I'd say go ahead.

Now, if "I've mounted alpine bindings" means you put together one of the many alpine ski/binding "systems" that require no drilling, then you may be in for a project. It isn't that hard, but it is easy to get the alignment off a bit so measure thrice and drill once, carefully.

One other thing, the Fritschi template is pretty fragile, be careful when you pull it off to do the other ski.

Thanks, that sounds good. I don't have a template since the bindings came already attached to the skis that I bought as demos several years ago...don't suppose it will be too hard to find one somewhere on the internet. I have had to drill all of my other skis, so that should be no problem.

It's not that difficult and there's a definite sense of satisfaction from doing the job yourself. You will need certain obvious tools - drill, proper bits (3.6 or 4.1mm if you can, depending on whether there is metal in the topsheet), Pozidrive #3 screwdriver, epoxy glue (some people use other types of glue).

I leave the backing on the plastic template and just cut a hole where the boot toe mark is, then tape the thing down securely. I've been using the same template for years.

There is a slight chance that you will misalign the toe and the heel won't slide perfectly into the heel unit, but there is a chance that could happen if you take them to a shop, too.

There are some things you can do to help ensure a good job - measure twice or thrice before drilling anything, make sure you use the correct set of holes for the heel unit (depends on whether you have short, medium or long bindings), mark the holes first with an ice pick or something really sharp before whacking them with a centerpunch (helps keep the mark from migrating), countersink the holes to the depth of the plastic topsheet to prevent the plastic from "bubbling" up and pushing your binding up off the deck, tapping the holes with the correct tap or at least running the screws in and out before glueing them, and doing the alignment thing one screw at a time if the toe isn't completely straight. I suggest not opening any beer until after the bindings are on the skis and the glue curing . . .

Lou Dawson has a good section on mounting Fritschis here: www.wildsnow.com/articles/fritschi-freer...diamir-freeride.html
A PDF of the template is there as well, make sure you have scaling turned off on your printer when you print it.

Bits, taps and screwdrivers at www.tognar.com

If you haven't already done it, I've mounted two pairs of fritschis without a template by hand. The first because the skis were so wide that the jig didn't fit, and the second because I was at a shop that didn't have a template or jig. What I did was put the actual binding flat on the ski (all the above advice about measuring thrice is absolutely the most important part of this process) and marked the holes using it as a template. The advantage of that was knowing for absolute sure that the holes were in the right place.  The advice about marking first and then whacking with a centerpunch is also good to prevent the holes from being slightly off.

One of my results did have the bar slightly misaligned with the heel piece, but I used them for 3 years until I broke them ( a month ago :-[) and it was never really an issue.

Good luck!

I've done it, isn't too bad, although one of my heel pieces was slightly misaligned, without any problems. Frankly though, it is pretty stressful, and maybe not worth it? The Pro Ski in N Bend will do it for ~$35?