NTN in backcountry

Thought I'd post a few pictures of the adventures in Binding Freedom inserts and snowball management. Some more details here .

I used my drill press and a collared bit that came with the inserts, which was a nice convenience. A steady hand could easily do it with a handheld drill, but I was happy to have the help. The tap worked well and the inserts themselves are a breeze to put in. I set up a propane heater to help get the epoxy flowing into the wood while putting in the inserts, to get the best bond.


[size=9pt]Used the collared bit to drill to 9mm depth[/size]


[size=9pt]Newly tapped holes alongside the factory inserts[/size]


[size=9pt]M5 screws for mounting the plate[/size]

The slightly narrower diameter of the M5 screws (relative to the stock mounting screws) gave me just enough play that I didn't need to be perfectly precise with my drilling -- I needed it with one hole, which was a bit off. I was happy enough with that, since this was my first home-mount.

Took the setup for a tour at Yodelin last weekend and it performed very well. I did have some snowballing and, in hopes of getting it under control before Japan, added some HDPE anti-ice plates into the binding.

that looks good Marcus. Having that plastic sheet pushed up into the tour mechanism area should help with what I'm calling "ice cubing". That's what we were getting on Sat during our tour up Mt Catherine. No problems under the flex plate, but those damn ice cubes in the tour lever area are a pain. They mostly form when climbing from deep powder and warm temps into the cold. Banging the flex plate with the tour lever open and ski held upside down gets them out,  but I hate having to remove the skis. Also, I'd make a couple blue foam inserts for Japan just in case. I've used the Voile teflon tape in that area under the flex plate and I still had problems with snow build-up. The blue foam not only repels the snow, but filling the volume pretty much makes it impossible for snow to build-up. It seems there is a wider range of conditions that cause the snow build-up as opposed to the ice-cubing. The first is not an issue for me anymore.

My NTN in Spring powder has been disastrous in terms of snow buildup. Wet new snow just sticks to any parts of the bindings making the ascent much heavier like using ankle weight on a tread-mill, and the descent like skiing on high-heels. The crampon attachments for Voile crampons also make it worse between the binding plates and the heel riser.

I will try Hammer heels and cover up the holder screws and possibly shorten the bottom frames.

Anybody else having s similar problem?

Yup. Wet spring powder gets stuck even in the HDPE-treated binding above. A couple of whacks with a ski pole dislodges it pretty easily, but it's a pain in the neck.

I skied with Mack the other day, and he had a NTN binding break on our tour.  Some of the parts of the mode switch bent and seized up, which I think locked the binding in some sort of tele-limbo mode.  I'll let him describe the problem more accurately if he wants to share.
He was still able to go uphill, and ski down (It's a telemark binding after all), so he wasn't stranded, but seeing those shiny new parts bent and inoperable left me really liking my O1's.
I'd have to assume it had something to do with icing, and snow build up, since he had some trouble with that prior.
Again, I'd like to sincerely thank all of you guys who are willing to do the R&D on these things.  I look forward to the final version of the NTN, cause this ain't it.

yes, icing in the tour lever area is definitely a problem, and I'm constantly worried about breaking that tour lever. So far it hasn't happened.

I still think the blue foam is a better fix than the plastic card. Filling that volume in the frame box rather than trying to provide more anti stick surface seems to work better.

Rotte should ditch that open box frame design. I've been thinking they could solve several problems by cutting the frame back just behind the toe pivot and adding a plastic riser that's kind of a ridge running down the center of the bottom of the flex plate.  After I broke the frame I took a few turns and the binding seemed to ski fine without it. Seems it's there mainly to provide support for the step in function. The riser could incorporate the brake and be installed separate from the rest of the binding. Also, ditch the mounting plate and mount directly to the ski. I think this approach would solve some of the snow build-up and frame breakage issues, as well as lighten up the binding.