#172

Craig Dostie joins me on the podcast after a day in the Utah backcountry to discuss the new Voile Transit Telemark tech binding. Our conversation goes over the new offering from Voile along with other tech-toe NTN Telemark binding offerings like the InWild Meidjo & 22 Designs LYNX.
Craig shares some details about the Transit mounting pattern, cable configurations, and what he's liking about the new binding. We also discuss other tech-toe offerings on the market and whether it's likely we'll see other similar bindings in the future from other manufacturers.
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[@calcagnolibero]

Hi Josh thanks for mentioning Scufoneda, we really had a ton of fun last week here in Moena. We still remember when you came years ago and hope to see you again here. Keep up the good work! Drop knees not bombs!!!

[@hangtime2997]

Hey Craig. This is Haj from HANGTIME. Am I right in thinking that one key advantage of TTS is that you can switch from ski to tour mode without releasing the tec toe? Thanks for the in-depth discussion!

[@jasonwooden]

I really appreciate this discussion guys. It is greatly needed and timely. I feel like Backcountry Telemark is at an important crossroads. Reading the comments on the various Transit reviews, I see that on the one side is the die-hard 75mm crowd; "you can have my rat traps* when you pry them from my cold dead toes!". On the other side you have the progressive NTN-Tech adopters who put up with some minor shortcomings in the current offerings because the connection to the ski and uphill efficiency is SO. DARN. GOOD. Right smack in the middle of the intersection lies the Transit. Is it a gateway drug for NTN-tech? Or is it for NTN-tech adopters who are having skier's remorse over their Lynx or Medjio purchase? Can such a small market continue to support such divergence? Will 22D, Voile, M, Bishop or (the Grand Daddy of them all) Rottefella come to our rescue with a Simple, Solid, Backcountry NTN-tech binding that addresses the shortcomings of the current offerings? Telemark isn't dead, but it's safe to predict the death of the 75mm boot. NTN-tech apparently has its detractors. Boot weight and range-of-motion being the #1 turd in the uptrack in my opinion. It's an exciting and scary time for Telemark. Meanwhile we're losing BC free-heelers to the siren-song of AT every minute, for the light-weight and lack of binding issues you highlight in this podcast. Here's hoping there's some passion for the sport left among the major players to rescue us from ourselves with improved binding and boot options! *Norwegian Trivia for 'ya, for those you don't know: Rottefella = Rat Trap.

[@doug5yuiop]

RE: Siren song of AT….. I found I use my AT the least. All the low angle and mixed terrain we have is nicer on tele. A bit awkward on AT until you get to more classic steeper uphill/downhill tours and spring mountaineering. Otherwise, Voile fishscale skis with Switchbacks and Scarpa boots really make a lot of sense.

[@jasonwooden]

@@doug5yuiop sounds like you have ideal terrain for tele, where weight isn’t much of a factor for short low angle tours. I feel betrayed that Scarpa took basically the same 4-buckle boot that WC skiers use to rail icy gates and jumps during competition, added tech inserts and passed it off as a backcountry boot. Seems like now they shrug and say “sorry, can’t be any lighter”.

[@shizzon]

I just completed the Benedict hut-to-hut ski (Aspen to Vail) on a pair of meidjo's with no issues, and feel quite confident on them in the backcountry. I don't really understand the comment about shearing off the tech toe pins. How is TTS better in that regard (in comparison, to meidjo or lynx). And for that matter, how is that concern any different than a regular AT ski? I've seen multiple AT toe piece failures on hut trips.

[@jasonwooden]

Excellent point. I suspect many such binding failures start with rough baggage handling by the airlines.

[@daikuglenn2]

I upgraded to NTN using Meidjo 3.0 Black bindings but living in Japan I couldn't communicate well at the store. The clerk said only the 2nd heel releases, not the 2-pin connection, yet for touring mode you're supposed to pull up the toe lever to lock it in. Confusing. I guess the 2-pin connection does not release unless the lever is somehow accidentally pushed down so lifting up the lever for touring makes accidental release less likely. Could any experts expound on this?

[@antoinedaina355]

Thank you for these discussions. If recent Scarpa F1 or F1 LT still had a bellows or were flexible enough, it would allow "real" tele-touring with the TTS? What do you think? Greetings from Switzerland!

[@peterbradshaw6147]

Does the Voile Transit match well w/a Soul7 HD (180cm)?

[@zekehorton8545]

I'm seeing people mount them on more narrow skis but it does seem to have the power to drive a wider ski! And plus it's a back country binding, so if it can't drive 106, what's the pointtt

[@BenKleimer]

You guys are talking about tec toe bindings as touring bindings and certainly sell tec toe as some how a lesser resort binding. I dont get it. Why would I not want a tec toe binding on the resort?

[@FreeheelLife]

The main purpose of a tech toe is for free-pivot touring capability. It's not that it cannot be used inbounds and we discuss that, but it does add a cost to the production of the binding. I think it's a good fit for someone that primarily skis off-piste and wants that as the primary binding because it will work great inbounds...that's just not the majority of people. The majority still uses a cage-style toe that has good free pivot touring for when they go out of bounds. These are more of the Outlaw X style users. Hope that clears things up on the discussion. thx - Madsen

[@BenKleimer]

@@FreeheelLife Got it thank you. For your "what the customers are experiencing files", I've got Meidjos that have seen nearly 90 days this year, about 50 on the resort with zero strength or durability issues. Granted, this year has not seen much bumpin but, the binding seems to be holding up well.