a word to the wise

last year my ol' lady bought a new pair of skis, her first. she was and still is an extreme beginner. the shop took her info and set her bindings accordingly. last winter she ended up skis crossed behind her on their tails, but her body not down all the way, her hands on the ground, with her one ski still sliding and the other not moving and the toe binding not releasing putting more and more twisting pressure on her knee. "OW! OW! OW! she cried as i skied up to her and grapped the collar of her coat and pulled her into the hill, releasing the pressure on her knee. she couldn't ski the rest of the year.had i not done that, i now know her knee woulda ripped like a chicken wing, sans hot sauce.

i know that because she fell again recently and a toe binding didn't release when it seemed it should have. so i took the skis to a different shop, a more "Reliable" one, for a torque test. lo and behold her Rossi bindings were not releasing properly. the din had to be lowered considerably (40%) to get them with in the proper release values on the torque test. astonishing.

the moral of the story is bindings aren't always accurate (get them tested regularly, even new ones) and more important, some ski shops don't always test the new bindings they sell, even though they are supposed to.

go to a " Reliable "shop!

i truly believe if i had not been there to rescue her, she would be atleast semi-lame now.

the " Reliable " shop that torqued tested her skis, told me they test every binding they sell. i believe them cuz last year i bought skis there and even though my normal din is 7, they set mine at 5.5 and after 40 days of hammering they have never pre-released. these are atomic bindings that are tested at the factory then the din lasered on. so, check em. it should be part of your yearly routine, as bindings wear, springs weakin. zero them for the off season.

oh yeah............ATOMICS RULE!!!