Old Silvretta freeheel binding?

[Spiny Norman]

Any one in the Austrian Army?

Anyone know how or if the toe clamps widen? or how to lengthen the cables?

I cannot get any hiking boots in.

Thanks

[Montana St Alum]

It has been 53 years (November 1970, multi-day trip to the Crazy Mountains north of Livingston, Montana) since I've used these! But my recollection is that the toe piece "wings" pivot to accept different sized boots (I used them with medium heavy hiking boots) and the screw in section where there's just a single cable forward of the loop and before the spring is where you adjust length.

[phoenix]

What Montana said. As far as the toepiece adjusting width, the pivot point is fixed and so will limit the range the wings can adapt to. Nice bindings! Never skied them, but the basic design is similar to what I skied on as a little kid.

[Spiny Norman]

Yes, the old front throw, cable routed on the side of the ski, and endless laps on the Gunstock rope tow. I felt pretty special when I got leather boots with buckles instead of laces.

The problem I am having is that the wings don't seem to widen very much. I thought it was corrosion gummimg up the works but penetrating oil didn't help.

I'm probably going to peel them off and hang them in the barn unless someone wants them.

Thanks

[Montana St Alum]

Yes, the old front throw, cable routed on the side of the ski, and endless laps on the Gunstock rope tow. I

Makes my arms hurt thinking about it! It's like fast roping INTO a helicopter!

[phoenix]

"Makes my arms hurt thinking about it! It's like fast roping INTO a helicopter!"

I remember being barely grab the rope and hold my first few years; didn't help when it was covered in ice. Still not quite as bad as riding the t-bar with a full size person though.

[Tom M]

It has been a very long time since I have skied or seen a Silvretta cable binding. I skied two different sets, one with the plate and one without the plate, both with "mountaineering boots" and with leather alpine boots. If I recall, they came in a couple of different sizes to accommodate large and small boot sizes. The toe portion of the binding had a bit of "spring" to the opening, so it was just a matter of jamming and wiggling the toe of the boot into the binding. As far as cable length goes, the spring latch mechanism needed to be installed either forward or aft depending on the boot length. If this is a small binding and you have large boots, you probably won't be able to get it to work properly even if you remount and move the front lever back.

[Spiny Norman]

My guess is the bindings are Small. The wings just don't open enough to wiggle any of my 10.5 shoes or boots in.

i picked them up on a lark, cheap.

Now i get to try my nnn bc on the Europa 99s.

Cheers