bonzo

It's amazing that someone caught that on camera. Glad to hear that your injuries were minor. Your picture of what can go wrong is precisely why I opened this thread. I'm glad I made the conversion to Intec step in on my OS2's. You are correct that part of the clamping force is used to compress the long axis of the boot. Initially I was concerned that four little screws in the heel were the potential weak link, but only if you pull upwards on the heel. I also believe that compression of the shell in standard bails results in cracking of the heel edge. I'm sticking with step-ins from here on out. The F2 Ti's appear to be a fine choice.

I miss Frontenac.....:(

I'm planning a half day. I'll get there early, trench the corduroy halfway to China, and be gone by lunch. Darn day job gets in the way of riding.

Spent the evening on 7, it was rutted up pretty good. Boy, was it cold. I didn't have the right wax. No other hard boot brethren seen.

I stand corrected. The triangular guides should contact the receiver. My mistake. You are correct corey_dyck.

Next Sunday I will be up at Troll for the D-team races. The week after that should be good for me. Setting gates goes a lot faster with two people. What time do you plan to set up? I will help pending my availability. I really love my Coiler AM. Bruce builds a good board. I am thinking about something like a NSR to replace my 1995 Factory Prime. It is getting so tired that it is beginning to feel like my Stat 7. I need to talk to you about that NSR sometime.

I'm not sure if I can isolate all my boot/binding problems. I moved to Head SPs because I cracked my UPZs, and having a high volume foot, the Head seemed like the best choice. I also heard that step-ins were less likely to cause a boot failure. The final straw was when I had a double release on a hard toe side carve. Fortunately both feet released instead of just one; if just one released, that could have been the end of my season. I've have releases before on the OS2's, but I always attributed them to user error. Now I am doubting that hypothesis. Compared to OS2's I have 10 times as many days riding on Burton plates without any incidents. Something wasn't right with my OS2 setup, so I had to make a change.

As I get older my memory may be going, but I do recall once upon a time I came across a pictures of a Fin-tec heel, and someone knowledgeable (such as Michelle or Fin) said that if the triangular guides contact the receiver, the bindings are too tight. I sure would like to find that picture and explanation again. For my front foot I used my leash as a psuedo shim for the toe. Actually worked pretty well taking up the tiny bit of toe bail play. Maybe I will use some thin cord instead of duct tape for the rear foot.

You must have been on the black coiler. I guess I was there shortly before the the stubbies were put in. Should have stuck around. 7 and 12 were nice.

Spent the night on 7. Conditions were quite good despite the obvious traffic. The new snow plus Afton's ever present snow making is helping keep the runs fresh. I'll be back on Sunday, probably on 7.

I did two more experiments. First I did a thermal expansion (or in this case, contraction) experiment. I put the boots and board outside to chill and compared the engagement force to that required at room temperature. I also compared how well the boots fit the bindings. In my case, the difference was negliable. Then I moved the heel block one notch tighter. While this was too tight to ride with, I noticed what happened under the boot while engaging. Wow, I compressed the bejeezers out of those soft rubber toe and heel blocks. Under a very hard carve, I can see compressing enough to cause a release. Well I put on the harder sole blocks on the HSP's. They are like rocks compared to what was installed by Head. Not sure if this will solve the problem. Only some aggressive riding will tell. I just need to get my nerve up. The alternate suggestion is to convert to step ins. Unfortunately, it appears that a Catek OS2 step in conversion kit is about as rare as a hen's tooth. I've tried all my sources and I can't find them anywhere. Ditto for the F2 Intec heels (the Fin-tecs have a harder pin and they gouge the Aluminum Catek receivers.) So the alternative a complete new TD3/Fin-tec setup. I may just have to do that.

It was great to meet the Buck Sunday Crew. The snow was nicely groomed took an edge well at 9 AM. The only downside was that I had carve pretty much down the fall line with the high traffic. After 2:30 PM, Milk run was wide open. Other than the fact that the snow had gone away due to the traffic, it was great. My kid had a great time racing. Patrol traffic was much less than Afton = more boarding. Thanks to the Buck Patrol for letting me guest patrol. I am really going to try and make the MES so I can see the crew again.

Around 3 PM all the gates will be gone, and by 4:30 PM the kids will be gone. I'm hoping to get in a few turns at Buck on Sunday if I am not too busy. It will be cold in the AM.

Spent the evening on 7. Conditions fair at best. There were some serious rut, gates must have been set up earlier in the day. Yes, Afton is still making snow.

About the only way to get the level closer to the boot would be to remove the setscrew. I'm not sure that I could get my thumb under it then. The boots are MP 29. I have big high volume feet. The Cateks are supposed to fit up to MP 31, I think. I will swap out the rubber soles on my boots based on feedback. I would be willing to work on a swap of step in parts for standard closure parts, but after my tales of woe, I could understand why you may not want my toe bails. Still, no response from Jeff Caron. I should have bought Bombers or Ibex.

Thank you all for your observations and suggestions. I have many things to sort out now. To address a few of your suggestions or questions: The heel and toe blocks are as close as I can make them for my sole length. Any closer and it takes tremendous force to close the bail. If I try to move them farther apart, the boots are sloppy loose. The sole on the boots appear to be the soft ones, they came preinstalled. Swapping them out is an option. Playing with the toe bail, I believe that moving the set screw head toward the boot may aid in increasing the force exerted by the toe bail. Wrapping tape around a heel bail to snug up the size slightly may be a great solution. If Fin-Tec heels can be used with old Burton plates, I think I may convert my setup. Has anyone ever rode Fin-Tec with an old set of Burton plates? I broke a pair of boots last year and it was suggested to me that people don't crack boots with step ins. According to the Catek website, the step in conversion kits are out of stock. I've sent an email to Jeff at Catek inquiring about availability with no response yet.

Can only attach 3 at a time....

While not getting hung up on semantics, the problem I have had is the Catek bindings releasing from my boots. I think we can all agree that having two feet release is bad and just one is even worse. Some of the single boot releases that I have had previously are due to failure with my UPZ boots developing a crack in the heel, thus allowing the heel to release under pressure. The cause for this double release is a mystery. As I stated before, I've never had this problem with Burton plates with four different sets of boots. I've attached a few picture for your inspection. The rear binding has a layer of tape covering the areas that do not interface with the boot. This is meant as protection for the top sheet.

Yes, the leash is toast. I've often thought of Intecs, but I've always feared getting stuck in bindings either due to the pull cable breaking or them freezing up. Are the Fin-Tec heels reliable? This piece of info may push me over the edge, if someone can positively confirm or deny. If I install Fin-Tec heals on my boots will I still be able to use my Burton Plate bindings?

I double booted out today. Though it was a scary experience, it's not as scary as a single boot out. I've have a couple pairs of old Burton plates; I've never booted out of them. I have a couple pairs of Catek OS2's. I've single booted out of both pairs a couple of times. Those single boot out are attributed to operator error or boot failure (cracked heel). Today I double booted out of the Cateks on a high board angle toe side carve. All that I can think that happened was that I had a little toe drag and the front bails popped open. All the hardware is tight and the boots (head stratos pros) fit as tight as they can to the bindings. Any suggestions other than selling my Cateks to buy Ibex or Bomber bindings?

Make sure the 4WD works on something like ice (bring an observer). On dry pavement, you will feel resistance in the steering (try turning sharply both ways). Get the factory hard top and you can buy an aftermarket soft top for hard top doors. The aftermarket hard tops and doors are too expensive for what you get. If you got a place to hang a hard top winch, you can buy quick release parts for the hard top allowing one person to remove the top in about 2 minutes. Then you don't need a soft top. Unfortunately, you will get wet if it rains.

Conditions at Afton were quite nice this AM. The sun was shining and the runs were well groomed with firm snow that took and took the edge well. Didn't see a carver all day (though I did see Call Me Jack working 3 around 4PM). I got one run on 7 before moving to 9 for toboggan training. We then moved over to easy 12. Moving from the Meadows to the Highlands I was able to get in a free run on easy 12. I was feeling pretty stoked, running at 11/10ths, laying out some big surf style carves on the GS Donek with Catek OS2's. Near the bottom on a huge toe side carve, I felt the board disappear under my feet and I was sliding on the snow face first. The board was about 50 feet away from me. I did a simultaneous double boot out. Everything was tight on the bindings. The boots fit the Cateks tight. The safety strap was toast. The only thing I can figure out is that at the extreme board angle, my toes dragged and popped both bails. I was occupied until 2:30PM with either training or accidents. After 2:30PM I did some free carving until a little after 4PM when the light started to go away. After the double boot out, I didn't go harder than 8/10ths. I have booted out with Cateks before. It is always a scary experience. I've never had that problem with my Burton bindings. I may be selling one or both my pairs of Cateks so I can purchase a set or two of Ibex or Bomber bindings. On a sad note, Paul Augustine, the founder of Afton Alps, died Saturday morning. The man was a visionary. He will be missed. http://www.hastingsstargazette.com/event/article/id/17263/publisher_ID/20/

CMJ, If you can't make it to Afton, then you can't ride, so this is on topic. All my experience is with the YJ's, I have heard that TJ's are an overall better experience. With my YJ, I never had any problem with getting stuck in the snow other than driving into a snow filled ditch that I thought was level ground. The old 4.0L inline 6 always fired up even on the coldest days. The stuff that annoyed me was all the little things Chrysler did to save a few cents. I had to rewire the instrument panel because the flex circuit would lose contact with the wiring harness. All the little plastic pieces that would snap off in hard to access places such as the doors thereby disabling the interior door handle or lock. I was constantly chasing away corrosion, it starts with the exterior hinges, but it eventually spreads to the sheet metal followed by the frame. Once the frame starts to go, it's structural rebuild time. If I were going to buy another Jeep Wrangler, I would make sure it had the right options: hard top with rear defroster and wiper (keeps out the wind, you do not want a soft top in the winter), ABS, manual transmission (keep the engine below 2K rpm to prevent spinning on ice), limited slip differential, power steering, and the big motor. My old Jeep had all that. In 4WD, you'll get through anything short of 4 ft snow drifts. Drive it easy on wet, snow, or ice covered roads or loose surfaces. If you go off-road, go straight up or down hills, do not turn across a steep fall line. They are fun vehicles but they are best for voyages of less than 2 hours. The suspension can be punishing on long drives. Just like any tool, they can do a lot of damage if you don't know how to use it. It will not corner like a sports car, it does not get the fuel economy of an Insight, but it will take places a typical car cannot. Just take your time. Do not even think about drifting with them.

Due partially to our proximity to Devils Head Resort, which had a chair rollback incident last year, at our patrol refresher this year we had a staged mass casualty incident. Our scenario was very similar to what happened in Sugarloaf. From what I read in media reports, all the injured guests were transported from the scene in under 30 minutes and the remaining 150 guests were evacuated from the stranded chairs in under 90 minutes. Considering the reported conditions on that day and the typical (and completely understandable) reluctance of some guests to be evacuated (often requiring a patroler to ascend to the stranded chair), the Sugarloaf Patrol performed admirably. The Ski Patrol Practices these events because the unthinkable can happen, and if it does, we are prepared. Kudos to the Sugarloaf Patrol.

I'll be there if my day job doesn't get in the way.