What is an "Expert"...

Dude when you post this smack I get a bunch of email questioning my integrity and it hurts my feelings.


Some creative new screennames tho.

i used to crank the DIN way up because i was an idiot. now i want the skis off when shit hits the fan.
i would rather run through the glades after both my skis eject opposed to laying on the hill with what used to
be my ACL. if your ACL goes at 50 years old your hard charging days are over.

My setting comes out to be a 7 under skier code M.  I think that setting works fine for the way I ski.  I've never ejected randomly and my skis have always come off if I totally lost it and crashed.

I believe the problem/risk with setting your own binding DIN isn't picking the wrong setting (the guy at the shop is going to use the same guidelines we can look up), it's that the binding itself might not be calibrated or working properly, and isn't releasing under the expected pressure for a particular DIN setting.  In such a case maybe the binding needs to be set higher or lower than the tables indicate, but without the proper tools and gauges to test you wouldn't know.  So, just based on the table without a release test, you risk that the binding doesn't release as expected by the table, thereby risking injury.

I know this, but I still adjust our bindings myself.....

I'd never "crank" my bindings.....but in agressive terrain I don't have a problem setting my bindings on the high side.  Sometimes the risk of release and slide is greater than non-release and hurt a knee.  

I don't ski that kind of terrain often, but when I do I prefer........

See, I'm the most interesting skier in the world!

There's fine line between when I want my shit to come off and I really wish it stayed on. Case in point is when I had two simultaneous upward heel releases while skiing bumps on Wilderness. I flew through the air (as it felt) like Superman, and slammed my ribs into a frozen faced mogul. Needless to say, I broke a few.

Next incident at WF was years later when I broke of from my two older sons to ski with my young son (very young at the time). I hit some crud right below mid when it was 40+ degrees out and wrecked. I was moving approx. 2 mph. Tore my knee up a bit with that incident. No way bump ski was coming off without causing damage to my knee. DIN set level 3.

Soooo...it's a combo of factors and there has to be a balance somewhere, but IMHO, there's really no way to come to a point of covering all bases and ever being safe. It is what it is...just the nature of the beast.

Dins set at three? I would be walking out of my shoes every run with my bindings set so low.

If I'm hauling ass and I pop my shoe it's likely I'm going to slam a tree or break my neck. That's not acceptable at 35+ miles per hour. Sometimes it's more like 50-60. I enjoy scaring myself but not in a self destructive set my bindings as low as possible sort of way.

Back when I was skiing bigger lines with big exposure losing your ski meant something much worse than a busted knee. I don't really huck any longer but if my din wasn't one full turn back from being fully pinned it meant losing one or both skis on a landing. I used to ski with green springs and I would keep my dins set at around 15, these days I'm not hucking but I still ski fast and I keep em between 12 to 14. I still pop out when I need to but I never do when I don't and I don't ever need to unless it's bad, like really bad.

It's all a personal thing though and that's why I'm not sure about this talk of letting a shop person set em for you.

I'm not trying to sound like a bad ass or brag, I'm being completely honest. If you want to shred for gods sake don't keep your bindings set at 3. That could kill you. A destroyed knee is much better than a high speed tree strike.

Jon951 wrote

There's fine line between when I want my shit to come off and I really wish it stayed on. Case in point is when I had two simultaneous upward heel releases while skiing bumps on Wilderness. I flew through the air (as it felt) like Superman, and slammed my ribs into a frozen faced mogul. Needless to say, I broke a few.

where i come from u pick up first round in the bar with a crash like that.

I just had my AT bindings mounted and the tech asked if i was an expert +. i didn't ask what that was i just told him i wanted the skis to come off  

So RA you are sayin' you ski at Super G/GS speeds on public slopes?  With other skiers?  50-60... I don't think that would fly here where Snoloco is skiing.  You'd lambaste another skier going 15mph before your skis ever came off.  Not to mention all the ones stopped in the middle of the trails.

35mph, I can see that.  Fast skiers are definitely going that fast.  My geezer buddies who set their DIN low go that fast.  Their skis don't pop off though.  If they were, well they'd probably turn it up a bit.

DIN has a lot to do with your weight.  I'd pop skis at 3.  I'm also a lot thicker than Sno is I'd bet.

Never said set it low.  I said my experienced friends recommended setting it as low as you can get away with.  Always agreed.

When I was young and stupid I used go way too fast on public slopes.  I'd catch an edge and rip my ski off.  Even so I was probably never going much more that 35-40mph.  I never once smashed my face into a tree.  I never once hurt my knees.  I never wore a helmet, still don't.  I was definitely skiing beyond my ability and was out of control.

The high speed stuff I've seen from RA was all BC, not a soul in sight except his ski partner.

no what he is saying is his ski pre-releasing is more dangerous than not releasing, which I kinda thought was common knowledge.

.....and not while ripping groomers, but skiing big BC lines, rocky chutes, and true no fall zones.

Or racing

They had my sons super G skis set at 10 for the race and he weights 105 lbs but he was going over 50 and you don't want to lose a ski at that speed.

105 lbs set at a 10- that's awesome. I had been tuning and setting my own for the last ten years or so but last year I pre-released twice in one day in deep spring corn on east fall. They were both controlled falls; it was like sliding into home base. But I had the side zips on my pants open so both times I filled my pockets with about a pound of snow. It was funny scooping out handfull after handfull after I got up. I figured the actual DIN wasn't matching what it said so I let a shop do them this year and just overstated my weight a little bit on the form. It's been good so far but I haven't really pushed it yet this year.

not sure how old ya'll are but if i'm getting them checked/set at a shop im either not truthful or gotta crank em a few times when i get home - after 50 they won't set em past 7.5 or so...

MikeK wrote

So RA you are sayin' you ski at Super G/GS speeds on public slopes?  With other skiers?  50-60... I don't think that would fly here where Snoloco is skiing.  You'd lambaste another skier going 15mph before your skis ever came off.  Not to mention all the ones stopped in the middle of the trails.

35mph, I can see that.  Fast skiers are definitely going that fast.  My geezer buddies who set their DIN low go that fast.  Their skis don't pop off though.  If they were, well they'd probably turn it up a bit.

DIN has a lot to do with your weight.  I'd pop skis at 3.  I'm also a lot thicker than Sno is I'd bet.

Never said set it low.  I said my experienced friends recommended setting it as low as you can get away with.  Always agreed.

When I was young and stupid I used go way too fast on public slopes.  I'd catch an edge and rip my ski off.  Even so I was probably never going much more that 35-40mph.  I never once smashed my face into a tree.  I never once hurt my knees.  I never wore a helmet, still don't.  I was definitely skiing beyond my ability and was out of control.

Yes I ski in area at those speeds but only when I'm not going to be putting anyone else in danger. I got out yesterday and the hill felt almost empty. Walk on chairs all day long so I got to scare myself a few times. :)

On busy weekends and if the conditions are good I just tour or choose the bike/Sedona option.

RA during the weekdays?



Notice his skis don't even want to come off when he crashes.

DIN?  No TIG.  Yeah... TIG weld the damn things to my feet!

   Scary!

MikeK wrote

RA during the weekdays?



Notice his skis don't even want to come off when he crashes.

DIN?  No TIG.  Yeah... TIG weld the damn things to my feet!

His skis barely hit the snow when he went down. If my skis are coming off, there better be a mechanism of impact that makes them do so, whether it be a hard twisting motion or loading them super toe heavy.

Harvey wrote

He's right I would go for the pow.

I'll admit I was trolling skimore a little.  

Still it was awesome.

 
I got a gift for you