Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

hey gang
wish i found this forum before i ordered all this gear....fischer 98s and alfa greenlands on their way
old guy.....forum virgin.....no control descending with saloman x adv 69s and adv 7 boots......scared to ski without release(went on both sides of tree last year).....got some old (pink plate and piston)voile release 75mm 3 pins no cable bindings(ebay) ....
opinions?
advice?
templates or instructions?
ordering voile cable tele binding to use with...
handy but never installed bindings before....
nervous.....
cheers!!

Used these like 20 years ago and I cannot recommend them. Standard 75mm 3 pin is better option, even if without release. If you absolutely need release, im not sure what to recommend on the cheap side of things. If you need a lot of downhill control, the cabled old Rivas, or cabled Voile. The Voile Switchback is my go to binding for downhill use, but if Im hiking I use standard 3 pin Voile or Rottefella for easiness.

thanks so much for the response!.....
this is a real pickle.....i have vivid memories of a teacher 35 yrs ago who put a cross country ski under a log and did the splits...tore everything.....and pure luck and mushy boot saved me last year(ankle sprain)....i guess the people that have lost battles with trees have no reason to look at ski forums anymore.....sadly i am in southern ontario (rolling tight forest ,not deep snow)= lots of close calls....rarely long enough downhill to justify putting on the cable....
your word hiking is just what i do(not a ton of kick and glide) so i looked at meidjo....but that would mean a pretty ridiculous boot for two 30 ft descents/hr.....cant believe the people i see (youtube) tearing thru the trees with no release!!
do you remember what you didnt like with the voile releasers?
not releasing?
sloppy control?

sorry for rambling!
thanks again!!

Google Telebry. I’ve used them and they work.

checking them out tonight....thanks inspired!!

My first Telemark ski had the CRB Voile 3-pin cable. It worked. You cannot use that system with a standard 3-pin bindings. However you can still order parts direct from Voile.
For what it’s worth, it worked and skied fine. It was just really didn’t need releasability, and didn’t care for it.

I would hope that you are not skiing fast enough with your experience and those boots that would cause a release.

My solution for injury free skiing is plastic t4 boots. With light boots crashing is inevitable on anything but perfect conditions.

Voile CRB (grey ones with the 3 holes plate) are pretty good... I've skied them a lot with Cobra R8. Reliable. Safe. A bit clumsy and heavy — looks like a plumbing job. But for resort use, I can't complain. People were giving me strange looks; I would just start to bark and they would leave me alone (just kidding').

As far as Telebry goes, hum... didn't like them at all. They were wiggly (worst than a 1st gen beaten up BD 01; know what I mean?). And super heavy. Before you go this route, you really have to understand the principle of that release plate.

For side release, you can go TRP 100; never used them though.

Voile Releaseables worked pretty well with stiffer and taller boots, in a way, but with light boots there is never enough torque transfer to come close to any kind of reliable release.
Plus, the plastic piston has a tendency to break right off at the barrel, and there ya are, standing on a ski run with no way to get down except walk like an over-his-head tourist that never took a lesson but "knew he could do it".
And that was when they were new back in the late 1980s and early 1990's--any Voile releaseable that is as old as you say has lots of embrittlement in the plastic parts, worn out release springs, and etc. I'd toss em in the trash, save the springs for fish weights, maybe.

“As far as Telebry goes, hum... didn't like them at all. They were wiggly (worst than a 1st gen beaten up BD 01; know what I mean?). And super heavy. Before you go this route, you really have to understand the principle of that release plate.”



Interesting. I have two sets of them and haven’t experienced any wiggle. As far as weight goes, yes there is a little bit but nothing detrimental. I’ve appreciated the slight weight penalty the couple of times I’ve been in a situation where there’s been a release. Knee or ankle injuries are things I’d rather avoid...