WC/FIS racing: binding brakes

[Paul Lutes]

Bit of a long shot here, but does any one have any info on why it appears (based on my limited observations) that WC/FIS free heel racers seem to prefer leashes over brakes for ski retention? The rules allow either but in recent race videos I'm only seeing leashes. My guess is that it's related to potential loss of edging due to "brake out", similar to boot out, especially given that the most common binding (Rotteffella Freerides) doesn't have brakes narrower than 95 available on their web site, and they're racing on sub-70 mm waisted skis. Any information is appreciated.

[Antonio]

You are correct. The tele brakes are too wide for racing skis. In Telemark World Cup, the racers are generally on 21 to 25 meter FIS approved GS race skis that have a 65 mm waist. These are actually the softer FIS GS race skis designed for U16s, as the U19 and above FIS GS race skis (188 and 193 30 meter) are much stiffer and don't work well with a tele setup. The problem with the current tele brakes is not only the width, but the fact that they close straight up keeping their original width. The brakes on alpine race bindings are articulated so as they close, they actually become much more narrow and pull tight to the heel piece on the alpine binding. I am not sure if it would be possible to engineer a tele brake setup to do this effectively. In any event, that results in the leash as the only workable solution for use on such narrow waisted skis.

[Paul Lutes]

Thanks, Antonio! Hypothesis confirmed!