So, in terms of bindings, I’ve long been a fan of Rottefella’s options. The Freeride for the piste and the Freedom for everything else. They do everything that they are meant to do. The Freedom is my favourite as it feels like the old G3 Targa binding in operation with the same smooth, soft flex. I spoke to a couple of retailers who told me that the InWild Meidjo is the current favourite. InWild have overcome a number of teething problems and are now on version 3 SR, so it is now fully sorted. The difference with the Rottefella is that the Rottefella has a frame at the front of the boot and at the rear clamping onto the “second heel”. The Meidjo has a “tech toe” with two pins holding down the toe and a clamp at the second heel. The Meidjo is a bit of a faff to engage at the toe till you become used to it.
What difference does the Tech Toe make?
In real terms what difference does this tech toe make? The transfer of power from you to the ski is really positive, more so than any other binding that I have tried. It is a really positive engagement, can increase power and enhance every turn. For my first week on the Meidjo, out in Andorra in January, I thought it was wonderful. Two weeks later we travelled out to Colorado and again for the first week I was in Nirvana and then conditions changed and I was really disappointed and wished that I had Rottefella Freedom bindings on my skis.
Snow Build Up
One problem with all the NTN Telemark bindings is that you have a build-up of snow under your foot which tends to jack you up and feels like you are unable to push down and engage the ski. This can happen with any of the bindings and is when the conditions are around freezing point somewhere on your way downhill. I was disappointed to find the Meidjo suffered a bit more than the Rottefella in this respect.
I’ve discussed this problem with a couple of ski shops and their advice is to purchase some “dry” silicone spray and spray the area under the footplate. It’s easy to find a silicone lube but not the dry spray. The one I’ve been able to find is for plastic curtain rails where you don’t want oily lube dripping on your curtains, hence the “dry”. I will try it out this season to see how effective it is and how long it stays on the bindings.
Addendum
It’s worth noting that I had my first skin up Cairngorm Mountain recently and took my Scott Slight 93’s with the Meidjo bindings fitted. As I mentioned earlier the Meidjo has a 2 pin “Tech Toe” which clips into the two fittings on the front of most of the telemark ski boots.
Wow! Was skinning up in the tech toe of the Meidjo a revelation?
Your ski pivots on the two pins of the binding and floats really freely. It makes the process of unweighting, moving and placing you ski on the snow so much smoother and easier. It’s what our alpine brethren have done for years but up till now I’ve not had a chance to try it out. Suffice to say that if I buy any skis for touring then they will undoubtedly have the InWild Meidjo binding fitted. It makes a huge difference.
The 22 Designs Lynx Telemark Binding has the same fitting to the “tech toe” and I’m sure that it will offer the same level of performance on the skin track as the Meidjo but I have yet to try it. Both the Lynx and the Meidjo have the option of fitting ski crampons.
Weight wise the options are: –
Meidjo, Large 580g, Small 490g
Lynx, Large 522g Small 492g
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