(1) It should be light; (2) should be easily adjusted to fit the boot;
(3) should admit of being quickly and easily fastened and unfastened;
(4) should be difficult to break and easy to mend; (5) should allow
fairly free vertical movement of the foot, but limit its lateral
movement enough to make steering easy; (6) should be comfortable, and
not likely to injure the runner in case of a fall.
There are innumerable forms of binding on the market, not one of which
is absolutely satisfactory in every respect; the choice of a binding is
largely a matter of taste. But, though it is not possible to say that
any one binding is the best, it is possible to say that certain forms
are more generally popular than others. The reader who is not a novice
probably knows all there is to be said for and against the more common
forms; while to give a long description of several kinds of bindings,
setting forth their various good and bad points, would be more likely
to confuse a novice than to help him to choose one that suited him. I
shall therefore describe one binding only, the Huitfeldt, which is by
far the most generally popular one, especially in Norway, and shall
show how it answers to the above-mentioned requirements.
The Huitfeldt binding (Fig. 7) consists of an iron, leather-lined
toe-piece which is passed through the hole in the ski and bent up at
each side; a short strap passing over the toes and connecting the ends
of the metal toe-piece; and a long strap which passes through the hole
in the ski and round the heel of the boot.
[Illustration: FIG. 7. Huitfeldt binding, with Ellefsen clamp X (left
foot).]
A third strap, which passes under the waist of the boot, prevents the
heel-strap from slipping up the side of the foot, as it is sometimes
inclined to do when the heel is much raised; and a fourth strap,
crossing the foot behind the toe-strap, prevents the heel-strap from
slipping under the boot sole at the side. The heel-strap, however, will
often be found to keep in place perfectly without these two straps,
or, at any rate, without the latter, and in that case there is no
object in keeping them on the binding.
The ski is fastened on and taken off without buckling or unbuckling the
straps when once they have been properly adjusted. In order to put on
the ski, simply push the foot well home between the toe-irons, and then
pull the heel-strap up over the boot-heel.
The toe-strap may be quite loose; the heel-strap must be so tight that
it is only just possible to force it over the boot-heel.
The toe-irons must be hammered or bent (a heavy screw-wrench is useful
for this) to fit the sole of the boot exactly, so that when the boot is
pushed home between them the centre of the heel lies in the very middle
of the ski. This means that for boots of an ordinary shape the inside
toe-iron must be more nearly parallel to the side of the ski than the
outside one, as in diagram; otherwise the boot-heel will rest on the
inner side of the ski (Fig. 8).
If the toe-irons show any tendency to wobble, small wooden wedges may
be driven between them and the side of the cavity in the ski, but by
the _sides_ of the toe-irons, not _below_ them, or the ski may split.
The toe-irons should be so adjusted that when the boot is pushed right
home the toe only projects a little way beyond the toe-strap (see Fig.
7). If the toe-strap crosses the foot too far back, it does not allow a
free enough movement when the heel is raised, and in a fall forward may
sprain the foot.
If the fastening fits properly there should be enough freedom to allow
the knee just to touch the front of the ski.
[Illustration: FIG. 8. A A right, B B wrong positions for toe-irons
(left ski).]
In order to prevent the heel-strap from slipping off the boot, the heel
of the boot should be made to project at the back, both top and bottom
of the projection being rounded to allow of the strap being easily
pulled on and off (see Fig. 9, p. 41). This is a better and a simpler
arrangement than the strap and buckle at the back of the heel with
which ski-boots are often fitted.
The heel-strap should be bent first _downwards_ and then backwards
on each side of the ski, so that the side of it which is uppermost
within the cavity of the ski becomes outermost round the foot. This
arrangement increases the tension when the heel rises.
It is most important that the heel-strap should be very tight, for
its tension not only limits the vertical movement of the foot, and so
makes it possible to lift the heel of the ski, but also, by keeping the
boot firmly jammed between the toe-irons, prevents nearly all lateral
movement, and so makes steering easy.
The heel-strap consists of two parts; the back part should be fitted
with a metal lever called "The Ellefsen Shortening Clamp" (Fig. 7, X).
Opening and closing this lever lengthens and shortens the heel-strap;
the strap is buckled so that with the lever open it will just pass over
the projection on the boot-heel; it can be thoroughly tightened up,
when on, by the closing of the lever.
This lever should be so fitted on the heel-strap that it comes on the
outside of the heel near the back.