Black Diamond To Build A Proprietary Telemark
"Holy Grail" Binding
Launch of boot line pushed back;
says CEO Peter Metcalf, "the emergence of (our) new lightweight,
ingenious telemark binding design that can be integrated into
a new boot/binding system has encouraged us to move the launch
to 2008."
December 9, 2006-- Next week Black Diamond will officially announce
that it will delay the launch of their boot line by a year, this
in order to focus on more testing, as well as the refinement
of a sort of NTN of it's own: an integrated tele boot /binding
system. In a general Press Release, BD President and CEO Peter
Metcalf will explain this startling decision, "The BD Ski
Boot Line will officially launch in Fall/Winter 2008. We are
breaking this news well in advance of the SIA and OR Winter trade
shows for many reasons, including the desire to test the boots
for a full season before bringing them to market. We want to
focus in winter 2007 on the unmatched strength of our new freeride
ski line, refining our boots, and honing the development of a
proprietary binding system.” Metcalf continues, "while
the progress on the ski boot program has been phenomenal to date,
the emergence of a new lightweight, ingenious telemark binding
design that can be integrated into a new boot/binding system
has encouraged us to move the launch to 2008.”
For many years, telemark skiers have been
calling for what has been called the "Holy Grail,"
a dependable, high performance, step-in and releasable tele binding,
with ski brakes and a touring mode. Metcalf says BD has developed
exactly that, “The new telemark binding is a patent pending
design that integrates boot and binding in a step-in, 360-degree
releasable, compact and light weight system. The Fall 2008 telemark
boot line will be reverse compatible – meaning the new boots
will work equally well with the new binding system, as well as
all existing 75mm bindings.”
In a conversation earlier this evening,
Metcalf told Telemarktips that BD is committed to certifying
the new binding to DIN and ISO standards and he stressed that
in what will be a crowded tele and AT boot market, BD has to
get everything right, and, right out of the box. "By the
time we have boots, and the new bindings on dealer's shelves,
we will have invested 5 to $6 million in this project, that's
more than we invested in the entire company in the first
10 years of BD's history. The only way we can justify this venture
is to hit a home run," said Metcalf. "It's the only
hope we have to recoup our investment."
Why pour even more money into a telemark
binding system with Rottefella's long awaited New Telemark Norm
(NTN) already set to launch next Fall? "We are telemark
skiers at BD, our employees mostly ski tele, it's who we are,"
said Metcalf. "And the new tele binding is an important
part of our strategy to make our boot line profitable. It had
to have all the advanced features telemark skiers have been asking
for, and in a single, modern design."
Penn Newhard, a representative from BD's
PR firm Backbone Media, has seen and handled prototypes of the
new binding and says the touring mode is dialed, "the touring
mode is as frictionless as BD's new free pivot O1, and it's super
easy to change modes."
Couloir Magazine publisher Craig Dostie
has been a frequent and early advocate of a more advanced tele
binding system, Dostie may have even coined the phrase "Holy
Grail," so with the news from BD in mind, we asked Dostie
earlier today for his thoughts on the implications of all this
for the sport. "What the Holy Grail of telemark bindings
means to the sport of telemark is that it can dramatically lower
the barriers to try the sport by eliminating the points of reluctance
such as lack of safety release, or lack of step-in convenience.
Those are the key elements." Dostie continued, "For
the backcountry telemarker, having a touring mode to eliminate
uphill resistance is critical, and having a lightweight binding
with all these features would complete the dream. But for those
of us who have already converted, the lack of release, and the
lack of step-in convenience have sort of become badges of honor.
Thus it will remain to be seen the extent to which tele skiers
will embrace the new technologies. Still, that the Holy Grail
will attract new people to the sport is a slam dunk conclusion."
As noted by Metcalf, BD's new tele boots
will be backwards compatible with existing binding deigns, such
as the current BD offerings, as well as the popular G3 Targa,
22 Designs' Hammerhead and apparently all others based on the
75mm toe, this will give BD tele boot buyers the option, if they
wish, of sticking with their old bindings before pulling the
trigger on the new system. But it should be noted that this does
not mean current boots will work with BD's new binding. They
will not.
This is a pure freeheel binding as well,
with no provision for locking down the heel. Skiable prototypes
are already being tested. We are told that photographs, and perhaps
even a spin or two on the new binding may be made available as
soon as next month.
We asked Peter Metcalf if BD would be willing
to license their new proprietary binding system to other boot
and binding makers, and we received an interesting response,
"This is sort of a tough one for us. It's our design, our
own creation if you will. We are very proud of it and on some
level it's tempting to keep it in-house and remain in control
of its use. On the other hand, we have a large investment in
the technology, and our chances for ultimate success improve
measurably if we license the design to another company that we
trust, know well, and respect for the way they do business."
Connecting the dots, and knowing that Garmont
has held back from opening molds, and from thus making a significant
investment in an NTN boot, we specifically asked Metcalf if he
thinks Garmont might be interested in making boots compatible
with BD's new binding. He laughed heartily and replied, "Garmont
is a company that we trust, know well, and respect." As
translated by this reporter: expect another announcement in the
very near future, probably well in advance of the Outdoor Retailer
trade show, at the end of next month.
Commentary: We are assured by trusted, multiple sources, that
this new binding system is way past the "vaporware"
stage, and that the program is actually quite far along. It should
be remembered as well that this announcement isn't being made
by some obscure startup, but rather by the same industry
leading firm and CEO who brought tele its last major revolution,
the plastic boot. For a number of reasons we can think of, probably
mostly having to do with lawyers and such, everyone in the know
that we talked to was reluctant to offer details of the design,
and how it works. For that we were told that we will have to
wait a bit, with a good possibility that we will have a lot more
to report in three weeks, when BT and I have a scheduled visit
to BD already on the calendar.
Yet the news that BD has a Holy Grail tele
binding in skiable prototype form, and that this industry leader
is committed to bringing it's own proprietary system to market
by Fall 2008, well, that is simply huge. Add in that the battle
lines appear to be drawn, with BD and Garmont designing boots
for BD's system, and Scarpa and Crispi having put their chips
on the table behind Rottefella's NTN, it's easy to see that the
fireworks are just beginning. As a snowsport in serious need
of a technological upgrade to its boot/board interface, telemark
could not be in a better position. The competition has begun
in earnest, the warmups are over. This is a high stakes game,
with both sides playing long ball, looking to hit that big home
run. A decade from now we will no doubt remember these times
as being significant to the sport's gear development in the very
same way that many of us recall the introduction of plastic tele
boots nearly 15 years ago.
Stay tuned, we will be here to give you
the most up to date news, and to keep you informed of the latest
developments. |