About Phil Brown

Phil Brown edited the Adirondack Explorer from 1999 until his retirement in 2018. He continues to explore the park and to write for the publication and website.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chris says

    Good reminder, Phil!

    Question: Your comment, “At the top of the pass, we stopped to adjust our bindings for the descent to the lake. This is done by throwing up a heel lever to tighten the cable.” makes it seem that you can ski with Targas without using the cable. But Targas are not 3-pins, are require the cable, and heel lever, at all times, no?

    • Phil Brown says

      Chris, the cable is needed to ski safely with the Targa bindings. But there are two positions for the heel lever. In the down position, the cable is looser. This is for flats and uphill. Flipping the heel lever up tightens the cable for the downhill.

      • Chris says

        Thanks! I wish I knew that in December 😉

        (the other “Chris” is not me)

        FYI – I do have the Voile 3-pin w/wires on another pair of skis, but they give the same range of motion with plastic boots.

  2. Chris says

    Maybe lesson #1 should be get a different binding. Voile makes some solid 75mm options with both 3 pin clamp and cable. You get redundency and less resistance on the up because you can disengage the cable.

    • Phil Brown says

      Yeah, I realize this is not great publicity for Targa bindings. However, they are popular and in my experience had been reliable until my recent mishaps. I have Targas on three pairs of skis and have used them on hundreds of outings. Since they don’t make them anymore, I will check out other cable bindings when the time comes. Thanks for the suggestion.

  3. Jim Amell says

    Hi Phil, what a coincidence! I had a similar “broken cable” problem several weeks ago ~ 1 mi from the car at Santanoni Preserve, intending on skiing to Moose Pond. My Riva binding cable broke right at the pivot point (to be fair, they are nearly 30 yrs old). Not 3 pin, but I could keep my foot in the toe piece and kick/double pole back to the car. I head a 2nd pair of skis in the car, so it didn’t ruin my day….

    But now I can’t seem to find a Riva replacement cable and/or binding. May just go with sturdy 75mm 3 pin binding – hope they still make those as I don’t want to convert all of my 20+ yr old skis to BC NNN…..

    • Phil Brown says

      Jim, you can still buy three-pins, and some companies still make cable bindings for tele. It’s just that options are more limited than in the past. Targas were very popular, from what I’ve read.

  4. Barry D Jewett says

    Build your own cables. It can be done with a bit of ingenuity. I have been building cables for my Riva bindings for years and I keep a spare set and the simple tools to do a backcountry replacement with me at all times.
    Cheers

  5. Mark in Michigan says

    I just bought a pair of Rottefella Super Telemark bindings with hardwired for $125 from Akers. I read somewhere that this is a fairly recent new offering from Rottefella.

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