I hope you are well seated.
This is the most exiting news I’ve seen this year. Damn, in years.
A true, one piece TTS binding with Step in and Release capacities.
A prototype is starting to hit the French Alps, The M Equipment (www.the-m-equipment.com) as just release this prototype. It’s an Hybrid of the NTN system and the Tech system used in TTS. It looks just amazing.
If I had to describe a perfect Telemark binding, the M equipment would be pretty close
- Great downhill stiffness,
- Tech touring capacities,
- Step in,
- Ski brakes (not on the prototype),
- Releasable,
- Light,
- Crazy light,
<a href=”https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/absolute-telemark-tips-podcast/id935522187?mt=2&uo=4″ target=”itunes_store” style=”display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;background:url(https://linkmaker.itunes.apple.com/htmlResources/assets/en_us//images/web/linkmaker/badge_subscribe-lrg.png) no-repeat;width:135px;height:40px;@media only screen{background-image:url(https://linkmaker.itunes.apple.com/htmlResources/assets/en_us//images/web/linkmaker/badge_subscribe-lrg.svg);}”></a>
See this video to get STOCKED
And at (less than) 800 grams, it’s not light, it’s ridiculously light.
But there is more than weight to a telemark binding.
How does it ski ?
The prototype was tried by my good friend Frank from Telemarcoeur.com
Frank was called by a guy he’d never hear of to meet in a parking lot to see his new telemark binding prototype. Pierre Mouyade, engineer, and telemark skier had the next big thing to show. What a surprise Frank had. He couldn’t wait to try them on. He manage to borrow a pair of Scarpa TX pro (which he found too soft for the binding !) and of he went to La Meije to try the M Equipment prototype (see the original review here, use Google Translate if you don’t understand French)
Because Google Translate has it’s limits here’s a summary. He describes the binding as a very good prototype, very close to the final version. Frank was impressed by the feeling, very close to the NTN, coupled with the touring capacities of a Tech binding. he noted the attention to details on the prototype, he liked the step-in, the 6 holes mounting pattern and the great touring efficiency of the Tech toe piece. On the down side, the binding was not a good match for the Scarpa TX pro, the boot was too soft. Seb Mayer, a pro telemark skier from La Grave also tried the binding with the Crispi EVO boots and did not have that problem. In the end, both Telemark skiers loved the binding.
If the commercial version can deliver, my prediction is that this is most probably the Editor’s choice of next year in many reviews.
We will try to get in touch with Pierre for more details so stay tuned…
UPDATE: Introducing Meidjo
We reached Pierre again and good news for all those of us who are waiting for the commercial version, the Meidjo
It is now in production and it will be launched on November 1st.
Check out our interview with Pierre here
Check our blog for more info, Pierre promised to give us so scoops in the next fews weeks
in the meanwhile check out the m-equipment website for this
[ois skin=”M Equipment”]
Hello René Martin,
I confirm that the weigth is 400 g per binding so 800g the pair.
Pierre
Right!
that make more sense. Thanks Pierre, I’ll make the correction
Good job! Looks like a phantastic solution. Is it possible to try it out ?
Also, I am not clear about the comment about Scarpa TX Pro not working well on the binding.
salut
Marco
The TX Pro has soft bellows, so it doesn’t work well with TTS, better to use the Evo or Shiver Rando.
Can I modify my boots to fit these bindings with just a couple holes in the duck bills? Or will I need to buy a new pair of boots?