by Craig Dostie
The invasion of 2-pin tele bindings, originally conceived as the Telemark Tech System®, continues. The latest is a telemark kit from Kreuzspitze, a ski mountaineering shop in Germany. It provides the ability to build your own tele tech binding without needing a machine shop. This is not a complete binding, just a mounting plate with holes for the tech toe of your choice and a Voile Hardwire cable.
It's a metal baseplate that comes with threaded holes to mount any tech toe with Dynafit's legacy 5 hole pattern and a block behind it with a post that Voile cables connect to. The post can be set in one of four positions. For those who are ready to switch to NTN boots and bindings, this kit lets you take advantage of the touring efficiency of a Dynafit toe with Hammerhead's legendary tele tension.
A simple machined aluminum baseplate that uses the G3 6-hole pattern. Cable position is adjusted by removing the steel cover and moving the cable post. 4 positions: ~ 45, 60, 73, 85 mm[/caption]
The kit mounts using the G3 Enzo pattern, which is the classic 4-hole Targa pattern with two extra holes in the middle (but not the exact middle). This has proven to be a strong mount pattern, but wider patterns are becoming the norm for better power transfer, or in the case of tele, better retention.
A weight of 160 g per foot suggests the base is aluminum with a steel cover over the cable posts. Thanks to photos by The Consul it appears the cable can be positioned at approximately 45 mm, 57 mm, 69 mm, and 81 mm behind the pins. From my experience with TTS that translates to something like HH #2.5, HH#3.5, HH#5, HH#6 (#6? Yeah, just lock it already, eh?).
The best part of the adustment is how easy it is to change the cable pivot location. Simply unscrew the steel plate over the posts, and move them to one of four positions. No need to put inserts in your skis, just use normal ski screws and glue 'em in place. Even so, this kit looks so simple you might put inserts in your skis so you can swap this binding easily between a few of your fave boards.
With this kit and a Dynafit TLT toe you could easily be telemarking with a binding in the one pound per foot range, give or take a few ounces depending on how you pick your components. The total package price will vary too, largely based on the toe you get.
One note of caution. The standard heel lever on cable yokes is designed to be placed in the heel groove of 75mm telemark boots. With NTN boots the heel groove is absent, so the lever goes on top of the heel step. Voile's new black heel levers work okay, but the best heel lever comes from the TTS cable kit.
What you get for a Kreuz'er Kit
Kreuzspitze Tele Kit
MSRP: $220
Weight/plate: 160 g ⋄ 5½ oz.
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