Cable binding

Cable bindings, also known as Kandahar bindings or bear-trap bindings, are a type of ski bindings widely used through the middle of the 20th century. It was invented and brand-named after the Kandahar Ski Club in 1929 by ski racer and engineer Guido Reuge. They were replaced in alpine skiing by heel-and-toe "safety bindings" in the mid-1960s.

The cable binding attaches firmly at the toe only, normally in a trapezoidal metal cup roughly the same as the toe of a boot. A strap is fastened over the toe to stop it from rising out of the cup vertically. Another cable holds the boot forward into the cup, and under the tow strap. If the heel is lifted, causing the boot to rotate in the toe clip, a spring keeps tension on the cable to keep the boot pressed forward.

The Kandahar version added had two small metal clips on either side of the boot, normally near the instep or heel. For cross-country skiing the cable was left on top of the clips, allowing the heel to move vertically. For downhill runs, the cable was moved under the clips, forcing the heel down onto the ski. This provided greatly improved control, allowing the skier to torque the skis for turns.

Clipping-in also presents a serious danger, locking the ski to the leg during falls. It was estimated that 10% of all skiers using these bindings were injured during any given season. It was this injury rate that led to the nickname "bear trap", for the way the leg was trapped in the jaws of the binding.

Downhill skiing only developed as a separate sport after the introduction of the ski lift. Prior to this, almost all skiing involved a mix of cross-country, downhill and even uphill skiing. For cross-country, the efficient striding motion requires the heel of the boot to lift from the ski, allowing the leg to lag behind the body as the other ski is moved forward. In the late 1880s, a number of bindings using a leather strap over the toe and a second one pulling the boot forward under the toe strap were common. These kept the toe of the boot on the ski, while allowing the heel to rise some distance.

Fastening the straps to the ski was always a challenge, often requiring slots to be cut into the ski. A key advance was introduced by Fritz R. Huitfeldt, who used a metal plate that was screwed onto the top of the ski with short vertical extensions that had holes to attach the straps to. The major advantage to this design is that the vertical extensions held the boot firmly centered on the ski, whereas the former all-strap systems generally had considerable flop. Variations on this design led to the shaping of the metal plate to progressively hold the toe more firmly.

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Wikipedia