Look Nevada

Look's Nevada, released in 1950, was the first recognizably modern alpine ski binding. The Nevada was only the toe portion of the binding, and was used with a conventional cable binding for the heel. An updated version was introduced in 1962 with a new step-in heel binding, the Grand Prix. These basic mechanisms formed the basis for LOOK bindings for over 40 years, changing mainly in name and construction materials. The Nevada toe pattern is almost universal among bindings today.

In the immediate post-World War II era, most downhill ski bindings were of the "Kandahar" pattern of cable binding. This consisted of a metal cup at the front of the ski that kept the boot centred, with a leather strap buckled over the toe to hold it down into the cup. A long metal cable or spring ran around the back of the boot, over a flange protruding from the heel. The strap held the boot forward and kept the toe in the cup and under the strap. The system was designed to keep the toe firmly in place while allowing the heel to rise off the ski. This allowed for a smooth cross-country striding motion. For downhill use, the cable was clipped down near the heel to keep the boot in firmer contact with the ski, and allow some level of lateral control.

The major problem with these bindings is they did not release in the case of an accident. In particular, if the forward tip of the ski rotated to the side, the force was transmitted through the length of the ski to the boot, forming a huge moment arm. Even small forces could produce torques able to break the ankle or knee, and spiral fractures of the calf were common. This was not as much of an issue in cross-country where the heel was relatively free to move, but in downhill use when the cable was clipped down this was a serious concern. In the 1950s it was estimated that a skier had a 1% chance of suffering an injury on any given day, and that 10% of skiers would suffer a fracture over a single season.

In the immediate post-war era there were a few halting attempts to address this problem. However, most suffered from the problem that the leather ski boots wore down quickly and the mounting point between the binding and boot was thus subject to constant change. Some designs address this by having the user screw metal fixings onto the boot sole to provide a more solid mounting point, but these would only fit a single style of binding. In any event, they required constant adjustment and were often complex. Richard Spademan, inventor of the Spademan binding, would later dismissing them all, stating "Bindings were trash."

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