Look Nevada

The original Nevada binding, with the cup-like toe clip. This was a "dual pivot" design, the clip could rotate around the bronze knob, while the entire assembly rotated around an axis below the binding (just to the left of the mounting screw).

LOOK's Nevada, released in 1950, was the first recognizably modern ski binding. The Nevada was only the toe portion of the binding, and was normally 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.

History

Background

In the immediate post-WWII era, most downhill ski bindings were of the "Kandahar" cable-heel pattern. 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. A long metal cable or spring ran around the back of the boot, over a flange protruding from the heel of the boot. The strap held the boot forward and kept the toe in the cup. For cross-country use the rear cable allowed the heel of the boot to rise from the ski, for downhill use it was clipped down near the heel to keep the boot in firmer contact.

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. This was not as much of an issue in cross-country where the heel was relatively free, 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 boots wore down quickly and the mounting point between the binding and boot was subject to constant change. Some designs attempted to 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 remark "Bindings were trash."

Beyl's plate

French sporting goods manufacturer Jean Beyl made one of the first attempts to solve the twisting fall problem. His design pivoted around a bearing under the foot to ensure the torque did not built up to dangerous levels, although it did not release the boot from the ski. The boot was fastened to a metal plate, which was in turn cut into the upper surface of the ski in a mortise joint about a centimetre deep. The system was difficult to install, and also heavy.

Beyl wanted a sexy name for the company, and took one from a US photo magazine. LOOK was formed in Nevers, France in 1948. The system saw limited sales, but was in use on the French ski team by 1950. But Beyl was a perfectionist and was unhappy with his plate design. What he wanted was a lightweight solution that was easier to mount, yet retained the ability to absorb lateral forces.

Nevada

Beyl's work led to the Nevada system, first released in 1950. The Nevada featured two L-shaped metal fingers that fit over the toe flange. Each finger was individually pivoted at a point just in front of the toe, and the entire binding frame was also pivoted at a point just in front of the fingers. Rotation around the pivots was kept in check by a metal spring tensioned against a cam.

With the release at the toe and to the side, the release motion resulted in the boot having to rotate around a point near the heel. As the squared-off toe flange rotated so its corners were in line with the toe binding, the apparent length of the boot increased. With the heel being held forward by the cable, this presented a force that opposed the rotation. Beyl's double-pivot design eliminated this problem; as the binding rotated around its main bearing, the fingers also rotated outward, providing a straight-line release to the side.

Nevada II and Grand Prix

Look bindings from Nevada II/Grand Prix on the left to 89 RX on the right. Note that the general layout and mechanism remains largely unchanged, the 89 is larger but works identically.

In 1962 LOOK dramatically updated the line with the introduction of the Nevada II. The new design use a single pivot point with two longer fingers. Instead of gripping the flange on the sides, the new fingers rode above them; they still held the flange down, but used the toe of the boot itself as the centring mechanism. This meant that wear and tear on the boot flange did not effect the release. Moreover, the long fingers ensured that the binding did not release unless the force on the boot was maintained; other bindings with shorter travel were subject to "pre-release", where a short, sharp force would pop the binding even when the movement would not have been enough to cause damage to the leg.

At the same time, Look introduced their Grand Prix heel binding. This was essentially one half of a Nevada system, turned sideways so it released vertically instead of to the sides. The rotating portion was mounted on a bracket that lifted it above the heel flange. When the skier stepped down, a finger contacted the bottom of the heel flange, causing the binding to rotate up until it was lying parallel to the back of the boot, locking the boot in place. Like the Nevada toe, a strong force rotating the boot, this time forward, would cause the binding to release.

Further improvements

As the value of low-friction devices to aid boot release became clear in the late 1960s, Look modified the Nevada II to take advantage of the teflon pads that were becoming common in the industry. In addition to a pad on top of the ski under the toe, Look also added a second smaller pad where the very front of the boot pressed under the Nevada's toe clips, solving a problem unique to the Look design. As the Grand Prix heel piece rotated upward to release, it would, due to geometry, also press the boot forward slightly. This could jam the toe mechanism, preventing forward twisting releases. The new pad pressed the toe back, preventing the jamming, as well as helping force the boot sideways in these situation. Known as the Nevada T, similar pads could be retrofitted onto the original version.

This basic Grand Prix system was later improved with the addition of a rotating platform under the heel of the boot, known as the "turntable", which stopped the boot from jamming on the heel release's arms when the toe was releasing to the side. Teflon pads were added to the insides of the fingers and under the toe to prevent friction. These improvements were initially released as the Look Nevada N17 in the late 1960s. The name now referred to both the toe and heel release as a pair, the separate Grand Prix name was dropped.

The N17 was replaced by the similar N57 and N77 from the mid-1970s, which was improved in a number of minor ways. The Nevada patents ran out in 1976, a similar models with long-travel toes quickly appeared from other binding manufacturers, starting with Salomon. These replaced earlier designs, which generally used a single cup-shaped piece that fitted over the entire toe flange. These had the disadvantage of requiring careful adjustment to fit the height of the toe flange, and could be impacted if snow on the bottom of the heel lifted the toe upward. Today the Nevada-style "two finger toe" is universal among modern bindings.

Three decades of Look bindings: On the left is a Nevada II toe and Grand Prix heel, while the right side has a Rossignol-branded version of the 1990s Look Pivot. Both are sitting on a pair of Head Standard skis.

The N77, in turn, gave rise to the 99, a series of bindings for different skill levels, collectively referred to as the Look Pivot. Various models of the Pivot were Look's primary offering into the 1990s. When Look was purchased in 1994 by Rossignol, they re-branded the Pivot under their own name. Look-branded versions re-appeared in 2009.

Throughout its long history, Look's only other major binding design was the Look Integral, which was aimed at ski rental shops.

References

Bibliography

• Seth Masia (Release), "Release! The First 'Safety' Bindings", Ski Heritage, September 2002, pg. 26-30
• Seth Masia, "Partners in Performance", Ski Heritage, December 2006, pg. 43-45
• Woflgang Lert, "A Binding Revolution", Ski Heritage, March 2002, pg. 25-26

External links

• Snow Job, opening credits of a 1972 movie starting Jean-Claude Killy which uses a set of Nevada N17s as the backdrop.