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Since I tried it, two or three new forms of toe binding have been put on the market, the simplest of which seems to me to be the Davos form, which is merely a strap fixed to the Ski with an iron loop at the end to fit into the hook on the boot and an ordinary Huitfeldt spring buckle to fix it firmly. Solid bindings.
It is good to find the seals so close, but very annoying to find that the dogs have discovered their resting-place. The long spell of fine weather is very satisfactory. Saturday, July 1, 1911. We have designed new ski boots and I think they are going to be a success. My object is to stick to the Huitfeldt binding for sledging if possible.
The commonest forms of these are the Ellesen, Lilienfeld and Bilgeri, but as I have never tried any of them, I can say nothing about them. Heel bindings. There are two main forms of these the Lap thong and the Huitfeldt. The Lap thong is merely a long strap of raw hide or leather.
The ski-bindings were a combination of the Huitfeldt and the Höyer Ellefsen bindings. We also had quantities of loose straps. We had six three-man tents, all made in the navy workshops. The workmanship could not have been better; they were the strongest and most practical tents that have ever been used. They were made of the closest canvas, with the floor in one piece.
The trouble about a Huitfeldt binding is that it is thick and clumsy and the buckles stick out so that they catch in the snow when running. The Scheer binding avoids these drawbacks. It is put on just as easily as a Huitfeldt and the thin thong lies so closely along the boot that there is nothing to catch in the snow.
The Huitfeldt binding is a thick double-leather strap, which buckles round the whole foot and has a strong spring to pull it taut when the binding has been slipped on to the heel. This is the usual binding on hired Skis.
I have tried both these bindings, and now wear a Scheer binding, which is a combination of the two the long Lap thong with buckles and also a spring similar to the one tightening a Huitfeldt binding. The chief drawback to a Lap binding was that it took time to put on so that fingers got very cold and clumsy when fitting it before a run down from a height.
The sole arches up under the instep and the binding, becoming loose, slips off the heel. There is no cure for this, and the only solution is to use a toe binding, such as the new B.B., or a solid binding such as the Ellessen or Lilienfeld, instead of a heel binding. As most hired Skis have the Huitfeldt heel binding it is essential to ensure that boots are of the very best.
In addition to remaking the sledges, Bjaaland had to get the ski ready. To fit the big, broad boots we should wear, the Huitfeldt fittings had to be much broader than usual, and we had such with us, so that Bjaaland had only to change them. The ski-bindings were like the snow-goggles; everyone had his own patent.
With this arrangement one does not have good control of his ski and stands the chance of a chafe on the 'tendon Achillis. Owing to the last consideration many had decided to go with toe strap alone as we did in the Discovery. This brought into my mind the possibility of using the iron cross bar and snap heel strap of the Huitfeldt on a suitable overshoe.
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