Black Diamond Equipment O3 Telemark Ski Bindings

Lots of foks want to try telemark but aren't sure if they will stick with it. Ideally, if they take the tele plunge, they find a pair of good used tele boots at a swap, a narrower shaped ski with a softer, rounder flex and some inexpensive bindings to get into the sport without a lot of initial investment. These bindings fill that "Telemark Skiing 101" role nicely if ordered with a mid-stiff cartridge option, and mounted to skis in the 70-85mm underfoot range for predominate use in-bounds with 2-3 buckle tele boots. Black Diamond just discontinued this binding last season owing to the general trend in wider, fatter skis needing burlier and burlier bindings, but I like how this binding skis especially when paired with 70-85mm waist width skis for those skiing tele at a resort. (For comparison, I've owned Hammerheads, Rotafella Cobras, G3's and find these 03 bindings ski on par with these if used with narrower skis outlined above.) Sure, there are arguably better and more expensive bindings out there, but really, these bindings represent a good value and ski nicely for someone desiring to get into telemark on a budget. Also, I would state that it is a very well engineered tele binding with tight tolerances.