Mounting a twin tip: BOF on CRS?

[Rodbelan]

I want to mount an Atomic rockered (moderate) all mountain twin tip with my voile release plate... I guess the Ball of foot on Center of running surface is the way to go. There was a video on youtube showing the How-to... Can't find it! Or else there is 7 marks on the ski: +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, -3... Some will advocate BC on maker's mark (0)... I want the ski to be able to go offpiste too (not only optimized for groomers). Thanks!

[dschane]

Mounting your boot center mark on the ski's best alpine line (BAL) or alpine center line isn't just for resort skiing. For rockered skis, many mount there with backcountry skiing in mind. And of course others prefer to be 0.5 - 2.5 cm, even 4 cm, behind that point. Here, is that 0 line the dead center of the ski? If so, it might simply be the best mount location for skiing switch and not necessarily the line that correlates to the alpine center line. If so, it might be worth an email to Atomic or find out what others have done with that particular ski.

[tele.skier]

Traditionally Cambered skis had a more formulated approach to mount position since their shared camber profile pretty much located the mount point similarly on all skis of that nature. Now with rockered tips, early rise tips, sharksnout,....and more variations, the formula approach is out the window.

As dschane said, you can contact the manufacturer, or ask where others have mounted that particular ski to get some input, or just have faith and mount boot center over Manufacturer's reccomended BAL and call it good... (that was one of the nice things about the original NTN, you could adjust the mount on the mount plate 1.5cm forward or back)

[Hindfoot]

Mounting bindings several months ago on my new twin tips with tip rocker, I did quite a bit of searching for a formulaic approach, since tip rocker makes finding the center of running surface untenable, and I wanted to compare other options to standard line on boot center before drilling. Two suggestions came up. Boot center [or ball of foot] at center of sidecut or center of edged contact. Center of sidecut is pretty straight forward: hold the ski on its side on a flat surface and slide a card from front, then back until it stops, locating start and end of sidecut. Center of edged contact was less well defined, wherever I heard about it. It refers to putting the ski at an angle to a flat surface and pressing down until whole edge of ski contacts surface, then finding start and end of contact. Sounds like a good functional measure of ski contact when it is in use being edged. No angle was specified. Both of these methods found mounting points that were within about 2cm of the standard line, but I can't remember more specifically which was closer. In the end I decided that the ski maker's recommended standard line probably takes more into account than these aspects, and even for tele is possibly the best spot. Asking the manufacturer about best tele position is what I finally did and would recommend. Can anyone offer any more about these two center-finding methods and their usefulness?

[dschane]

Can anyone offer any more about these two center-finding methods and their usefulness?

I cannot, but I can offer other, mostly useless information. Manufacturers vary somewhat on mount location generally and for tele specifically. Black Diamond now breaks it up based on whether the ski is "classic" (mount tele boot center 25 mm behind the BAL) or "progressive" (mount tele boot center on BAL). The G3 sks I've seen all put the tele boot center 5 mm behind the BAL, regardless of ski type. And of course lots of manufacturers just provide a single mount location and don't distinguish between tele and alpine. In the end, I'd rather follow the manufacturer's recommended mark than run cards along the sidecut or balance the ski on screwdriver to find another location. It seems to me that a good manufacturer would test the skis, accept user input, and modify accordingly. And in the end, I personally don't believe 2 cm makes that much difference - you just adjust and then forget, or keep it as an excuse when you face plant.

[Rodbelan]

I sent a message to Atomic Canada... They told me they have no recommandations and that they do not carry tele gear. I think I should try with Atomic USA...

[teledad]

Which ski? Ask Atomic for their recommendation for alpine mounts, particularly for more traditional skiing (i.e. not park or spinny stuff). Or check threads on TGR regarding best alpine or AT location for this ski. Then mount boot center on the alpine line, or up to 1cm back depending on personal preference. I have NTN Freerides so I can dork with the position a bit after the mount but I generally wind up going with the original location (BC on the line).

[Rodbelan]

It is a Panic; moderate tip rocker only... I think you pretty much answered my question WH... I will do the same as your friend with the Automatic. Maybe -1cm. Thanks to all.