Skiing Archives - Arcady Genkin

Removing NIS plate to install SNS binding

Using a block plane to plane away the NIS plate.

My Salomon ski boots fit me much better than any NNN boot I tried. But these days half the skis on the market (if not more) are sold with NIS plates, which makes installing SNS bindings a bit cumbersome. Having tried some Atomic and Salomon skis, I decided that I like a particular model of Fischer skis better, but the NIS plate on them bugged the OCD part of me, which wanted to not have the stupid unnecessary plates. Contemplating this, I saw a Youtube video (in Russian language) of a guy removing the NIS plates from a pair of skis using a hand plane. Being a woodworker, I could not pass the opportunity to use my hand planes AND satisfy the OCD part of me at the same time, so I set out to remove the plate. Spoiler: I would probably not do it again.

What is Salomon SNS to NIS interface adaptor

Front and back sides of the adaptor plates.

I was researching Salomon’s adaptor to mount SNS bindings on top of NIS plates, but very few web stores that carried it all had a low resolution images of something black and oblong. It was obvious from description that it was meant to be used to mount SNS bindings to an NIS plate, but I could not understand what benefits it offered. Recently I bought a pair of the adaptors, and hopefully this post would help someone who would like to know more about it.

Installing Salomon Pilot SNS bindings

There is no shortage of articles and videos about installing SNS bindings onto skis. I watched a few such videos, and all of them were missing precision. Some said that the binding needs to be aligned at the ski’s balance point, others – 1 cm behind it. Most instructions don’t specify the drill bit diameter, and those that do, disagree with each other. It took me a while to locate the official word on installing the bindings.What you are looking for is a PDF file called Salomon Technical Manual Nordic. I only found the 2011 edition in a downloadable form, but there is a 2014 edition that can only be viewed in the browser. I am sure that the main concepts stay constant year to year. For example, all bindings in the 2011 edition are specified to have screw diameters of 6.3mm.

I am not going to duplicate the information found in many other online instructions, but will concentrate on what I thought was missing from them. My takeaway from reading the PDF were two points below.

Atomic Pro Skintec skis review

The mohair base of the Atomic Pro Skintec.

I needed to replace my cross country skis, and decided to try the new technology with the mohair grip zone (skintec). Atomic skintec skis have really come down in price in the last couple of years, and there are now budget skintec models availabe, both under the Atomic and Salomon brands. I decided to get the Atomic Pro Skintec, but my local store did not have them in stock, and I ordered them online.

I felt pretty safe ordering these skis online because my weight (82kg) falls right in the middle of the weight range for the 202cm length (70-95 kg).