Come on Snow! Ok not just yet.

Although there is no snow to be had I was in need of a project and decided to complete my ski conversion. Well I wasn't really in need of a project I merely wanted to do a fun one as opposed to packing or cleaning the house. Thanks to my wife I received an awesome pair of Rossi's for Christmas. This meant that the bindings from my old skis could be now used on a pair of backcountry skis that I received for free from a friend that had no use for them anymore.

The process was rather simple as first I simply removed the old bindings. Of course I hit a snag while doing so as a screw became progressively stripped and I had no choice but to bore a hole directly into the screw past its head and was then able to simple snap the head off. The binding was now free and I was able to move onto the mounting.

This is a rather simple procedure. One thing that helped was that I had installed x-country ski bindings at Trailhead in the past so I had an idea of what I was doing. To my knowledge no one came back with complaints, although that could mean they never made it out of the bush...

Any way the toe piece is the hardest part as it needs to be so many inches fore of center. Once the toe piece is in place simply line it up left to right so that it is completely center and merely use the mounting plate to mark the holes. In the case of dark skis, which I have some black on mine, simply start the hole with the drill bit. Remove the mounting plate and bore each of the holes, warning; measure how long the screw comes through the plate into the ski. Once you know this depth mark it on the drill bit with some tape as to not go directly through the ski!

Once the toe piece is mounted it is as simple as sliding the boot into the toe piece locking it into the heel portion of the binding and marking where the binding meets the ski. Remove the boot, align the heel piece to the line on the ski and mark or bore the holes as required.

Apply appropriate glue to the holes and never use epoxy as it will dry out the foam core of the ski and you will end up with a binding attached to your boot as your ski slides down the mountain and you into a tree or hopefully fluffy pile of snow.

Now the test. Put your boots. Clip into your bindings. Stand in your skis like a dork in the living room or area where there is a decent amount of space. Now jump around, lean and arch to make sure they will actually hold. If you wake up with a gash on your head from where you cracked it off the coffee table and have snapped the bindings clear out of the ski you obviously didn't do a very good job. If all goes well and the skis hold it is finally time to open a beer and admire the hard work you have accomplished. Ok not hard work but there was some work involved so enjoy the beer anyway!

For a project such as this I would personally recommend something from a small brewery or a microbrew. Sam Adams always comes to mind, McAuslen's Appircot is decent but a little on the sweet side after a couple. A new one that I might be attempting this afternoon will be Mill Street's Organic Ale or possibly their Best Bitter. Regardless of which I chose I will be sure to pass on what I thought of it.

Now to find some backcountry snow???