We have recently heard about a serious injury caused by ski bindings being set far too high. The skis didn’t release in the fall as they should have done.
 
The skier was not asked any of the standard questions relating to height, weight, boot size, ability etc.
 
As skiers/boarders we expect to trust the hire shops to be
experienced and qualified to set our bindings correctly. What about novices?  They’re unlikely to know much about DIN settings! And I doubt many other folk actually check their equipment closely enough - hire and go, as it were.
 
So, what experiences have other forum users encountered? Were you asked to complete a form? If not, which questions were you asked? Did you get the DIN setting you expected - or didn’t you look?
 
How did your experiences differ from country to country? We had to complete forms in Austria and North America for example. Only asked if a "good skier" in one French resort…
 
Wendy
 

On the occaisions when I have hired skis in France I am simply asked "what DIN setting do you want on the binding". This seems a very sensible question to ask and a lot simpler than the binding computer my son had to step on when buying new skis.
 
I imagine that after about a month of asking skiers age and weight the technician soon learns to estimate these parameters from the customers. It is then simply a matter of asking for the skill and aggression levels. How often do you hear the person in front of you when asked their weight, shrug and say they don’t know.
 
The only serious problem we had with bindings was with a friend who took his skis in for servicing in a shop in the UK at the end of the season. They wound the bindings back to zero (something about stopping creep in the springs or equally daft). The bindings disintegrated on the piste. Fortuneately we had a good multi tool with us and a eagle eyed party who recovered all the bits from over 20m of steep snow and after about half an hour (mainly searching)were able to reconstruct the binding. The man who found the white fibre washer on the snow must have had a sparrow hawk for a parent!
 
The moral of the story is to check your own equipment before you use it. And learn your own DIN settings.
 
Your post has made me query my own settings and I found the excellent page on ski injuries, http://www.ski-injury.com/ where the new French standard, called the AFNOR standard, for calculating binding settings is mentioned.
 
I think this page should be read by anyone interested in ski safety. It is good to see that actual facts and figures are used. The section on the wearing of helmets while skiing is particuarly interesting.
 

I have hired skis all my life (40 years) and have no idea about DIN settings.  I always tell the technician my weight and height and also that I ski 90% on piste, that I ski red runs very well and more carefully on blacks.  For the last 5 years I have skied 3 weeks a year, in Austria, Switzerland and France.  My opinion is that bindings don’t release as easily as they used to - I think that up till about 5 years ago my bindings would usually release if I fell, and now (although I don’t fall often) they rarely release.  On the penultimate day of our holiday at La Plagne in March this year we skied in falling snow, which was very light & fluffy, and although I fell a couple of times my bindings didn’t release.  The next morning for our first run we went down a red piste which hadn’t yet been pisted (it was open) and the powder had turned overnight to heavy sludge.  I have had little experience of this sort of snow and fell while turning - my bindings didn’t release and my skis jammed under the heavy snow.  For the first time in 40 years of skiing I injured myself - torn anterior cruciate & torn cartilage.  I am absolutely convinced that 10 years ago in similar conditions my bindings would have released.  You seem to hear of many more ligament/cartilage injuries now than a few years ago.  Before I go skiing again I’m going to visit Snow & Rock and find out about binding settings and what mine should be, so that when I get to the snow next winter I’ll be better informed and, hopefully, safer.  Will also look at the ski-injury.com website.  By the way, we have also now purchased helmets which, after much resistance, I found wonderfully comfortable and reassuring on busy slopes.

I am a good intermediate on piste skier of 30 years experience and had a nasty knee ligament injury five years ago when falling in heavy snow and my binding not releasing. The skis were my own and had been purchased from a well known ski shop in Surrey with the ski fitter carefully asking me my weight, type of skier, age etc. etc. However, after the fall and looking at the settings on my skis (Din 7) I was convinced that the setting was too high although according to most ski charts the setting was probably about all right.
 
The ski bindings were set for a fairly aggressive type of skier and also for a much younger and stronger skier than myself. I have since adjusted my Din setting to 4.5/5 and have found that they do release in a moderately ‘soft’ fall although, of course, not releasing on red/black runs when turning at reasonable speed. I have subsequently spoken to more experienced skiers than myself about Din settings and two of the skiers I have spoken to (both Ski Club of GB reps.) confirmed to me that they both adjusted their bindings around 2 points less than the recommended chart settings.
 
Finally, we have all seen the almighty rush on a weekend in the ski hire shops with everyone wanting to get their skis/boots and make off as quickly as possible to the slopes with the consequent inevitability that a good many of these skiers will have incorrect settings on the bindings most probably due to language problems and closing time of the shop in question with staff wanting to get away after a long day. The moral is probably to make oneself fully aware of what your setting should be and to err on the side of caution and take the binding settng down by one or two points if in doubt. Surely it is better to have your skis release in a fall, and if they are releasing too often then bring them back up a point at a time. The alternative (a fall at speed with no release) will almost certainly result in injury and a ruined holiday.
 
Colin Sales
umro35zlr

Again, have not had much experience of hiring skis, other than for my kids. The shop asked all the right questions (height, weight), but did not ask ability as they probably assumed that as he is an English child, then probably a beginner. I prompted that he is fairly good (now has his Bronze) and they then adjusted them.
 
As John says, the guys in the shops must see hundred of people and can probably guess most of it, but being clear yourself and prompting the information is a good idea.

This is an interesting topic, as I should imagine everyone has had mixed experiences.
I have hired equipment in Austria, Mayrhofen specifically, and found that the hire shops offer very different levels of service. Sport 2000 in Mayrhofen asked me to complete a detailed form, with height, weight, and experience, and they also discussed this with me when fitting boots and skis. I never had a single problem with these, although I once returned boots as they were particularly uncomfortable.
I then decided to buy my own boots - what a huge difference they made to my comfort and ability. But i hired skis from a different shop in Mayrhofen on the next visit, Mannis, which belongs to Skiset. They rushed through everything, looked me up and down, and issued me with skis. I was in and out in about 4 minutes. Having said that, again I never had a problem with the bindings, and I was falling over a couple of times a week at speed whiilst learning to develop my technique. I did return the skis as I found them very stiff, and changed them for much softer Salomans, but by the end of the week I convinced myself to buy my own skis.
This I did in resort, as they had some especially good bargains in Feb 2007, and came home with a good and cheap pair of Austrian Blizzard skis with Fischer bindings, which were set according to what the guy in the shop felt was best based on my stats.
I used these skis for 2 full weeks, and my skiing again moved on to another level, and I found the bindings to be perfect, although when they were serviced, I was never asked anything about the bindings, as the shop were only interested in what needed doing to the ski bases.
Since then I have sold these skis, as a friend and good skier told me I needed to step up to a more advanced level ski. This I did by buying from a guy in Newcastle who advertises on Ebay. He has a massive selection of used and new skis, mostly last seasons models, and after discussion with him regarding my ability, experience, type of skiing, places I go, slopes I visit etc etc, he came up with a suitable proposal for skis and bindings, and I came away a very happy man with skis and bindings for £189, with a retail price of £499. He even offered me a choice of Blizzard bindings, which complemented the skis, or Marker bindings, which he recommended because they are more plastic and last longer, as well as being regarded as better quality. I opted for the Markers, and he set them accordingly. I have to say that my boots slip in and out of these like a foot into a slipper.
I had cause last time I was on the snow to try some serious off piste in Verbier, and had a couple of "good" falls. At no time did I feel as if there was any danger caused by the bindings at all, as the skis seemed to pop off as and when was required of them, including on one particularly deep stretch of powder which made finding them particularly hard, and as for getting them back on again on such a steep slope, thats anothert story.
I do hear of people having knee problems more often these days, but I do think that is because we have got far more technical with both equipment and knowledge, and to be fair most of the injuries I know of were caused by collisions on the slopes.
Again, when the new skis are serviced, my binding settings are never discussed, and I assume that this is correct as they have not changed since I bought the skis.
As I said, I am sure everyone has had differing experiences however.

Being a skier with 20 years experience and an Instructor for 17 of those I would like to add a few comments which I hope will help.
Before a binding can be set accurately the following questions should be asked and answered - HONESTLY ! ! ! !
1) Ability
2) Weight
3) Height
4) Snow conditions - this is the one that usually catches people out as soft/wet/slushy snow requires the binding be set lighter.
 
So how does the Technician gather all this information? Mostly from the client of course who he has to assume is answering honestly and therein lies a problem.
Beginners apart most skiers tend to think they are better than they actually are and that can make a big difference to the settings.
 
Likewise no matter how experienced the technician I defy anyone to accurately guess another persons weight - I’ve tried this many times with highly qualified and experienced technicians and they inevitably get it wrong. In my "Home" resort of Soldeu they have now installed weighing machines at the ski set-up desks in the hire shop beside the Gondola (Calbo’s) having recognised this problem and taken the appropriate action. However there are many resorts/shops who do not have this facility and rely on judgement or more importantly the client being honest.
 
Height of course is a fairly easy one to judge as the technician gauges the person against his own height and although it is a factor in setting bindings it’s probably the least important.
 
That leaves snow conditions and the technician should know exactly what the conditions on the mountain are and make the necessary adjustments.
 
Although I agree that a binding set on the light rather than the heavy side is preferable having them set too light can result in early release during a tight or fast turn which can have the inevitable result.
 
My advice to anyone hiring skis would be to try and get to the hire shop during a quiet time - not always easy. Speak to the technician and answer his questions honestly and if you’re not happy with what he is doing say so and you always have the option to walk away and hire elsewhere. Do not hesitate to take the skis back and have them changed or the bindings adjusted if you’re not happy.
 
Regarding the comment from John about bindings being wound back to zero at the end of the season this is actually good practise as the springs get "tired" - providing you remember to wind them back up at the start of the following season of course. What I would definitely NOT do is reconstruct a binding that had come apart with a multi-tool and parts recovered from the snow. For a start you couldn’t be sure you had all the bits and may miss a crucial part stopping the binding from releasing at all - leave this to the experts.
 
For those of you who have your own skis don’t forget to have the bindings reset if you change your ski boots !
 
Finally unless you’re competent DO NOT mess with the bindings yourself there’s more to adjusting them than just the DIN setting.

For years I have set my bindings at 5.5 (and always loosened them to zero for storage during the summer as recommended by my top level BASI instructor several years ago). This year, hiring a pair of skis in Utah, the shop said that their computer advised setting them to 4.5 and said that if I wanted them higher, I would have to sign a form exonerating them from any responsibility for accidents.
 
As I am a bit older (66) I couldnt’t be bothered to argue -and in fact they were fine all week. The skis came off when they needed to in any falls, and stayed on when required on steep turns, off-piste etc.
 
By the way, the US shop asked for my weight in pounds - hard without a calculator or pen and paper (16 oz=1 lb; 14 lbs in a stone etc.)

I had just bought a new pair of boots, and decided to try them out at Milton Keynes Snow Dome, so of course I needed to get my bindings adjusted to the new boots, (boots from a well known equipment shop, initials (S&R)). S&R offered to adjust the bindings for free as well. If I remember correctly the questions I was asked was, what level am I, what was my weight, and how fast do I like to ski.
 
I arived at Milton Keynes, and onto the drag lift, and anyone who has been there will know that it is quite a tight turn at the top, as I was releasing the seat, and began to make my turn the left ski came off, I thought nothing of it, and put it back on, only for it to happen again,while initiatng another gentle turn. I then figured the bindings were too loose, they were readusted at snow dome, and were perfect. I also bought a pair of ski’s off the internet, (Blizzard xo’s with marker bindings) I was asked the same questions, the only additional question I was asked was my height. This time the settings were perfect - (used in Montgenevere first time this year). They came off when needed and stayed on when I wanted them to. I know the settings are all supposed to be based on certain criteria, but does it depend on the person who is doing the setting? More training perhaps, after all binding settings are a very important safety feature as well.

Following on from Jill’s and Charlie’s comments: I’ve wondered about whether ski bindings are set too high since I started skiing again three years ago.  I hadn’t skied for about 20-odd years before that and my experiences as a small child were that if you fell the bindings virtually always released, so I was surprised to find this time around that on all but reasonably "hard" falls my skis stayed on.  That said, both my and my wife’s bindings have, so far, released every time there has been any motion that twists the leg (ie the kind of motion that in most sports risks a knee ligament injury). 
 
I’ve always (across different countries and resorts) been asked for my weight, height and skiing ability (usually categorised as beginner / intermediate / advanced) and, from memory, have always either completed a form myself or seen the ski technician complete the form.  Oddly, although I’ve gone from "beginner" to "intermediate" in the last 3 years, my DIN setting doesn’t seem to have increased. 

In my experience, as with many things ski-tech related, you often get an opinion from the pros that you shouldn’t even think about trying to work out and set your bindings yourself, and it is extremely difficult to get a bindings settings chart from manufacturers.
 
I completely understand that if someone is not wishing to invest the time to learn about binding settings, then it is essential to rely on a good ski shop to ask the right questions and to set your bindings accordingly.
 
However, millions of amateur mechanics work on their own cars each day (with potentially much more serious problems if they make a mistake) and I don’t see why there shouldn’t be the same opportunity with skis / boards.
 
Having learned about ski servicing, including setting bindings, I now feel not only very confident that I am setting them correctly, but I understand a lot more about how skis work and how to get the best out of your equipment.
 
Of course, the pros are completely indispensible, but I think giving the impression that it’s all terribly complicated and you wouldn’t, as an "amateur" possibly understand is largely about 3 things:
 
- profit protection
 
- shops & manufacturers worrying about legal action
 
- macho posturing and trying to make out things are much more complicated than they really are by self-inflated ski techs (sorry guys, but you know who you are, and it really isn’t rocket science!)
 
Finally, having the chance to really think about your ability level and to look at descriptive examples of how you ski in relation to a DIN chart is much more useful that just a nothing definition like "a good skier". I spent a day with a guide once in Val Thorens who asked if the group were all "very good skiers". It transpired that if we said yes, then he was going to take us into the hardest off piste pitch in the 3 Valleys, requiring roping up at the top and a 50 degree entry with only about 3 ski widths wide. Many people would think "very good" meant happy on a black run. Still, it was fun!

A few comments
 
The Marker settings from a few years ago http://ski.terrymorse.com/din.html and the full Salomon stuff
http://www.salomoncertification.com/download.jsp are both readily available on the internet.
 
Rebuilding a binding is really not that difficult and much more prefereable than a long hike to the shop. The advantage with ski bindings is that you have a perfect model to copy on the other ski and can readily check that you have all the bits and that it works correctly.
 
John

When I bought a new pair of skis about 10 years ago, they came with a pair of bindings and full instructions, including a nomogram style chart for working out your own binding settings.  I have used this for myself and partner ever since, and on the few occasions where we have hired skis, I’ve thought the settings by ski shop staff too high and reduced them myself without any untoward consequences.  One check I have used, learned from a gnarled veteran, is to see if you can release your bindings by putting your skis on, setting one of them on its inside edge, bending your knee and trying to twist the front of your foot out of the binding towards the inside edge.  If you cannot do this without pain, the settings are too high. This usefully allows for the fitness/physical strength of the skier and I’ve found it is a good guide.

I’ve experienced various level of service across the years - the best being in the States and the worse in France. However, that was surpassed this year in Solden Austria, when one of the bindings on a pair of rental skis completely came away from the ski. The shop wasn’t apologetic considering that if this had happened whilst skiing (thankfully we were in a lift queue at the time)the injuries could have been serious.

Sorry to hear about your problems. I was told in Cervinia this year that the skis had to be set at a low setting or their insurance policy was invalid. So they refused to set the skis to a higher setting even though I explained that they kept coming off with small bumps.
 
My advise would be to always check the DIN setting yourself and make sure that is matches your weight and standard. Best to have your own insurance policy. Interestingly I have read the small print and they never mention the DIN setting as invalidating or validating the policy.
 
My brother-in-law recently had a bad accident on a gentle blue when the rented ski came off and he fell on its edge breaking his leg very badly (four months ago and bone still mending with metal rod inside). Perhaps the setting was too low and it should not have come off at all. So I guess it would be hard to do much here.
 
My experience is that many rental places offer you aweful skis and you should insist on a good pair and not too worn out or heavy. However they have always asked for weight, height and skiing standard and often consulted a table.
 

 
I can compare the roumanian experience with austrian one. So, if you want to rent some ski from romanian shops don’t expect know-how about setting bindings from the rental-man. If he tries to impress you with his knowledge don’t buy it! It is only common sense. The most important indicator they use to set the bindings is your experience level: beginner - low setting, advanced - high. But there is a good part in this: they have Poliana sindrom (pesimistic) which mean that they usually set the bindings for beginners too low so you can lose the ski just before you fall and never now why you are down: besause of the bindings or of your lack of experience.
  On the other hand, in Austria, in february, at Kaprun, my wife starts to learn this extraordinary sport (lucky me that she also starts to love it) and had no problems with the bindings so I think that there are very good service-men. They set also the bindings on my brand new ATOMIC SL 12 PB and I’d never regret.
  P.S. I am romanian so sorry for my english which, I know, is not so good.