Find the Sweet Spot: Where To Mount Your Ski Bindings

Now that you’ve picked up that perfect pair of Coalition skis, it’s time to mount your ski bindings. Here’s a few tips from the women at Coalition Snow to help you find the sweet spot.

Where to Mount Ski Bindings

Where you mount a binding on a ski will have a significant effect on how the ski performs. Even moving the binding just a few centimeters will result in a totally different skiing experience, which can be awesome or totally detrimental depending on what you’re looking for in your gear. Here we’ll cover a few popular mounting points and how they’ll change you ride so when your shop tech asks where you should mount your skis, you’ll have the answer.

Traditional Mounting Point

When considering where to mount ski bindings, shop techs will look at where mid-sole marker on your ski boot will fall on your ski. Most ski builders will mark their recommended mounting point based on how the ski is designed to perform. Usually this point is based on what is considered a “traditional mounting point” which puts the mid-sole of the boot a few centimeters behind the true center of the ski. In most cases it is best to follow the recommendation. These guys and gals know what they’re talking about.

Mounting Skis for Park and Pipe (True Center)

Park and Pipe skis are different from all-mountain skis in that they have more of a symmetrical shape which is beneficial for skiing switch, and balancing on rails. Many park riders prefer to mount their skis on what is called “true center” to take the most advantage of the symmetrical design. True center is found by measuring the ski from tip to tail and marking the exact middle of the ski which is usually a few centimeters forward from a traditional mounting point.

A center mount is generally recommended for a symmetrical or “true-twin” ski such as our Bliss Park Ski as long as you plan on spending most of your time in the park. If the Bliss is your go-to daily driver we recommend sticking with the recommended mounting point which is 2.5cms back from true center.

Forward or Back?

Moving the bindings forward from the recommended mounting point will make the skis feel shorter because less ski length in front of the binding means that less weight is needed to initiate turns. The upside is that ski will be easier to turn at lower speeds and more balanced on rails and boxes or while skiing switch. The downside is that the ski will feel less stable at high speeds and won’t respond as well in carved turns. The skier may feel like they are “going over the handlebars” at times.

Mounting Bindings for Powder

Moving the binding back from the traditional mounting point shifts the skiers weight back allowing the ski to float through powder and crud. This will help when skiing wet and heavy snow like what is found in the maritime climate. However the ski will be less playful, and more difficult to initiate a turn on hard pack than a ski that is mounted at the traditional recommended point. This mounting point is only recommended for a powder ski that you plan to use solely on bottomless powder days such as the Rafiki Powder Ski.

Some other things to consider

Design aspects such as the camber profile of a ski can also have an affect on where the mounting points fall on a ski which is why there is no uniform answer on the best place to mount any ski. For example you’ll want to mount a ski with a lot of early rise in the tip farther back behind the center line than you would mount a ski with traditional camber to achieve the same feel.

The Quick and Dirty on Coalition Snow Ski Mounting Points

In general, we recommend that your tech find true center of the ski and use the guidelines below. Stick with our recommended mounting point unless you’re familiar with moving your mounting point.

Bliss Park Skis: We recommend mounting 2.5 cms behind true center unless you know you prefer a center mounted ski.

Rebel All Mountain Skis: The suggested mounting point is 8 cms behind true center. We recommend sticking with the recommended mounting point for best carving results.

SOS All Mountain Skis: The suggested mounting point is 4.5 cms behind true center.

La Nieve Backcountry Skis: The suggesting mounting point is 10 cms behind true center.

Rafiki Powder Skis: The suggested mounting point is 5 cms behind true center.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected] and we’ll help you out.