Telemark and backcountry skis and boots have made recent advances and now the Linken binding finally brings telemark bindings into the modern era. The step-in feature has been on skier´s "must have" lists for years and the precise power transmission will improve every skier´s telemark turn.

Plastic boots and big skis put increased demands on telemark bindings and the Linken´s plate design can manage this increased energy and improve performance. The pre-load, flex adjustment allows the skier to fine tune the flex of the binding and the heel height adjustment insures a proper fit with all brands of telemark boots. The Linken binding fits all sizes of boots and adjustment can be done with out the use of tools.

Power transferred both through the toe casing and the heel module interface

On a traditional cable binding, all power transfer takes place through one point, the toe casing. On an alpine binding you have a two-point power transfer, through the front and rear binding. So what could we do to achieve the same effective power transfer and stability on a telebinding?

Well even more than in alpine skiing, the outer ski is the important one in teleskiing. That’s the ski that really do the major work through the turn, so we figured out that if we could manage to get a two point power transfer in that phase of the turn, that would probably be what we needed. So we designed the heel module (the big plastic part that holds the step-in and the flex-system), so it fitted perfectly into the heel post mounted on the ski. When your heel is pressing down on the outer ski, the heel module is completely locked sideways in the heel post. You’ve got a second point of power transfer through the heel and straight into the ski. The result is a much more effective transfer of power into the ski, and the power transfer through two points also gives much more control on the tip and back of the ski. Free heel skiing has never offered more brutal force and control than now!

The Linken with Garmont Triple G

The problem today is that any amount of leg power spent on elastically twisting or bending the binding and boot will never reach the ski or the final destination: the snow!

The basic idea behind the Linken binding, is that maximum power should be transferred to the edge of the ski. This is essential in all skiing, but right now there is a particular demand for this in telemark skiing, as the plastic boot revolution offers a potential for power transfer that the bindings hasn’t put up with so far – it’s the weak link in the “ski-boot-binding” system.

What makes Linken different from traditional cable bindings, is the aluminium plate hinged at the foot’s natural flex point. Together with the boot it forms an entity that perform exactly the way skiers want it to: all leg power is spent on performing a forward bending movement where most of the power is transferred to the edge of the ski - and the rest is stored in a spring and returned to the foot to kick-start the next turn.


This resulting effect is achieved from the following factors:

· The material quality and thickness gives the plate great torsion- and lateral stiffness. We use 4mm aluminium 6082 (t4).

· The 120 mm width and the positioning of the hinge’s joint axis adds to this. The short momentum arm between the boot and binding axes let the plate keep its stiffness during the most extreme use. It can’t be twisted or bended sideways and all power from the skier must either go to the ski or to the spring.

· A nice side-effect of this simple power flow is that your leg at any moment will sense what’s going on; this means a higher degree of control and the possibility of a brief, but crucial moment of relaxation between each turn.

· The positioning close to the foot’s bending axis also allows us to have just one joint. This is a very important feature, because it opens for a natural, yet stable and predictable bending movement. A narrower axis experiences higher strain and when there are eg. two of them, the parts will move more, and in a more complex way, and the binding will be worn out faster.

· The adjustable spring allows you to decide how much resistance the binding shall offer. With a stiffer binding you have to put more into it, but you get everything back!

The consequence for you as a skier is more control over the skis, and hopefully - you a better skier!

Shows complete binding with all parts

Shows how each part is fitted together.
During September/October we will have complete mounting instruction on the web. Each customer ordering online will receive a mounting jig (paper) for easy self-mounting. And hopefully you will go for it bald-headed. If not – you can deliver the binding and ski to your local retailer and have it mounted. Linken is adapted to a normal mounting jig, which most retailers accommodate.

Positioning of the boot

The step-in device consists of an aluminium heel lock on which you place the boot. This heel lock is injection moulded under several 100-tons of pressure and we use an aluminium grade especially made for outdoor exposure.


Simply press your boot down and the heel lock will snap into position.

Boot in lock down position

Final positioning for use, make sure the heel lock is placed in the centre of the groove. This is important for maximum transfer of power boot-binding-ski.

Screw for vertical adjustment

Due to various heights of the boots groove you need to be able to adjust the heel lock up or down. One example, Scarpa t-1’s height from bottom sole to centre groove is about 24mm, while a regular leather boot like e.g. Merrell Morgedal – there is about 15mm from bottom sole to centre groove. So – in order to centre the heel-lock in the middle of the groove, we have designed this adjustment screw.

Simply tilt the little adjustment arm in upright position – then slide the platform forward or backwards.

Insides of the platform

The adjustable flex system is one of the features that really creates the great feel of this binding. This simple, but carefully designed system, is buildt around a spring that can be easily adjusted to create different set-up forces on the boot. Either if you like a thight feeling upwards/downwards boot movement, or a looser feel, you can get it by simply adjusting one screw.

The heel lifter

We have choosed to drop to offer two different lengths on the heel lifters. The height of our plastic shim seems to low to support an extra front lifter. We then offer a rear lifter which is 68mm.