Swiss Ski Binding Maker Chooses VX Software

Freeride skiing is a style ofskiing characterized by an all-mountain terrain of powder,ice, trees and boulders.Freeride ski bindings, likewise,need to be sophisticated andrugged enough to withstand avariety of conditions includingjumps, walking, downhill andtouring, and yet industrial still remaincomfortable. Fritschi AG SwissBindings, the maker of sophis-ticated binding systems fortouring, alpine, telemark andfreeride skiing, recently intro-duced what has been calledthe first thoroughbred freerideski binding, the Diamir Freeride. The Diamir Freeride isthe only ski binding with an integrated climbing functionthat opens up a whole new world of possibilities forfreeride skiers.Although fundamentally a downhill binding, the light-weight Diamir Freeride features a stable walking functionand has been designed to consistently meet the demand-ing requirements of the freeride enthusiast. Drawing onFritschi's expertise in ski-touring, the Freeride provides afluid walking motion, minimum weight and unequalledflexibility, allowing freeride skiers to execute smoothjumps in fresh powdered snow or to climb deep, pristinesnow slopes away from densely-packed snow trails.High-tech materials and construction are used in theDiamir Freeride including a unique sliding bar permittingunrestricted flexing of the ski underneath the binding.The special shock-absorbing elements that minimize verti-cal impacts and flexing improve ski control under all con-ditions. The bar achieves the necessary length and compen-sates to guarantee constant release values in every skiingsituation.Fritschi's products have endeared themselves to userswith their patented system and a design strategy thatminimizes muscle strain across all of its product applica-tions. Yet achieving the level of flexibility and fluidity ofmotion displayed in the Diamir Freeride and other Fritschibindings is no small task. It is, therefore, essential thatFritschi have access to superior freeform surfacing in bothCAD and CAM when developing its products palette andwhy the company turned to VX CAD/CAM software fromVX Corp. "We were inspired by the unlimited possibilities ofVX's freeform surfacing and filleting," said Martin Jordi,manufacturing engineer for Fritschi. "That was threeyears ago. Now the Freeride system is but one part of theFritschi products palette which is developed exclusivelyusing VX CAD/CAM." "We were inspired by the unlimited possibilitiesof VX’s freeform surfacing and filleting.”