Introducing Crossover: Easily Move Your Bindings from Ski to Ski

Think back to the last time you bought new skis. Did you also buy new bindings?

While bindings and skis go together like peanut butter and jelly, bread and butter or bicycles and tires, it turns out that most people don’t get new bindings when they get new skis.

Data from Snowsports Industries America (SIA) shows that in 2015 North Americans purchased roughly 650,000 pairs of skis but only 335,000 sets of bindings.

How does this happen?

Cannibalism.

One Binding. Many Skis. 

We’ve probably all done this: moved our current bindings from old skis to new skis, effectively rendering the old skis useless while saving money by not having to purchase new  bindings.

While there is nothing wrong with saving money and cannibalizing your old skis, it renders them obsolete, unavailable even as rock skis.

But might there be a better way to save money and continue to use both your new and old skis?

Colorado-based entrepreneurs Kyle Rajaniemi and Cameron Nazminia believe they have the answer with their company, Crossover.

Thin, glass-filled nylon plastic plates are screwed into place on skis, right where your bindings would be. Bindings slide onto the plates and lock into place without any special tools or skills.

Think of the plates as bindings for your bindings.

I asked Rajaniemi about the stability and performance of bindings attached with Crossover plates.

Here’s his answer.

“One of our core engineering and design principles was ‘to not modify or inhibit the performance and safety of current skis and bindings.’ At the front of the toe plate and the rear of the heel plate there are ‘positive stops.’ These positive stops are essentially walls that prohibit any movement forward or backwards once you click into your bindings. They are truly what makes the binding stay in the place you want it to. The titanium lock rods are a backup for when you eject or are walking around town. You literally cannot slide around.”

Crossover plates are made in Iowa of industry-standard materials designed to withstand temperature changes and skier demands.

In addition, the binding’s DIN settings — as set by your ski shop or ski techs –are not adjusted or impacted in any way when bindings are moved from ski to ski.

Currently Crowdfunding

No matter how inspired an idea, it takes money to bring a new product into production.

For the Indiegogo campaign, Crossover is partnering with High Fives Foundation and Icelantic Skis.

Perks include a $699 package offering your choice of 2018-19 Icelantic skis, plus Crossover plates. Other options include a $125 High Fives perk, with $50 going to the foundation and Crossover plates and swag coming to you. And if you’re just looking for the plates, sign up for $60 and get plates for two sets of skis.

“We developed Crossover because we were sick of spending money on the same bindings each time we wanted a pair of skis. Like surfboard fins, cycling shoes, home power tools or even ski boots themselves, the bindings serve the sole purpose of holding you on the ski when you want and releasing when needed,” shares Rajaniemi.

“We wanted a way to get more of what we wanted and those were skis. From conversations on lift lines to conversations in retail shops I’ve heard countless times that people hem and haw over getting a second set of skis because of the cost of another binding.”

So if you aspire to have a multi-ski quiver, or just to get more use out of your older skis, check out Crossover.

It’s an inspired idea that just might inspire you.

 

 

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