Patent ID: 8348299

Claim:
A multiple positional binding for coupling a user's boot to a ski touring device, the ski touring device configured to traverse over snow and ice covered terrain, the binding comprising: a mounting plate having a toe end, a heel end, a top, a bottom, and right and left sides, the mounting plate comprising at least one generally flat surface on top of the mounting plate for a boot to rest upon and a first mounting point on the left side of the mounting plate and a second mounting point on the right side of the mounting plate; a first mounting feature located near the toe end of the mounting plate, the first mounting feature comprising a first pivot pin, the first mounting feature allowing the first pivot pin to be held in an elongated hollow body of the mounting plate substantially parallel to the generally flat surface and substantially transverse to a length of the mounting plate, the elongated hollow body exposing a portion of the first pivot pin, wherein the first mounting feature is usable to couple the mounting plate to a first binding interface on the ski touring device and wherein the first pivot pin allows the mounting plate to rotate about an axis of the first pivot pin; and a second mounting feature located further towards the heel end of the mounting plate than the first mounting feature, the second mounting feature for coupling the mounting plate to a second binding interface on the ski touring device; wherein the mounting plate is selectively coupleable to the ski touring device in modes comprising a free heel mode, wherein when first mounting feature is coupled to the first binding interface but the second mounting feature is not coupled to the second binding interface and the mounting plate is freely pivotable about the axis of the first pivot pin, a locked heel mode, wherein the both the first mounting feature and the second mounting feature are coupled to the first and second binding interfaces, the coupled second mounting feature restricting movement of the mounting plate about the axis of the first pivot pin, and an unattached mode, wherein neither the first mounting feature nor the second mounting feature is coupled to the first and second binding interfaces.