Alpine binders on Janak

[strange meadow lark]

I have a pair of 05-06 Janak's with hardwires, and I really enjoy how they ski with parallel turns, and ski them faster then my tele ability can handle. I took them into the shop to get alpine bindings mounted, but the shop tech said he thought the mounting plate was not reinforced enough for alpine. This seemed to me to be his default cautious response to seeing any tele ski. He said AT bindings have different mounting points and put different stress on the ski in a fall and they would be fine, but I can't afford AT right now. Is there merit to this guy's response or should I mount them alpine anyway, being my only pair of good skiis, this isn't time to experiment.

[hemas]

...He said AT bindings have different mounting points and put different stress on the ski in a fall and they would be fine, but I can't afford AT right now....

Shop monkey is full of it...

Not to mention that Janak is actually sold as Tele/AT-ski...

[gh444]

shouldn't be a problem.

[Doremite]

Anyone have any confirming thoughts on this matter. Have a buddy looking at the 173 Janak but wants to mount alpines on 'em. Any reason to discourage this course of action (or rather stop encouraging it).

[ulty_guy]

they will spontaneously combust.

[Wasatch_Expat]

I have Janaks mounted with freerides and ski them in-bounds quite a bit. Before I bought them I went the rounds with Atomic customer service about the difference between the Janak and the sugar daddy. Basically the only difference is that the Janak has a reinforced binding mount area for tele bindings and the sugar daddy does not. So the Janak can be mounted with Tele, AT, or Alpine binders.

Hope this helps. Your shop guy owes you beer rather than the other way around. If you want to collect on the debt, let me know, and I will dig up the actual email from Atomic.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

Your shop tech is an elitist telemarking geek who knows that it's easier to sit there and try to make himself sound smart by telling you lies than actually doing his job.

[Wasatch_Expat]

Here's the "official" story from Atomic:

From: Info@Atomic-usa.com [mailto:Info@Atomic-usa.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 11:45 AM
To:
Subject: RE: Janak and Sugar Daddy

Hello,

The major difference between Tele skis like the Janak and Alpine skis like the Sugar Daddy is in the binding area. Telemark ski have a far greater reinforcement in the binding area than an alpine ski. Another difference is that Tele ski is designed to arc with pressure delivered from a free-heeled turn with a larger percentage of skier body weight on the uphill ski. ATOMIC will not warranty any of our Alpine skis if they have been mounted with a Telemark binding. ATOMIC will honor a full two-year warranty for all of our Telemark skis mounted with any style of Telemark or Randonnee binding.

Hope this was a bit more definite answer. Have a nice day!

Best Regards,

ATOMIC USA

[Doremite]

Yo Expat:

Thanks, brother. Good stuff.