Plum Factory Tour - Chamonix Day 6

The 7+ hour beat down tours with my new friends provide me a nice excuse for a rest day and a chance to do other things. I brought unmounted Hagan X-Race skis with me for the Pierra Menta with the intentions of having them mounted during a visit to Plum. That finally happened.

Rene was kind enough to take me the 45 minutes down valley to the shop. It was a cool drive, really, with big mountains everywhere, the rock changing from granite to limestone along the way. The valley broadens and the towns become more industrial and less touristy. This is where normal people live and work.

Nothing like having the experts mount your skisWe made our way via GPS to Plum without issue. I walked in and was immediately greeted by Thibaut Guyot, a kind of PR guy for Plum and my contact via email over the last year. He knew I was coming. Thibaut was eager to get my skis into the shop and we wandered back and met the tech dudes surrounded by dozens of pairs of skis getting these beautiful bindings mounted. Lots of candy on display.

Early Plum prototypesIn the mean time, Thibaut graciously took Rene and me on a full tour of the place including the manufacturing side of things. It's interesting to note that, aside from the mounting screws, all parts are made on the premises. Amazing in this age of out sourcing to China, or wherever. But this allows for quick feed back and changes in production and design if need be. 

New color options comingPlum makes a high quality product but, like any new toy, there're bound to be hiccups along the way. There was a run of issues with the wings on certain binding styles a year or two ago. Once recognized, the issue was contained and the design was changed mid production. Thibaut pointed out that most companies will wait for the following year to make majoy changes in design but Plum is key to alter things mid season when the need or interest arises. 

Raw material stock

I don't know much about machining pieces of metal so it was fascinating to see the raw tubular aluminum metal stock in one pile get transformed into beautiful ski bindings by a big ass automated machine. These beasts need very little attention and many are running 24/7 kicking out various pieces that are then assembled by another group of local workers. 

Stress testing deviceAll told, Plum is keeping production and quality tight by cranking out about 10,000 pairs of bindings each season. They don't sit on their laurels, though. Innovation continues.

They've jumped head first into the split board market with some innovative ideas for bindings, attachements and ski crampon integration. Lots of buzz to come in that market segment, I'm sure.

I was able to get my hands on a new binding coming out next season. It'll be released for one of their pro teams first and then to the general public the season after that. Can't say much more than that but it raises the bar on a couple of counts.

It was a great experience seeing Plum's set up and meeting the men behind the product. I've been a fan for years and continue to trust the product in all situations. I asked about breakage and, aside from  the toe piece wing issue mentioned above, there have been very few problems. Thibaut pointed out that some of the most gnarly skiers in Cham use the race bindings for steep descents. He pointed out that it comes down to style. Some dude weighing 90 kilos and hucking off cliffs should not be using race bindings, obviously. But steep skiing and ski mountaineering, in general, is typically a lower energy, more precise affair and the bindings are well-suited to the purpose.

I mentioned the grief I sometimes feel on steep American skin tracks and having a lower heel lift with race bindings. Plum is making a small plastic widget that fixes to the back of the heel piece that, when rotated, will give additional lift. Now, I'll have everything!

Comments

[jbo]

Nice, looking forward to the new binding. Do the heel risers look like these?

[Brian]

Jason,

Sorry I didn't get pictures. They're supposed to get me a pair at Pierra Menta. There were none ready when I was there. When I get them I'll post a photo.

But the idea is the same. The Plum version is much smaller, probably not as high, and, frankly, cleaner looking than those. But the result is the same.