Bindings are massively important to skiers, not just in how they hold you onto the skis but in how they release, as well. Both a binding that fails to release when intended and a binding that releases when it’s not supposed to can lead to serious injuries. Professional halfpipe skier Matt Labaugh didn’t just pop out of both of his bindings while landing, he snapped both heels off of his skis.
It’s not 100% clear what happened, but it looks like the heel pieces snapped off the track attached to the ski, rather than the entire heel piece ripping out of the ski. So it doesn’t seem like a problem with the installation of the binding. Either way, it’s absolutely not something you want to happen while landing a massive air like that one.
This crash occurred at the men’s freeski halfpipe at Secret Garden in China. Impressively Labaugh still wound up in 5th place for the event. The top two winners were both from New Zealand, while the 3rd-6th place finishers were all from the United States.
