Touring Bindings: It’s All Tech These Days

Touring bindings have undergone a fairly significant evolution in the last twenty years. From the Silvretta EasyGo 444’s to the Fritschi Diamirs to the everlasting Dynafit TLTs, there has always been a push from companies to evolve and make things better. For a while, that evolution seemed to deal only with weight; every new generation of binding that came out claimed to be stronger and lighter. But a few years ago, companies started to see something curious. People were skiing on the hill in touring bindings. Much like the need for mountain bikers to have one bike to do it all, skiers were looking for the same thing. With a ski, that’s easier. With a binding, that’s difficult.

Over the last ten years, we’ve seen binding companies building more in terms of strength than weight. Bindings like the Marker Duke and the Salomon Guardian 16, both plate bindings, revolutionized the skier who could have a single setup to do everything. Sure, it was heavy, but with a pair of skins and some fitness, you could enjoy as much slack country as your buddy in his spandex touring suit.

The downside to these developments was that, while bindings like the Duke were strong (I ski patrolled in Dukes for three seasons), they had some issues. First, any plate binding changes the flex pattern of your ski and makes them feel, well, dead underfoot. Second, they are heavy. In the Duke and Guardian’s case, uber heavy. Lugging those things around in touring mode for a day will destroy your hip flexers. But the most critical part of these bindings being mediocre to tour on is there pivot point. Because of the plate system, the pivot point is well in front of the toe. On a pin, or tech binding like a Dynafit TLT, the pivot point is at the toe, and believe me, this makes a difference in efficiency, comfort and longevity while you are touring.

Over the last few years, though, companies have finally started to see that a tech, or pin binding, could not only be light and more efficient, but offer some of the attributes of bindings like the Duke and Guardian. Tech bindings could be beefier, have options like forward pressure and a few other alpine binding characteristics but still maintain their massive benefits; mainly that tech bindings ski really well, tour really well and are, on average, lighter.

The first developments for a beefier tech binding that could double as your full time setup came from G3 and Dynafit. In G3’s case, it was their first foray into alpine touring bindings and they went all out with the Onyx; a heavier, stronger pin binding that offered skiers something they could potentially use both in the backcountry and at the resort. While not perfect, they were a start. Since then, especially in the last three years, several companies have followed suit with their own versions of a heavier, beefier tech binding. Dynafit introduced the Beast, a burly version of their long standing, industry leading pin bindings, with a DIN of 16, and Fritschi has brought out a tech binding as well, but perhaps the greatest innovation has come from Marker.

The Marker Kingpin was introduced last year and is a hybrid binding of sorts. The toe piece is a fairly standard tech toe piece with pins. The heel, piece, however, is where the big change came. The heel is a step-in, alpine style piece that provides something tech bindings have been lacking for so long: forward pressure. It also uses the heel of the boot as opposed to the twin heel pin system common on other tech bindings. I spoke with a retail shop manager last year who was on a trip to Chile testing the Kingpin, and he was amazed at what it could withstand. Icy hard, inbounds moguls and melt freeze crusts, to high speed groomers to deep pow, the Kingpin performed beautifully and throughout the week of testing, the group of test skiers didn’t have one pre-release issue. As a touring binding, it enjoys all the benefits of a tech binding; comfortable position with the pivot at the toe, fairly light weight and finally, it doesn’t change the flex characteristics of the ski. All in all, the Kingpin has had glowing reviews on everything from day skiing to long, multi-day tours in every condition imaginable.

While other companies like G3, Fritschi, and Dynafit have all introduced stronger tech bindings, none of them seem to have the same benefits as the Marker Kingpin. Regardless of that, it’s great to see the type of development that’s been happening. Innovation in skiing has, for so long, been steeped primarily in alpine ski equipment. With that need for a ski setup that, like an enduro bike, can be comfortable going up and send it going down, companies out there are giving us skiers a chance at having one setup to do it all.

Be safe, ski hard.