Thread: What's your AT binding of choice?

Originally Posted by pfluffenmeister

treckers! treckers!

I bought a set of brand new unused Trekkers from seanpistol for $100 this summer. I realize they have alot of limitations, but I am stoked to have them. There is a particular place that I have in mind that they will be just perfect for.

Also: I realize this is a bogus reason reason to like a product, but the music on the Tyrolia Adrenaline website is some cool as shit Euro-Techno stuff.

they don't have nearly the web hype presence.

Mind = blown

They don't have nearly as much info out there about it as the others, but the taller stack-height is definitely a turn-off for the same reason it is with Dukes (for some of us). That's a huge part of the appeal with the Guardian / Tracker (for some of us).

^This. I've been skiing dukes for years and I think they are a huge upgrade over fritschis. However, I will be picking up a pair of guardians after I got the brief opportunity to play around with a pair last year. They seem sturdy, I like the low stack height, and they skied well. I just don't know how they will hold up and while I know it has gone through some serious testing but I want to put it up to a season of my own abuse before I endorse it. That is why I voted for the duke. Like I said before. The guardian may surpass the duke and I like how it skis but I still have to vote that marker is the safest bet at this point.

Also, agreed on the euro music. That deserves a vote on its own.

Originally Posted by esales09

Mind = blown

while I know it has gone through some serious testing

apparently not

Originally Posted by skimaxpower

good catch!

Originally Posted by Alaskan Rover

Even though I've been on Fritschi for years now, I voted for Marker Dukes. I don't think I'll be going back to Fritschi. They actually DO perform really well in the skinning department...and are light weight, which I think is important on those long uphill slogs where every linear foot begins to seem a chore. But I can't say I favor them too highly on steep, tight downhills. They just don't seem to have that robustness that I'd like them to have on descent.

Lightweight is important...no doubt...but not if they wig out on the descents were toughness is most needed.

I used to race on Markers and I still say that Marker is the best binding company in the world....even after getting purchased by one ski company after another. The Marker binding division was always left to be pretty autonomous by companies like K2.

I'll be going for the Duke or the Baron. Anybody try the Jesters yet?

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How the hell do you survive in the backcountry? Is this like a god protects retarded children kind of thing?
wtf is wrong with me? why do idiots always have more money than me?

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I know the poll is flawed.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

good catch!



How the hell do you survive in the backcountry? Is this like a god protects retarded children kind of thing?
wtf is wrong with me? why do idiots always have more money than me?

So...what did I say in my post you are referring to that has your panties twisted THIS time??

Is that you have some nascent hatred of Marker, and every time you see the word it makes your blood boil more? Or is it that you are infatuated with Fritschis and don't like anybody dissing them....even if they own and use them? Or is it that you actually HATE Fritschis...think they suck uphill and downhill?

Or, much more likely, is it that you feel you must make some inane, juvenile response to every single post I make...regardless of the subject?

I'm putting my money on the latter.

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Man, if you aren't going to get some plum or dynafits, get some Dukes. Might as well be in a heavy binder with more rigid feel than the Fritschie type.

Dynafits are the stuff though. I've torn them out of a ski and the toe piece was still on my boot. Tough.

Marker Tours.

I know you excluded tech bindings but I am in the "none of the above" camp, and I thought some might want to hear why.

I skied PLUM guides mounted on 190 Liberty Double Helixes hard for 2 months in Chile this summer. I always locked the toes out for the down. I realize this may have a downside, but I aim not to crash badly or when going too fast and I accept the risk. On the days when variable conditions required me to really wrench on the binding (read:high speed side slipping on a 121mm waisted ski in variable snow), on deep days when it was time to huck (around 30feet was the biggest), and on firm days when I was carving all day, I had no unwanted releases, nor problems of any kind.

As an aside, a test in Euroland last winter proved tech bindings provide a more direct energy transfer between the ski and boot than ANY alpine or AT binder.But anyways, these bindings held me onto a really wide ski during a lot of (for me) really aggressive skiing, so I would not want to ski anything else.