The Official Salomon S/Lab SHIFT MNC Thread -AMA

[zion zig zag]

I patrolled on dynafits occasionally because I had two setups, but we had 4 or 5 guys that used dynafits all season long, everyday.

[XXX-er]

The AT soles are actually a big drawback, too...inability to boot-ski effectively is very annoying when working on the hill. It's a trade-off I'm willing to take, seeing as my Freetours ski almost as well as a race boot and are the most comfortable ski boots I've ever owned, but I really wish they had DIN soles for boot-skiing purposes.

I used convertable garmont AT's hanging out at the wc & olympics for 6 weeks so I could use either or

having the walking sole in whistler was nice, can't say I needed to boot ski anywhere

FR+ bindings were good for clicking in

IME you can keep your tech bindings for work on snow

[Cocximus]

personal preference; i like making sure the edges and bases are completely clear of ice before dropping something fun.

+1. Sometimes I stop a few times during a run to clear my bases.

[galibier_numero_un]

+1. Sometimes I stop a few times during a run to clear my bases.

I re-wax several times during a run to accommodate changing conditions on the mountain.

On a serious note, I can see another (albeit small) group of individuals who require high risers: those with limited ankle dorsiflection - either due to injury or other causes.

... Thom

[Judo Chop!]

On a serious note, I can see another (albeit small) group of individuals who require high risers: those with limited ankle dorsiflection - either due to injury or other causes.

That’s me. I often run my high riser on just my bad ankle side. But I also don’t expect a product to be designed for my injury.

Regardless of what is/isn’t a best practice for rise height, this thread at least shows that there is market demand for a higher option.

[nickel]

Regardless of what is/isn’t a best practice for rise height, this thread at least shows that there is market demand for a higher option.

Meh. I predict few will call it a deal breaker. I did a lot of uphill last year in the coast mountains and used my high risers very little. I could make do without them in most of the cases where I did use them, and in those where I couldn't, I 99% guarantee I could've just set a new skintrack that didn't suck.

YMMV but I don't see a big issue with this. Might even lead to better skintracks being set by the unwashed masses. Or maybe they'll give up and stay home. Win-Win.

[Alkasquawlik]

Meh. I predict few will call it a deal breaker. I did a lot of uphill last year in the coast mountains and used my high risers very little. I could make do without them in most of the cases where I did use them, and in those where I couldn't, I 99% guarantee I could've just set a new skintrack that didn't suck.

YMMV but I don't see a big issue with this. Might even lead to better skintracks being set by the unwashed masses. Or maybe they'll give up and stay home. Win-Win.

I like this last statement.

[LHutz Esq]

It would be great to make them an add on type thing - like crampons.

Buy em if you think you will use them- don’t if you don’t.

Back in my dark dark teli days I had high risers on some setups and none on others depending on the intended use.

Just wondering how hard that would be to design and build...

[Cocximus]

I find traction and stability to be way better with no riser. I barely use the med riser even on steeper terrain. Each with his own, but I found it easier to adjust technique for no riser/med riser and have better traction and stability than deal with the poor high riser traction. I would never buy a binding with high risers, clearly it's designed for gapers

[Choucas]

I think that the new Salomon SLab does deliver an alpine binding that also works as a tech touring binding. Very clever design. My problem is that it's neither fish nor fowl. If I want to ski in a resort, I'll use an alpine ski, boot and binding that suits my level of skiing and the part of the world where I ski. If I want to tour, I'll use a touring ski, boot and binding that matches my touring needs, location, and ability.
I understand that there are people who want one set of gear to do it all, but in the end there are too many compromises that have to be made so you end up giving up light weight to gain beefiness or giving up downhill control in the pursuit of light weight. I also think that for most folks, the climbing advantage of a tech binding is not that significant unless you're covering long distances. I'd pick a Marker F12 frame binding as a pretty light binding that skis downhill just fine and tours very well if I wanted one set up to do it all (plug in your own preferred boot and ski). In fact, Marker should revisit that design and knock some more weight out of it and put it out at a competitive price. You don't need to spend north of $600 for a binding to have fun in the snow. Though many of us don't seem to mind it, we are being played.

[grinch]

Ahhh.....never mind


When these become available. Can we buy a 3 pack at a discounted price?

[LeeLau]

I think that the new Salomon SLab does deliver an alpine binding that also works as a tech touring binding. Very clever design. My problem is that it's neither fish nor fowl. If I want to ski in a resort, I'll use an alpine ski, boot and binding that suits my level of skiing and the part of the world where I ski. If I want to tour, I'll use a touring ski, boot and binding that matches my touring needs, location, and ability.
I understand that there are people who want one set of gear to do it all, but in the end there are too many compromises that have to be made so you end up giving up light weight to gain beefiness or giving up downhill control in the pursuit of light weight. I also think that for most folks, the climbing advantage of a tech binding is not that significant unless you're covering long distances. I'd pick a Marker F12 frame binding as a pretty light binding that skis downhill just fine and tours very well if I wanted one set up to do it all (plug in your own preferred boot and ski). In fact, Marker should revisit that design and knock some more weight out of it and put it out at a competitive price. You don't need to spend north of $600 for a binding to have fun in the snow. Though many of us don't seem to mind it, we are being played.

" I also think that for most folks, the climbing advantage of a tech binding is not that significant unless you're covering long distances."

That is a smoke crack opinion. Holy shitballs. Don't mistake your opinion which is just plain out and out stupid with "most folks"

[NorCalNomad]

" I also think that for most folks, the climbing advantage of a tech binding is not that significant unless you're covering long distances."

That is a smoke crack opinion. Holy shitballs. Don't mistake your opinion which is just plain out and out stupid with "most folks"

+1


Also on the heel riser thing. There were two big groups of avy 1 classes out this weekend and it was funny to see so many people go for their risers at even the slightest whiff of uphill. I'm guessing Salomon will probably have to acquiesce to the unwashed high riser masses when all the dealers complain.

[Graham]

I'll echo what Lee said. The very first second you tour on a tech setup, you notice the giant difference of not carrying a fucking heel dildo and rest of said binding.

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[XXX-er]

In my training/testing back in the day when I was in pretty hot shape I put the difference between my pretty light dynafit ski/boot/binding/skin tourng set up and my heavy twintip/ heavy frame binding /heavy skin/4 buckle alpine boots at about 15% over a 1hr up track which I thot was pretty sginificant

as for riser height depending on your bsl risers will work more or less

[mall walker]

" I also think that for most folks, the climbing advantage of a tech binding is not that significant unless you're covering long distances."

That is a smoke crack opinion. Holy shitballs. Don't mistake your opinion which is just plain out and out stupid with "most folks"

word

[TahoeJ]

" I also think that for most folks, the climbing advantage of a tech binding is not that significant unless you're covering long distances."

That is a smoke crack opinion. Holy shitballs. Don't mistake your opinion which is just plain out and out stupid with "most folks"

I once had the same misguided opinion, which is embarrassing to admit. And yeah, it’s just plain wrong. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.

Funny story, did a hut trip with three guys last year in CO and we are discussing AT bindings on the drive. They all had Guardians / Dukes. There’s one sled full of gear / food / booze and I propose that if I beat them to the hut while pulling the sled the whole way they have to get tech bindings. I’m not in that much better shape and the race still wasn’t that close... probably won by a few hundred feet. It’s not like I’m some bad-ass, it just shows what a disadvantage they were at.

[nickel]

To anyone who says this binding is too in the middle, you're on the drugs.

I'm sick of alpine boots. There are a number of touring boots out there that ski plenty well enough for all my resort needs, be it charging, working, spring mogul bashing, whatever. To top it off, they're comfy and I can spend the whole day in them without issue as well as other benefits.

At this point, for me, days on resort not spent working or skiing with my son are pretty limited. I will probably never buy another alpine binding. I was considering getting an mnc binding for work but if this binding proves reliable, it will eventually replace everything in my quiver except a super light setup that I don't even own yet. This looks like a pretty excellent product. Let's see what happens to the early adopters.

Well played to all involved.

[auvgeek]

You can pry my alpine boots off my cold, dead feet. But if this binding performs as well as Cody says it does, it will be infinitely better than frame bindings and will serve many people very well. Regardless, I bet it sells like hotcakes (until/unless serious issues crop up).

[PNW_Skier206]

You can pry my alpine boots off my cold, dead feet.

+1


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[TahoeJ]

Have you guys tried any of the hybrid boots? They ski pretty damn well these days. Still heavier than true touring boots but a hell of a lot lighter than regular Alpine - I’d put them basically in the same class as this binding.

[retirwntm]

You can pry my alpine boots off my cold, dead feet - you can get them off).

FIFY


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[SB]

No binding quiver will be compleat without these.

This one needs it own ski to match it's gnarly quotient.

Praxis RX?

[tharmor]

https://youtu.be/LMcswzrK7Rg

Atomic’s version


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[auvgeek]

Have you guys tried any of the hybrid boots? They ski pretty damn well these days. Still heavier than true touring boots but a hell of a lot lighter than regular Alpine - I’d put them basically in the same class as this binding.

Yeah. I kind of blow through the flex of many boots, including the RS130, so I'm in a plug for inbounds. YMMV. I'm not a big guy; it's just my anatomy. Plenty of people poke fun at me for it, but it's my current preference for skiing inbounds. Part of me thinks if people like Cody and Hoji can ski their tech boots full time, why can't I? But whatever. I'm not them and I have fun in plug boots.

The Vulcan balances the down and up well enough that it's my touring boot. But I realize both hybrid boots absolutely have their place, so I'm not knocking them much. If I skied more lift-accessed terrain that also required skinning, I'd definitely consider a Lange Freetour or equivalent. As it stands, two new boots -- I'd want to replace the Vulcan with a hybrid boot and a lwt touring boot -- feels excessive and a hassle, especially for the amount that I ski in graduate school on the east coast.

This binding is even more versatile than a hybrid boot, so I absolutely disagree that it's too far in the middle ground. Just saying alpine boots are still my choice for spinning lifts.