Marker Alpinist Long Term Review

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Marker Alpinist Long-Term Review

A long-term review of the alpinist and troubleshooting tips for common problems based on ~300 days on 4 different pairs.

TLDR: A lightweight binding that punches above its weight class for ski performance. Low binding delta and riser heights are polarizing but can be changed with some light work. The high heel riser mode gets floppy while breaking trail which can be quite annoying.

General
Info from Marker here https://markerbindings.com/en-us/alpinist. Horizontal release values are adjustable based on the model 3-8, 4-10, and 6-12. Vertical release value is a U spring that is replaceable but comes in release values of roughly 6, 8, and 12. Swapping U springs is simple but requires a small allen key. The brakes are weak, I have only second-hand experience with them but don’t have high confidence in them stopping a ski in firm conditions. The binding delta is quite low +2. More numbers on binding deltas here. https://skimo.co/pin-heights The heel riser heights are low for steeper skin tracks. The stock high mode is a similar height to the medium mode of the salomon MTN, G3 ion/zed, and a little less than most dynafit radical bindings. https://skimo.co/binding-riser-heights. Tahoe Trail Tools has an adapter to add about 1 cm to the riser high which is awesome. More details on that below. https://www.tahoetrailtools.com/product/beta-heel-up-alpinist/14?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

Use
97% of the time I only use the flat and high heel riser levels which are quick to swap between with a pole need no rotation of the heel piece. I agree with blister lightweight touring binding shootout description of their downhill performance as damp for a tech binding. (https://blisterreview.com/gear-reviews/lightweight-touring-binding-shootout). Their downhill performance is definitely more damp and less harsh than the salomon MTN and to a lesser extent the dynafit radical. My ideal release value is around 9 and they have always released when I want them to but haven’t had any real pre-releases. I have only ever used in them in the backcountry.

Heel up mod
https://www.tahoetrailtools.com/product/beta-heel-up-alpinist/14?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false
These are awesome. They add about 1 cm to the high riser level and bring the medium level to the height of the stock high riser level. Works great for almost all of the stupid steep tahoe skin tracks even if not as high as some of the dynafit bindings. The Heel Up riser is burlier and offers a more solid power transfer to the heel piece when sidehilling in the high mode than the stock riser. The only downside I have found is that since the high riser level of the heel up mod is higher profile it is a little more prone to going floppy from being packed with snow than the stock riser. The difference is only about %5.

The heel up mod won’t change the amount of floppiness in the heel risers for gen 2+ heels with the S-spring. I had a couple of heels with floppy risers on the work bench so I shimmed up the S spring by adding small bits of metal (.07mm tall) underneath the spring. Elevating the spring added more upward pressure on the riser and fixed the problem. You can see those metal bits in the jacked heel tower pic.

Installation: A size C2 nail punch makes removing the riser retention pin much easier.

The pin has a side with fluting (right side in the image below). Hit the non-fluted side with a punch and hammer to extract the pin. The anodized aluminum of the heel up risers is much harder than the aluminum of the stock risers. Use a vise or more force than you would expect when re-installing the pin with the heel up riser.


Increasing binding delta
Some folks have shimmed up heels with 3D-printed blocks or plastic cutting boards and slightly longer screws.

About
Sierra based. 160# lbs without gear. 26.5 boot size. Skis faster than most backcountry users seeking out as many hucks <25 ft as possible. Average 100 backcountry days and 300,000 vert per year. Skis I’ve used them on:

• Blizzard 0G 108
• Blizzard 0G 105
• Dynstar Mythic 97
• Moment Deathwish Tour 112
• Volkl BMT 94
• Volkl BMT 109
• Volkl BMT 122

Relevant TGR threads

Bits of info spread through the 300g binding thread
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/323848-The-300g-Touring-Binding-Thread/page50

Heel up risers
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/354823-Preorder-our-taller-heel-riser-for-Marker-Alpinists

Jacked heel tower
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/325570-Marker-Alpinist-heel-question

Loose/floppy risers
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/339052-Marker-Alpinist-Bindings-loose-heel-risers?p=6590616

Aplinist U-spring thread
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/339970-Marker-Alpinist-U-Springs?p=6251968

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Troubleshooting
Floppy risers
The main thing that sucks about the alpinists is when the heel riser gets floppy in the high riser mode. The medium mode is much less prone to this problem. The heel riser is held in place by upward pressure from a leaf-spring like spring that sits in the top of the heel tower. In the first generation of the alpinist this spring was just a straight piece of round metal. In generations 2+ this spring was replaced with a much better S-shaped spring. The 1st gen spring sucks and I would avoid buying a pair with that spring. The 1st gen spring will both bend and cut a groove into the softer metal of the heel riser resulting in a floppy riser. The spring can be bent back but filling a grooved riser with something like JB Weld Steelstick is mostly futile. Floppy heel riser Gen 1 fix. Bend the spring back to straight and replace a grooved riser with a Heel up riser or someone who took the stock risers off when installing a heel up. This will only be a temporary fix. Loctite around the pin and heel riser did not work for me and the loctite actually ate away at the plastic on the heel tower making the problem a bit worse. If you do want to use a threadlocker vibratite is recommended by the quiver killer folks for protecting bindings with plastic. Vibratite and loctite only provided fleeting effectiveness.

The other main reason why the heel riser gets floppy and the worst part of the alpinist binding is that the cup the spring sits in can get packed with snow during trail breaking and prevent the spring (gen 1 or gen 2+) from flexing. Based on when and where I ski, I set a lot of skin track. If it is truly wallowy, I only break trail in the medium mod and then switch to the high mode for subsequent laps. You can also apply a grease or hydrophobic spray to reduce the amount of snow that packs in there. Floppy heel riser from snow fix. Apply a hydrophobic coating to the spring/heel area. The heel up folks like using silicone grease. I find the Mountainflow Eco Wax skin spray to also work. This fix isn’t perfect but takes care of the problem 80% of the time. If all else fails use the medium riser mode. Photo Gen 2 S-shaped spring.


Jacked heel tower
Underneath the riser and riser spring is a torx screw that holds the heel piece onto the heel riser. Twice, I have had that screw loosen and developed a gap between the heel tower and heel piece. See the red arrow in the photo below. This is a normal gap but where a larger gap does form if this is the problem.

Jacked heel tower fix. Remove the heel riser by punching the pin (see the heel up mod for more details), remove the spring, and tighten the screw. Note, this screw is different from the torx screw for adjusting the horizontal release. Optional, pull the heel piece of the heel tower and clean/grease. In the photo below the silver screw is the horizontal release value adjustment and the black screw holds the heel piece down on the heel tower.


Toe lever locked forward.
Twice I have overextended the toe lockout level beyond the normal lockout range by hitting trees/shrubs. There is enough play in the lever that the toe will still release but it is impossible to depress the toe lever and manually release the toe. Fix. Eject from the bindings. Huck to flat or have friend kick the heel of your boot to release laterally. Then you can reposition the lever like normal. I once broke the plastic part of the toe lever trying to force it back into the normal ski position with my boot clipped into the toe. Marker warrantied that toe.

Other issues I have no experience with.
There are reports of U-springs getting softer with use and breaking plastic on the heel towers.

[Tjaardbreeuwer]

I just got 2 pairs recently.
both had an issue that they required a lot of force to snap the toe lever into lockout mode, and especially, to, depress it back into ski mode. So much that I would “over shoot” and open the toes.

easy fix was to file down the ridges of the toe ramp underneath the lever a tiny bit. It doesn’t change the lockout force, but it changes how easy it snaps in and out. I can only hope it won’t wear even more and start to get too easy that it snaps out on its own.

[ASmileyFace]

Nice review and collection of info. Might consider editing your font color and making it white though. For those of us on the blue background the text is tough to read.

I have a pair of Gen 2s that I bought for dirt cheap that I am considering putting on my new 120 underfoot pow skis.

For anyone in the know... what's the deal with the new Alpinist Free 13 coming next year? Not a lot of info out there, but evo mentions a wider base for improved power transfer. Will there be a new mounting platform (I sure hope not)? Is it just an added freeride spacer and higher release value?

[cat in january]

Seems most of the alpinist reviews were done with brakes. I have wondered if the brakes act as a Freeride spacer influencing the review, I have atk spacers, but only fit with a heel shim and sanding the spacer.

[Lord Thomas]

Yes, this is very helpful review.

Really want to know about the new free - mount pattern, spacer, changes to risers, etc.

[ezgzy]

Nice review and collection of info. Might consider editing your font color and making it white though. For those of us on the blue background the text is tough to read.

I have a pair of Gen 2s that I bought for dirt cheap that I am considering putting on my new 120 underfoot pow skis.

For anyone in the know... what's the deal with the new Alpinist Free 13 coming next year? Not a lot of info out there, but evo mentions a wider base for improved power transfer. Will there be a new mounting platform (I sure hope not)? Is it just an added freeride spacer and higher release value?

I spoke to a volkl rep about these a while back and he said there’s going to be a freeride spacer type contraption but the same mount pattern


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[ASmileyFace]

I spoke to a volkl rep about these a while back and he said there’s going to be a freeride spacer type contraption but the same mount pattern


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Great to hear. Hopefully that part can be purchased separately in the future.

Anyone got a set of the Heel Up risers they are not using? I am very interested in a set if someone has them.

[Lord Thomas]

Great to hear. Hopefully that part can be purchased separately in the future.

+1. Would love to be able to just retrofit existing clamps

[NWFlow]

Only one catastrophic failure over hundreds and hundreds of days with several sets of bindings. My favorite characteristics of the bindings include the low ramp and the ability to skin without the toes locked.

[LeeLau]

Only one catastrophic failure over hundreds and hundreds of days with several sets of bindings. My favorite characteristics of the bindings include the low ramp and the ability to skin without the toes locked.

That ability to skin toes unlocked is so underrated. G3, Salomon, Atomic can do that. Fritschi locks out but is designed to release. A nice safety feature

[Tjaardbreeuwer]

Hmm, I have not been able to skin unlocked with these. Once I forgot to lock, and kicked a ski within a few feet.

Maybe I’ll try it some more.

[NWFlow]

I end up locking them out if I'm really kicking steps in on steeper, icy slopes but honestly never even think about it anymore for general touring

[kamtron]

Bookmarked, thanks.

I really like these as well. Skied all of last season on mine and going strong. I have no need for a freeride spacer or extra bulk. The ski feel is so solid. Only improvement could be to toes which are quite difficult to step into, but I think this was addressed with last year's tweaks. I also had a lot of trouble getting my heels in the last two days but I blame this on the truly bottomless powder that we are suffering through.

It's worth springing for the long travel version for the extra BSL adjustment IMO.

[Lord Thomas]

Can somebody that knows a Marker rep and ask about next years freeride spacer and if it will be available as a standalone product that can be added to previous years binders. Also if it will require a different brake, and if there will be any problems going brakeless. The collective needs to know

[cravenmorhead]

Helpful review - I've had similar issues with floppy risers and with one screwjacked heel piece.

[ezgzy]

Is anyone running alpinist heels with race toes form other brands? The combo of light weight and elasticity in the heel piece is what makes these bindings good for me, but you could save some weight with a race toe and besides the wide mount the toes are pretty basic


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[ASmileyFace]

Is anyone running alpinist heels with race toes form other brands? The combo of light weight and elasticity in the heel piece is what makes these bindings good for me, but you could save some weight with a race toe and besides the wide mount the toes are pretty basic


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

I've wondered this too. The alpinist toe weighs ~125g and the ATK Trofeo is like 70g. 100g total isn't much overall, but for some it might be worth the effort.

[auvgeek]

Trab toe would be my pick if you wanna go to a lighter toe. Excellent elasticity, icing-free design, and available with or without a (very light) spacer to increase/decrease the heel/toe delta to your preference.

[Lord Thomas]

Since this may become the official Alpinist thread I got a question. Is it possible to buy just the long-travel heel base plate? If so, where?

[detrusor]

Anybody got a trick to make the brakes easier to work? It’s a struggle for me.

[Blaster]

Since this may become the official Alpinist thread I got a question. Is it possible to buy just the long-travel heel base plate? If so, where?

I’ve looked hard for marker spare parts but haven’t found any. Pretty sure you can swap heel towers and base plates without much hassle. your best option may be to buy a long travel binding and sell your current short travel version. If something is broken, I’ve had good success (3 for 3) with marker warranting anything broken or lost.

[Dromond]

Bookmarked, thanks.

I really like these as well. Skied all of last season on mine and going strong. I have no need for a freeride spacer or extra bulk. The ski feel is so solid. Only improvement could be to toes which are quite difficult to step into, but I think this was addressed with last year's tweaks. I also had a lot of trouble getting my heels in the last two days but I blame this on the truly bottomless powder that we are suffering through.

It's worth springing for the long travel version for the extra BSL adjustment IMO.

Do you have the brake or brakeless model? Wondering if brakes support the heel at all.

Can somebody that knows a Marker rep and ask about next years freeride spacer and if it will be available as a standalone product that can be added to previous years binders. Also if it will require a different brake, and if there will be any problems going brakeless. The collective needs to know

I also really want to know this.

[Tjaardbreeuwer]

Did they drop the long travel version? It’s not listed on Markers website?

[Dromond]

Did they drop the long travel version? It’s not listed on Markers website?

Skimo has it for sale but it’s the older version.