While bindings aren’t nearly as sexy to talk about as skis or boots, they are your direct connection to the ski and the only piece of gear, besides a helmet, that is engineered with your safety as the foremost concern. Like everything else these days, they have become ever more complicated with a confusing array of applications, styles, and choices. Modern binding designs now accommodate a variety of different on-hill applications. These designs offer a range of boot movement from none on alpine bindings, to always on telemark bindings, and everything in between. So to help sort it all out, consult Binding Tech 101 and become the expert!

Alpine Din Binding

You are likely most familiar with standard alpine “Din” style bindings. These bindings are designed to offer zero boot mobility and have independent heel and toe pieces which are either mounted flat  or integrated. This means they are screwed directly onto the ski or mounted on a sliding platform or track integrated into the ski and sold as a package by the manufacturer. There are pros and cons for each. Flat mount can be lighter, tighter, closer to the ski, and you can use the binding of your choice. Integrated bindings can usually offer a bit of fore/aft mounting flexibility and no drilling means easy set-up, easy to move, and easy to sell with no holes. As far as height off the ski goes, height is considered good and riser plates are sometimes added on narrow carving skis for added leverage and to avoid “boot out” where the edge of the boot can actually come in contact with the snow at high edge angles. Lower is usually considered better on wider skis.

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