Best side-country touring bindings

bieberhole69.

bieberhole69.

Member
I'm looking for a pair of touring bindings for next season. New to skinning, not planning on doing super long hikes and primarily want a binding that will perform well in bounds as well and is not super heavy.I've been looking at the marker barons (cheaper and lighter than dukes) and either the salomon guardian or atomic tracker. I understand that there's no difference between those last two, so is there a reason the salomon sold out on evo before the tracker?

A little about me: 16 years old, advanced-expert skier, 170 lbs, 6'2", ski primarily at Alpental and occasionally at Crystal here in the PNW

Any help would be appreciated!
 
Guardian/tracker. I've heard of too many problems with the markers, and the barons aren't any where near as burly as dukes

Evo probably sold out of the guardians because people got the Solomon ones to go with their solly skis, of just happened to choose one over the other because of color or something. They are the exact same binding, just branded differently
 
I have Dukes on my 4frnt Turbos. They perform well for me. I have never had any issues with them.

If I had to get another pair of 50/50 bindings, I would get a pair of the Tyrolia Adrenalines or another pair of Dukes. For the simple fact that I wear Tecnica Cochise boots with the Vibram soles, and the Dukes and Adrenalines have adjustable toe heights to adjust for them. The Tracker/Guardian doesn't.

And, there have been several cases of ice buildup causing failures on the Tracker/Guardian platform.

FWIW, I'm a Salomon binding guy. All of my alpine bindings are Salomon. I literally have 12 pairs of 916s either mounted or in box.
 
I run Dukes on my Obsetheds and Pettitors. Already have another pair ordered for my Shreditor 102s.

They hold up well and I've never had an issue with them
 
Pettitor for sure. It's symetrical and a the camber underfoot is great in chop or riding back to the lift
 
You can adjust the toe height of the Tracker/Guardian to fit boots with rockered touring norm soles. In fact, the adjustment happens without changing the ramp angle of the boot so it keeps the boot's natural geometry in place. The problem with touring norm boots & Tracker/Guardian is with tech inserts since they can sometimes get stuck on the toe wing's rollers. It just depends if the tech insert comes in contact with the rollers, which can vary from boot to boot. Also, there is no AFD on touring norm boot soles, so you need to be aware that no true touring norm boot will release as well as an alpine norm boot does, regardless of the touring binding.
 
Incorrect, or at least misleading IMO.

The only reason you may have heard about things happening with the Marker line of AT bindings is because they've been out for a good long while now and are by far the most popular. FWIW I know a ton of people on them and most if not all agree they are great for what they are.

Conversely, I've heard a lot of issues with the Tracker/Guardian in the form of the aluminum rails breaking under odd circumstances, which is sketchy at best given their short time on the market. Some say they're fine, others say they broke while climbing on the first day, etc. Not something I'd want to be a guinea pig for tbh.

Also Barons are very close to Dukes in terms of durability so I do not understand where that is coming from. Also the F10s and F12s are lighter, stiffer, lower stacked and better hinged than the Barons and Dukes so there's always that too.

OP, I would absolutely recommend at your height weight to try to find a deal on some used marker AT bindings. Anything that will fit your boot and desired DIn range will be a decent way to start trying out some AT riding.
 
Me three for situation. Gonna try to find me some decent used barons. If not buy new and mounting.
 
In that case, just try to stay away from Fritchis and Naxos. Their low price will attract you but don't be fooled- they are nowhere near the binding that even a Baron is and I would not recommend either of them. There are tons of people on them that swear they're fine, but I hate them. They're like the world's tallest bindings made of overcooked pasta IMO.
 
they are great bindings but remember they're not the same bindings as a duke/baron/guardian/tracker. fritchis and naxos are actual touring bindings and are good for only that. i would never trust my life to them dropping a 15-20 footer. they're on the same line as a marker f10/12. stictly touring
 
Hmmm... See I know a bunch of people on the F10s/12s and they all really like them. I've always thought of the Fs as a higher performance version of the baron/duke platform. They're stiffer, lower, lighter and have a slightly better hinge point but I could be mistaken as to their overall burliness as I've never skied them.

Way waaaaaaaaaaaay different class than the Naxos/Fritchis though IMO. I am still not a believer in frame bindings though, so neither are my taste personally.
 
i'm gonna agree with huck on this one, stay away from fritschi's. i know many people who have fucked them even when they weren't skiing hard, and they look awkward as hell to ride because they're so tall. i personally ride guardians and they are great. as for the problem where they brake on the metal tracks, just don't be a dumbass when you click back into ski mode (clear the snow from underneath, give your ski a few good whacks and shake it loose) and you'll be fine. so far they have been bomber and feel very solid when i'm skiing them.
 
I've skied Fritschis (admittedly only a day) and I really didn't like them that much, if I was to go for a lighter frame binding, I'd personally go for F12s.
 
Ramp, stand height and lateral stability of the old Fritschis are what people still bitch about.

F10/F12 are plenty solid. A few of my friends ski them pretty hard, plus Plake and Davenport.
 
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