Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Back country ski bindings

I have long wanted to marry my two favorite outdoor sports; alpine skiing and mountaineering. I just bought new skis, Armada ARV's, and I'm looking at two different bindings: The Fritschi Diamir Freeride Plus or the Marker Baron Freeride. According to The Mountain Shop (local Portland shop with knowledgeable employees) the Marker will perform better downhill but the Fritschi is lighter and will be easier skinning uphill. Since I will be alpine skiing approximately 80% vs 20% backcountry skiing, I am leaning with the Marker. I would love a second opinion before I make this purchase.

Thanks!
MC

wow, I'd not looked at the market for a couple of years, and it's interesting as to what is now available. The real issue would be, I think, in the difference in weight, when one is going uphill. However, the difference between these two is only 1/2 lb,or 1/4 per foot. Not much difference. The other difference is in accommodation of width of ski. The Baron accommodates larger, although you can get an optional (read: pay extra) for the equivalent in the Daimir. The other difference seems to be price, for which the Baron is about $75 less.

I'd go with the Marker.

Probably any AT discussion should begin here:
http://www.wildsnow.com/

If you are correct in your 80/20 percentage, and it doesn't change, I think the Baron/Duke would be a fine choice.

Well...that is my best estimate. The deciding factors will be how much I am able to actually get out to BC ski (don't have many friends at my beginning level) and how well I do (the challenge of skinning uphill will test my limits)! I would love to increase my percentage to say 60/40 but realistically that probably won't happen. This is why I am not clear on which binding but am leaning with the Marker.

p.s. Should have posted this in the Winter Access Forum. Next time...

The top three for AT bindings are:

Dynafit
Fritschi Freeride
Naxo Nx21. (also is labled as Dynastar)

Marker Duke.

Dynafit - requires a Dynafit compatible boot. Lightest of the group, best touring performance.

Frischi Freeride - Naxo Nx21 - for every one who likes the Freeride, you'll find one who likes the Naxo. For everyone who hates the Naxo, you'll find one that hates the Freeride. Either is a fine choice.

Marker Duke. Good early buzz, but later reports is that it's cumbersome as a touring binding.

I use the Nx21s. My touring friend uses the Freeride. I've used in resorts and on long multi-day tours. My friend has used his Freerides in the resort and on long multi-day tours.

Between the Freeride and the Naxo - flip a coin.

Duke/Barron look like nightmares during tour mode. Have to take the ski off to release the heal. Hard to adjust the riser.

Don't buy any of the BS of "Performing better downhill". All of the bindings lock you down to the ski for the descent. Anyone who tells you they can tell the difference in "how a binding skis" - is full of it in my opinion - and yes, I have the credentials to back that statement up. Four bindings, all with the same DIN range will "ski" the same.

For AT bindings, it's all about the uphill. How easy it to go from ski to tour and from tour to ski? How easy is it to adjust the heal riser when climbing? Can it be adjusted with the tip of your pole, or do you have bend down or take the ski off? (something you don't want to do).

From the two you are looking at, go with the Freeride. You'll like it a lot better on tours and won't notice any difference when skiing.

For comparison - my Naxo's have been on 192 Big Daddy and 191 Fischer Watea 101s.

BTW, here's a lively discussion on the topic. You'll see many points being thrown about on the FR+ and Dukes.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121078

I can tell the difference. But then again, I am not just a skier, I am an artist of glisse.

How about demoing a pair. While I am sure no shop will have the Armada with both sets of bindings on them. Im sure you can pay one price and maybe take one binding out for 1/2 the day and the outher binding for the second have of the day. Make sure to check out all the transitions on each binding. The ease of going in/out of tour mode. Stepping in and ease of use.

I would have to agree with BULLET. The freeride plus is a pretty reliable binding. I bet too that you would not notice any difference in the downhill. May want to check out telemarktips.com and take a search and see what people are saying.

What boots are you planing on useing?

IMHO:
If you have dynafit compatible boots, your decision is made. Once you tour with, or perhaps just even lift with your own hands, a dynafit rig, you will never want to schlep anything else around. I have used the freerides quite a bit as well and I felt like Frankenstein trying to walk in them. I imagine the markers will only be worse. I'd rather convert to telemark and have a natural stride. Dynafit is the best of both worlds (AT and telemark).
With all that said... if you're going to be 80% in-bounds then you should probably just keep using your current alpine rig for resort skiing and get an AT rig that you'll enjoy using for BC (light, a little shorter maybe, light, fatter waist, and light) and use it only for BC. The one-rig idea is fraught with compromise and frustration. However, so it spending all your money on ski gear.
Again, IMHO

... speaking of BC skiing, if you haven't done this already, I recommend taking Kurt's avalanche class. Excellent stuff.

And quite masterful at it too. Sometimes you don't even need snow.

I prefer not to limit myself...



(For the record, I'm on Fritschi)

Fritschi Freerides on Kalish skis.

Love the setup for BC, but don't care for it at resorts anymore. It feels "too light" and the skis chatter a bit too much on icy terrain. That "too light" feeling is very welcome when skinning uphill though.

Another thought: I have crampons for my freerides. They come in real handy when the snow is firm, but you can't/don't want to boot it.

Fritschis on Mt. Bakers, love them and use them as Alpine skis as well as AT skis. Don't ski my Alpine setup anymore, because this is so much better. I got a good deal on the Alpineer website, which sells demos, a great place to start with good equipment for cut rates if you're not sure what to try.

Thanks everyone! This has been a tough decision for me for all of the reasons listed above. I'll respond more in detail to posts next week (off to Mt. Bachelor right now ) but I ended up getting a Salomon STH 12 alpine ski binding. I'll be looking for some "screamin' deals" for AT equipment for next season and demoing this season. So expensive! And once again, I'll get to hear Dave ask "now you need what"????????????????

I saw at least one plug for Dynafit bindings. They are the obvious choice for the touring side, but I am curious as to what people think of their performance on the descent. Do they have a predictable release like the DIN style freeride bindings?

I have been riding the Fritschi Freeride for about 5 years now and they have held up great to hard charging both in and out of bounds with the caveat that I only use them in-bounds on powder days (I have been all over Mammoth Mountain w/ these). I do prefer a alpine setup for hard packed conditions in-bounds. Which probably has more to do with the different ski choices than the bindings. Sharing a single setup for BC and in-bounds powder days has worked out well.

Bill

After many years (over 30) of downhill skiing at resorts I have also decided to take the leap into backcountry skiing. I almost bought the Marker Dukes since they are reportedly the most burly A/T binding. A lot of the extreme skiers use the Markers. I even lashed my 25 pounds of downhill equipment on my pack to try my hand at some earned backcountry turns. The weight was ridiculous. I ended up deciding to get the Dynafit Vertical LTL's. The Dynafits put your boot right down on the ski and they are about 1/3 the weight of the Markers. My new gear was just delivered last week so I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I got the Dynafit bindings, Garmont Mega-Ride boots, K2 Mt. Baker skis and G3 skins.

As mentioned, I wanted to use the new Armada all mountain skis I just purchased for AT also, to save on cost. I was leaning with the Marker Baron as it would be a better downhill binding than the Dynafit or Fritschi Freeride. After much deliberation, I decided to go with a Salomon alpine binding and get a separate set up for AT. Of course, this means buying another set of skis which is probably for the best as my Armada ARV’s are 165’s (smallest size they make). I believe shorter skis would be better for AT (may even go a little wider on the waist; my ARV's are 89). So now I’m leaning with the Dynafit or the Fritschi as skinning uphill will be my challenge. According to the responses above, either binding would serve me well. I so appreciate all the info; big help in my decision making.

rixco99,

Let us know what you think of the Dynafit bindings in downhill mode once you have had the chance to put them through the paces.

Bill