Pinbindung

Climbing race bindings also have their raison d'être for weight-optimized ski tourers with a not too aggressive skiing style and without the option of adjusting the release values.

With the expiry of Dynafit's patent in 2012, the monopoly in the pin binding market is also history. This not only led to a certain boom, but also to numerous new developments from various manufacturers. While some models differ only in detail from the original Dynafits, others have been significantly further developed.

Blocking the front cheek is always a topic of discussion. Some may block rather carelessly, others think more about it - but the question still arises: when, why and how do you block "correctly"?

Some of the descriptions in this article are linguistically abstract and may be difficult to understand without holding something analog in your hand. I am trying to make the whole thing more or less tangible for low-tech newbies, even if some things are taken for granted by experienced colleagues. Recommendation: A cozy evening at home where you can see some of the points in this article for yourself on a "living object".

With the "Black Edition", Fritschi has brought out a revised version of the Vipec for this season, which, like its predecessor, combines maximum safety with high ease of use, light weight and great downhill performance. We have already tested the binding.

"Bavarian Alpine Manifest" (BAM) is the latest project from busy hobbyist Markus "Bambam" Steinke, previously best known as an indie ski builder for Mountain Wave and Skylotech. At the heart of BAM is the Pindung®, a touring binding that combines a PinTech system with an alpine jaw binding.

Based on the Dynafit Beast 16, the 14er version has been the little brother of the big Beast 16 since this season. The binding has now had to prove what it can do on many tours and in a wide variety of conditions.

Ski tours are undoubtedly very much in vogue and more and more freeriders, who are less interested in winning the summit than in an interesting descent, are taking on shorter ascents from the lifts or even full-blown ski tours to get to the coveted untracked powder snow.

Downhill performance like an alpine binding, combined with almost all the ascent qualities of a pin binding and all this at a weight of well under 2 kg per pair? Sounds too good to be true? No, it sounds like the Beast 16 from Dynafit ...

Based on the Dynafit "Beast 16", the little brother "Beast 14" has been on the market since this season. The binding has already had to prove what it can do for a few days and in a wide range of conditions.

Next week sees the launch of the Marker Kingpin, not only one of the most interesting products of the season in the ski touring sector, but also the first major manufacturer of ski bindings to enter the rapidly growing and increasingly competitive market for Pintech bindings. We have already briefly tested the Kingpin for you.

The PowderGuide crew was out and about for you at ISPO 2014 and took a look at the equipment for the coming season. In the second part of our ISPO special, we show you what's new in the areas of ski boots and bindings. Here we show you the new products in the area of ski boots and bindings that are of interest to freeriders and downhill-oriented ski tourers.