I recently used a pair of skis with marker alpinist bindings and was really impressed with the downhill control, however I didn’t love the brake set up with the pull / push on the heel to engage / disengage the brake when in touring mode.
Ahead of investing in my own set I’m wondering if anyone had any opinions on this or alternate binding recommendations?
Hi,
I have a few skis with Alpinist bindings on them, and my wife has a set as well. The brakes aren’t great—they can be quite fiddly, especially with cold hands. My wife has had to use her pole tips to wedge the cord in to open them. There have also been a few reports of the cord breaking.
Another issue is that a few times we’ve both reached the bottom of a run only to realise we’d forgotten to release the brakes altogether.
It’s a shame, because it’s a nice binding at a good price point.
Around the same price is the Atomic MTN/Summit. It’s a nice binding and has a slightly higher heel piece, which gives you more height options with the heel riser. However, I don’t like the brakes on those either—they don’t always stay locked down. I also think the Marker skis a little better.
I’m currently mainly using Salun bindings (new Swiss brand) and ATK Evos. Both are very nice bindings: easy to use and ski very well. I would highly recommended, but they are more expensive.
If I were looking for a binding now around the Alpinist price range and weight, I’d probably choose the ATK Crest over the Alpinist because of the brake. I haven’t skied the Crest myself, but I know people who have and they like it.
That said, if you know you like the way the Alpinist skis, that counts for a lot. You can learn to live with a bit of faff with the brakes. Worst case, if you really hate them, you could remove them and use leashes instead.
What size are your feet?
I replaced my bindings last year and the Marker Alpinist was a serious contender as it has a very low ramp angle (ie it’s very flat). Makes a big difference to how it feels to ski if you have small feet, as ramp angle is exaggerated by short boot sole lengths. My ski boots are 22.5
In the end I went for the ATK Evo 11 with a 4mm shim under the toe to make the ramp angle pretty much the same as the bindings I was replacing (Dynafit superlites). These are also fairly flat and I really liked the way they skied. Absolutely loving the ATKs, both uphill and downhill.
Thanks Sue and Rob - both really helpful accounts - the ATK options sound like a good bet I shall do some more research!
Ps Sue this is a really interesting point on boot size - I’m a 25.5 - will definitely be checking this too!