Which binding works better in powder?

The STH will be much more forgiving than the Look/Rossi. Head is really good in that regard too.

No.

All bindings require clean boot/binding interface to function as designed.  Bindings are safety equipment.  Their job is to prevent you from breaking your leg first and foremost, and for many years now, bindings have also been designed to reduce knee injuries (although there is still a long way to go in this regard).

Some bindings might appear to be more foregiving when you got lumps of snow on your boot, but this is likley attributed to where the particular pair is set in regards to the forward pressure spring tension realtive to a particular boot and drill spacing, and is not an inherent function of the binding design.

Buy quality bindings, keep them and your boot soles in good condition.  You will have no issues.  If you have issues, take some lessons and quit blaming your tools.

You can avoid much of the snow buildup on your boots that occurs while walking if you wear cat tracks.  Cat tracks are available at most ski stores (or online; look for "seirus cat tracks")  They are basically thin rubber boots for your ski boots that provide extra traction, protect your boots from wear when walking over concrete, and keep snow from adhering to your toe and heel pieces.  Cat tracks will reduce or eliminate the scrape, scrape, scrape after you walk to the lift.  Cat tracks fold up tight and will fit in most ski pant pockets. Or you can leave them by the lodge locked to a ski rack.

If you use cat tracks, you can also spray the toe and heel pieces of your boot with silicone binding lubricant spray to help lessen snow accumulation.  Wipe off any excess with a rag.  Be careful not to walk without cat tracks on slick floors if you do this!  Spray your bindings too, and snow won't hold as tightly to them.

Sth work well in powder because of the wide front, which can be useful when getting back into the bindings after a fall (easy to get the toe into and lift the ski before pressing the heal in place).  I have Sth on my JJs and other past skis, and have been happy when in Pow.  For what its worth, companies like CMH have used bindings like the Sth because of the ease of getting back into to the binding when in deep powder.  I  have Look pivots on my Bones.  Great solid binding, but they can be a bit more work to get back into after a fall because of the pivot getting rotated.  I also have used the Rossi Axial and like the binding, but not quite as easy, for me, to get back into after a fall in the deep.  The Rossi Axial 2 120 and Look PX 12 are virtually the same binding.  I have never been a Marker fan - just personal bias based on past issues with Marker bindings.

In my experience, any binding requires removal of packed snow/ice off the bottom of soles to work correctly.  I would not consider wearing any binding without proper snow removal. 

No bindings will work properly if your boot is encrusted with snow / ice. 

My personal experience with Marker has not been good.  My kids used Marker early in their race career and had numerous pre- release issues, sometimes at bad moments - was common in the kid race world for a while.  My personal first bad experience was with the Dukes, which broke - first binding that I ever broke.   Sh happens.  The next not so good experience was with the Griffons, which I still own on my rocks skis (Scott Mission).  while the bindings do OK most of the time, I've had more unwanted heel releases on these bindings than ever before.  Tried numerous "fixes" as suggested by binding gurus (variations on forward pressure or increasing the heel din) and reduced the frequency of the problem, but still have the "I don't trust these too much" feeling and can totally relate to your experience.  Having said that, I know others who like the Royal line up.  Personal decision making is often based on small data sets and is sometime faulty because of this, but once we get something in our head...... 

where is he skiing that he's having issues staying in his bindings? Are you sure his boots aren't worn to the point they need to be replaced? Have you had a shop test them? His size and skiing ability doesn't indicate there are any special needs here.

I have been on marker griff's for several seasons with no issues, but I now prefer FKS's. However for basic powder skiing there shouldn't be any issues with any major brand/model binding.

Pm coming your way...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mustski 

I have been skiing for 40 years!  I average 30 days a year.   I began with many years of lessons as a teenager and I NEVER blame my tools unless they are faulty.  The Squires are the first binding I have owned that require far above the average snow removal.  I mean scrape, scrape, scrape. The boots are new this season as are the bindings. I have never experienced this level of annoyance with equpiment before.  I expect to remove snow.  I just do not want my son to have to suffer as I do on powder days.  I stood outside the Mammoth gondola for easily 6-8 minutes while my husband had to help me scrape my boots.  I watched dozens of people step out and lock in while I played the scraping the boots game. I would try to step in and (as tends to happen in deep powder) a little snow would fall into the binding and I would have to put my foot down and start over.  In this case it was a bad tool!  Don't assume that I am incompetent because I found fault with my equipment.  

 

I just want to make an educated purchase for my son.

Consider that you changed your bindings and your boots. Perhaps the boots are icing up more than your old ones. The bindings have pretty much the same clearance as any other as they are designed to the DIN standard. Metal in the bottom of the boot will make some boots hold snow and ice much more than boots that don't have metal in the sole. Atomic boots are notorious for holding snow and ice with their visible bolts holding the replaceable toe and heel pieces to the boot.

umm, 13 posts on this because of ice build up on an alpine binding then?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finndog 

where is he skiing that he's having issues staying in his bindings? Are you sure his boots aren't worn to the point they need to be replaced? Have you had a shop test them? His size and skiing ability doesn't indicate there are any special needs here.

 

I have been on marker griff's for several seasons with no issues, but I now prefer FKS's. However for basic powder skiing there shouldn't be any issues with any major brand/model binding.

Like I said, my personal experience with Marker is just that and others have not had issues.  My boots are fine (newish).  Bindings initially set in shop (which always sets the din too low -  I lose one din level because of my age in shop set-up -so I put them higher to what I normally ski at).  The suggestions for forward pressure tweeks on bindings made by shop tec with many many years experience. The tech suggested that others occasionally have had same issue. Heel release, for me, with these bindings often occurred when ski flexes sharply and releases quickly, sometimes even when crossing an undulating trail at slowish speed leading from one side of a bowl to the other.  Haven't had that with Rossi, Salomon, or Look Pivot bindings.  Didn't intend

to attack the binding and tried to phrase in terms of personal experience.  Might be related to some small problem with the installation of the binding, a faulty spring in the binding, or perhaps something that I'm doing.  Part of my point is that once these things happen, it affects equipment trust, even though it might not be fully rational.

It doesn't surprise me that others like the Griffs. 

Your questions regarding how the boots and binding set-up are legit and can contribute to issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadianskier 

Like I said, my personal experience with Marker is just that and others have not had issues.  My boots are fine (newish).  Bindings initially set in shop (which always sets the din too low -  I lose one din level because of my age in shop set-up -so I put them higher to what I normally ski at).  The suggestions for forward pressure tweeks on bindings made by shop tec with many many years experience. The tech suggested that others occasionally have had same issue. Heel release, for me, with these bindings often occurred when ski flexes sharply and releases quickly, sometimes even when crossing an undulating trail at slowish speed leading from one side of a bowl to the other.  Haven't had that with Rossi, Salomon, or Look Pivot bindings.  Didn't intend

to attack the binding and tried to phrase in terms of personal experience.  Might be related to some small problem with the installation of the binding, a faulty spring in the binding, or perhaps something that I'm doing.  Part of my point is that once these things happen, it affects equipment trust, even though it might not be fully rational.

 

It doesn't surprise me that others like the Griffs. 

 

Your questions regarding how the boots and binding set-up are legit and can contribute to issues.

Bindings break, stuff happens. You can find horror stories about any binding out there on this forum. It doesn't mean anything. If you think its not rational, why not edit your earlier post? 

If you are really pissed with marker and they are in danger of loosing your business, I suggest transcribing your posts here into a professional letter to their corporate office and give them a chance to make you a satisfied customer. You may be pleasantly surprised. 

If scraping snow from the bottom of a boot is the issue, then why not go with a binding that has a toe piece that works well as a boot scrapper? The stubby shape of a Marker Griffon toe piece works pretty well at this. We use Griffons on several demo skis at the shop where I work and have not had problems.

yeah, just learn a few tricks. slide the bottom of your sole up and down on the toe piece a few times, use the basket of your pole to scrub the bottom of your sole or use your hand...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mustski 

 

I have tecnica attiva diablos and actually this is my second pair of the exact same boot.  I loved them so much that when the linings began to pack out, I picked up an identical pair online. My previous bindings were an integrated system (volkl-marker) and I still have no problems with those.  Of course, I didn't try them out in powder this year as I was trying to enjoy my new Auras.  Don't get me wrong, other than the fact that they need to be SUPER snow free, the bindings worked great.  Just a big PITA on an otherwise awesome deep day!  On that note, the tecnicas do have replaceable heel and toe pieces so perhaps that is the problem.  They don't cause that issue in my other bindings though.

 

My son is not having any issues.  I am purchasing bindings for his new bushwackers and I am afraid to try the Griffons because I have had so much trouble with my Squires.  I replaced my boots and had the same problem with the 2nd pair.  There is not an issue with staying in the binding; they just seem to require more scraping than any of my previous bindings.

This is kind of funny, because I never had any issues with my Squires until Marker fixed them.  Now I have all kinds of issues getting into them unless I'm positioned juuuuuuust right. 

I guess you can say, they fixed them until they were broken. 

One time a guide told me to use my ski pole handle instead of the basket to knock snow off the bottom of my boot. "watch" he said, as he takes my pole, flips it around and then proceeds to smack his boot. The graphite shaft shatters and the handle breaks off. Leaving me to ski the rest of the day with a broken pole.  This was my introduction to avy 1.

My advise to the OP is to suck it up. snow/ice build up is a fact of skiing. 

yeah, its just a matter of good maintenance. just take a minute or two. I dont really ever have this issue unless I am in/out of the bindings a lot (price you pay for thin cover)

I like skis that are laminate built with vertical sidewalls and are square where the topsheet meets the sidewall as that top edge is a great scraper. Really have a problem? Carry a lexan ski scraper with you. It's what I use to clean off the soles of the boots of my racers.

sorry, didn't read this whole thread, but spray the bottom of you boot with pam cooking spray once or twice a year, and snow won't built up on the plastic.  also don't step into pools of water if you can avoid it.

If you need to scrape your boots off more than once on a powder day, then you're doing it wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finndog 

umm, 13 posts on this because of ice build up on an alpine binding then?

Of course it had to be alpine.     Tele skiers get buildup but nobody cares.

Quote:

Originally Posted by msolson 

sorry, didn't read this whole thread, but spray the bottom of you boot with pam cooking spray once or twice a year, and snow won't built up on the plastic.  also don't step into pools of water if you can avoid it.

Hehe.    Remember those Atomic boots with the 3-part sole and the really flat pseudo-Allen-wrench threaded rivet heads?     Tri-tech system (9.50, 10.50, 11.50)

2cm of buildup walking 20 feet across a groomer even with almost daily spraying.

I find it rather interesting that no one in this thread has gone down the "Looks are easier to pull on in bottomless because you pull the heelpiece up" path.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecimmortal 

If you need to scrape your boots off more than once on a powder day, then you're doing it wrong.

I thought you were going to say "then its not real powder".