Marker Baron Ski Binding
February 12, 2009
OK, so I’m not a resort skier. I don’t even own a pair of resort skis. Chairlifts are boring, groomers are lame, and any powder stashes get tracked up by the masses so fast it’s not even worth the price of a lift ticket. Downhill boots are uncomfortable and the bindings are heavy. Alpine touring is where it’s at; you get a better workout, don’t get cold on the lift or stunk out on the tram, and (if you’re doing it right) you don’t have to endure crowds of fratty snowboarders. Best of all you get untracked powder all over the place with just a little good old fashioned effort. So of course when I demoed some new powder skis this year, I requested that they have A/T bindings on them so that I could take them to the powder. They came with Marker Barons, which are billed as alpine touring bindings, and to that I say “bunk”. These are big, heavy alpine bindings. They are big, heavy alpine bindings that ski really well, are stable and powerful, and deliver some serious edge control; but as alpine touring bindings? No, no, and no. They are a giant hassle to switch from ski to tour mode and back again, and they’re so heavy I honestly can’t imagine trying to slog them around all day on a tour. I cringe and whine every time I have to carry skis with these bindings on them, because they are so heavy they mark up my delicate shoulder and make me puff with effort, which I usually don’t mind as long as there’s a 2000-foot powder run at the end of the effort. When the effort just gets me from the parking lot to the bottom of the chairlift, I get a little disgruntled. So, while these bindings ski really well, I just cannot cosign with the idea that they are A/T bindings.
And not just because of the weight. Alpine tour skiers usually ski in alpine touring boots. Alpine touring boots have slightly thicker soles than downhill boots because they have Vibram soles for grip. The Marker Baron binding is not designed to accommodate the thicker sole, and as a result they are really difficult to click into with A/T boots. Worse yet, the undue pressure on the heel of my A/T boots has damaged the rubber sole of my precious boots. Grrrrr, do NOT ever mess with my boots or you’ll find a bad review of yourself posted on the Geargals site. So here it is, Marker Barons, you messed with my boots and now you must pay. Go back to the resort where you belong.
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2 Responses to “Marker Baron Ski Binding”
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the marker barons and dukes aren’t an A/T binding, nor are they marketed as such. If somebody sold these to you and said they’d make a good touring binding, you were lied to. Do your research. The barons/dukes are billed as a slackcountry binding, not a backcountry one. They are for jumping off the chair at a resort, yes, a resort, and skinning for short distances… eg Terminator ridge at Kicking Horse. They aren’t for the Wapta traverse. They are meant for going down and the sacrifice is in weight and climbing ability/ease of use (eg having to take them off to lock ‘em down… caveat emptor you have to take your skis off to remove skins… yes i know sometimes you just wanna lock em down without removing the skins but see my point). Oh, as for the damage to your vibram soles, you know you can adjust the toe piece right? If you don’t the bindings won’t release right (friction) and you will seriously injure your knees. You should have gotten Frischi Freerides. For the record, the barons are an AWESOME binding if, as with anything else, you use them for what they are designed for.
This comment made me laugh. Mostly because the person who wrote it doesn’t know how to take off her skins without removing her skis. Watching people flounder around in hip-deep snow trying to get their skis back on is one of the most entertaining things about the backcountry. Learn to rip ‘em from a standing position without taking your skis off – you’ll be a lot happier, or at least look less dumb.
The bindings are indeed marketed as an A/T binding, or at least they were when this review was written. People who don’t know much about touring would probably not understand how much lighter and easier real touring bindings are to use and may have bought them thinking this is what a touring binding is. If they are going to market them this way, they will get a bad review because they’re not good touring bindings. There’s no upside to these bindings that you’re not going to find done better in other A/T bindings, so what’s the point of them?
The toe piece does not adjust enough to accommodate Vibram soles, like I said in the review.
Lastly, I don’t really care where the skinning takes place – a binding this heavy and cumbersome really is not the tool for that job. And having to take the skis off to go from walk to ski mode is just the nail in the coffin.