Ready to explore the mountains in winter powered by your lungs and legs? You’ll need a backcountry setup to get you out there, including the best backcountry bindings. Sure, you might still be able to hike out of bounds at your local ski area with regular alpine ski bindings, and there’s a lot of great terrain out of those gates. But you can’t skin uphill to earn those turns without a backcountry binding. Backcountry bindings release at the heel while keeping your toe locked in but free to pivot up and down while ascending.

With this initial investment in backcountry ski bindings (and skins, which you’ll use on the bottom of your skis for climbing) comes the ultimate freedom and efficiency for lift-free skiing. Our testers skinned at resorts, cruised uphill in gentle glades near Crested Butte, and climbed up and skied down peaks from the Tetons to the Rockies to find you the best backcountry bindings for any use and budget. Whether you need the all-around performance of the Salomon MTN Pure or something a bit more budget-friendly like the Fritschi Xenic 10, we’ve got the spread covered. Lightweight and efficient, touring bindings are an integral part of any backcountry setup, so don’t overlook this crucial technology that connects your feet and boots to your skis and the snow uphill and down.

If you’re new to this space, our buyer’s guide is the perfect place to start learning about how to shop for backcountry ski bindings. Then, with some knowledge and all the homework we’ve done for you, you can evaluate our top selections for the best backcountry ski bindings to find which model is best for you this coming season.

Head over to our comparison chart for a side-by-side rundown of specs and pricing, and check out our FAQ section, especially if you’re new to the wonders of ski touring.

Editor’s Note: We updated this guide on September 23 2024, by adding 4 new products, including our best overall pick, the Salomon MTN Pure, our best new intro, the Dynafit 7 Summits and the best hybrid binding, the Salomon/Atomic Shift 2. We also fleshed out the buyer’s guide to provide more helpful information.

The Best Backcountry Ski Bindings of 2024

Backcountry Ski Bindings Comparison Chart

How We Tested Backcountry Ski Bindings

Testing backcountry bindings involves thousands of vertical feet of climbing, scouting lines, evaluating couloirs, making smart choices on hut trips, quiet powder turns in the trees, and our fair share of unintended releases on the skin track. For the ski-touring experts at GearJunkie, the real work also involves mounting and adjusting bindings, route finding on tours, waxing, familiarizing themselves with new technology, and stepping into unfamiliar toe pieces in deep snow.

Our Expert Testers

Curating this guide from the beginning back in 2020 is writer, photographer, and lifelong ski bum Aaron Bible. Aaron is an award-winning journalist who’s been covering the ski and outdoor industries for decades, and he brings his keen eye for detail and a knack for the written word to provide solid assessments of each binding in our list. Calling Eldora Ski Resort home base for almost 20 years and another almost dozen years between Summit County and Steamboat Springs, Aaron has been testing touring bindings since they became readily accessible in North America, and he’s ridden the wave of technical advances in bindings, boots, skins and apparel which has led to the massive growth in the sport.

As the touring boot and binding technology kept improving, he made the permanent switch from telemark to alpine touring about seven years ago, and he hasn’t looked back. Typically racking up triple-digit ski days each season, he currently calls Monarch Mountain his home hill. However, when he’s not traveling around the country and the world for turns, he can also be found at Arapahoe Basin for mid-week uphill missions. In 2024, we enlisted the help of backcountry enthusiast, ski tech and master bootfitter, Ryan Kempfer. Spending over 100 days in the backcountry each year, Ryan is the ideal person to put backcountry ski gear through the wringer.

Our Testing Grounds

This year’s testing included many spring skiing, deep winter missions, and early-season excursions. We spent multiple days camped out in the trailheads of some of the best-known and lesser-known spots around the Rocky Mountains, skinning uphill at our favorite resorts around Colorado and many forays into the backcountry.

We also had to hit enough lifts to understand how these bindings and skis perform on the downhill in all types of conditions. These missions included Steamboat and Vail — including time spent in the backcountry off of Vail Pass; the Powder Highway and Red Mountain in Rossland, British Columbia; and from Monarch Pass and Monarch Ski Area to Mammoth Mountain in California; Copper Mountain and Loveland Pass, Jackson Hole, and more. All of this new tech has seen some serious wear and tear at the hands of our testers.

Our Testing Process

The best way we’ve found to evaluate backcountry ski bindings thoroughly is to simply go touring. Through miles walked, countless kick turns, and transitions, the user experience becomes clear. We pay close attention to how difficult it is to click into each binding (after a reasonable amount of practice), how it feels to adjust the risers from a standing position, and how they perform on the downhill.

Finally, we consider the weight of each product. In human-powered travel, a few grams can really add up. Like in all performance gear, it’s a game of compromises: the lightest bindings won’t have the best downhill performance, and the burliest bindings with the most features will never be a top choice for a multi-day tour. Typically, our favorite bindings fall somewhere in the middle, functional without weighing us down. Complete your backcountry kit by consulting some of our other guides, including the best backcountry skis, the best avalanche beacons, and the best climbing skins.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose Backcountry Ski Bindings

The freedom of skiing without lifts — and hopefully without crowds — has been luring more and more people into the backcountry for years. Today, almost every ski area in North America has instituted some sort of uphill policy designed to allow affordable and predictable uphill access for those wishing to earn their turns and to keep everyone safe from snow machines and downhill ski traffic.

Purchasing backcountry bindings online allows you the time to research so you can find a touring binding that best fits your needs, goals, and budget. Backcountry bindings fall on a continuum, from light and minimalist for racing uphill all the way to heavier and more powerful for extreme downhill descents. You can approach your quest for the perfect binding in a similar manner. Just like someone in a shop will ask yourself: What are my primary objectives? How long will my days be? What distances will I be traveling on skis? How aggressive of a skier am I? How many days per season will I be touring?

There are bindings best for short, speedy jaunts up the face of your local ski hill, bindings designed for long, technical tours, ski mountaineering, and racing, and some that are more downhill-oriented. No matter your speed, distance, or objective, the focus is on reliability and functionality. Weight is more of a factor for racing and highly experienced skiers looking to shave grams, because weight is speed, but it’s also safety when it comes to extended expeditions.

When selecting a backcountry binding for your touring setup, consider these factors — uphill and downhill performance, ease of use, weight, and durability.

How Will You Use Your Bindings Most?

While all of the choices in this guide can work as backcountry bindings, where and how you go touring will make a difference in which kind of bindings you end up buying. Many resorts have uphill policies, so some of you may primarily skin uphill in-bounds at a resort. If you’re mostly going out for the uphill fitness aspect and are skiing inbounds on groomers, something lighter, such as the new Dynafit Seven Summits, will be perfect for you.

If you plan to use your new setup at the resort and for the occasional backcountry trip, choose a binding such as the Atomic/Salomon SHIFT 2, which has safety and functionality much more like an alpine binding. These bindings will transfer more power on the downhill but come with additional weight. If you’ll spend most of your time in the true backcountry, we recommend a binding that is extremely durable and reliable, like the G3 Ion or the Salomon MTN Pure.

Once you determine what kind of skiing you’ll be focused on and how you like to ski, it’s time to narrow in on the details. Your skier type (consisting of ability level, age, and body weight) will affect the DIN rating you can get away with. This is determined by manufacturer standards and legal guidelines and set by your ski shop when they mount your bindings.

However, you don’t need to understand everything about DIN to buy the right pair of bindings. With the increasing breadth and depth of choices and advancing technology now available to North American skiers, you’ll certainly find something that matches most of your skiing.

Ease of Use

Tech bindings may look confusing at first, and while they are packed with some pretty complex technology, most of them are actually very straightforward to use. However, they are not all created equal. The way the pins snap into the inserts, at what angle, and with what force can make a difference.

For beginners, they take some getting used to, especially in deep snow where you can’t see what you’re doing. Everyone fiddles and misses the first time they try to click in. Some bindings feature toepiece indicators to help you line up your boot’s toe inserts to the binding’s pins. Models such as the G3 ZED 12, the G3 Ion, and the ATK Raider are known for their ease of entry, and that may be important if you are new to the sport. Usability and reliable, simple functionality is also a safety concern for more advanced skiers, because safety lies in speed when the weather changes.

When you get your new bindings mounted, practice using them repeatedly at home or at the resort before you head into the backcountry. Start by aligning the inserts in your boot toe to the pins of your binding and stepping down with the front of your foot. Find the sweet spot. Practice clicking in and out of the toe piece.

Next, practice locking the toe lever. This is called Walk or Climb mode and prevents the pins from opening accidentally while skinning, as well as pivoting, on some models. Never ski downhill with this walk mode engaged. Be sure to read your instruction manual thoroughly to understand how many clicks are needed to fully lock out and how to use it safely.

Now stomp down in the back and lock in your heel. This will vary in hybrid bindings but is mostly the same in full-tech bindings. Also, stomp in while the heel is in climb mode, and you’ll feel the brakes lock up. Test out the different climbing riser levels available in your heel risers, and know how these risers feel under your heel, how to flip them up and down, and how they affect your climbing. This will make more sense on the skin track.

You’ll want to know if and when you can effectively manage the binding’s features with your ski pole or if you will need more power and leverage to make changes. This can lead to some frustration on your first few days out as you get the hang of what it takes to ski on backcountry bindings versus alpine bindings.

When it comes to transitioning from uphill to downhill, the ease of spinning the locking heel out of the way into a touring position is important. Some bindings are easier to spin and more intuitive than others. For example, the Salomon/Atomic MTN Pure is extremely easy and intuitive to transition. The ATK Raider also makes it easy to transition from walking to skiing after you’ve done it a few times. Dynafit bindings can take a little bit of elbow grease but work perfectly once you’ve got the hang of it.

Every touring binding has a front toe lever that locks the binding into touring or “walk”/“uphill” mode. This prevents unwanted releases while skinning, especially when making kick turns or on very steep grades. Never ski with the toe locked into walk mode, as it invalidates the DIN or release value and could cause injury.

Risers

Regarding risers: these are crucial to easily get up steeper grades. The ability to quickly and easily employ the uphill risers on the heel portion of the binding can make a massive difference in your efficiency. In fact, the options and levels of heel risers are sometimes the real differentiating factor for some of these bindings.

While there is much discussion around risers, and every old grizzled backcountry skier has his or her own opinion about risers, they are actually a crucial part of efficiently getting up the mountain. Heel risers, climbing risers, or lifts vary dramatically in form but are always some little piece of metal or plastic that flips up or over from the heel piece to give you more of an angle for climbing steeper grades.

Having more risers, some bindings have as many as three settings, and some give you more options for variable terrain. Of course, this also means you have to stop momentarily (hopefully) to switch them out, but it makes climbing so much more enjoyable.

We’ve been on steep or icy terrain where climbing without risers (or crampons) is practically impossible. You can definitely be faster and more efficient with the right riser on a steep climb up the front side of the resort. Sometimes, on gently rolling terrain, it’s also nice to be able to quickly and easily switch between riser and flat with just the practiced flick of a ski pole. Personally, we like options, just as long as they are well-engineered and easy to engage and disengage with our poles; otherwise, we are less likely to make changes and just slog it out.

Weight

Lighter bindings make uphill travel easier and, therefore, faster; if you’re racing or crushing FKTs, check out the Dynafit Superlight 150. However, also consider that this binding will give you less stability and power on the down. Alternatively, if you’re going with a relatively heavier binding, such as the Salomon SHIFT 2, you’ll pay for it on the way up, but it will have more power on the down. The weight you choose will depend on your goals.

If you’re mostly into casual touring or hut trips, to name just two use cases, being ultralight probably isn’t your main concern. For many skiers, even those out doing long tours and bagging peaks, it’s not a race. For many of us, it’s a good idea to be light and have comfortable boots, but we also don’t mind carrying a little bit of extra weight in a wider ski or a slightly heavier boot, and therefore, at that point, a mid-weight binding like the Salomon Pure would be ideal.

If you have goals of ski mountaineering races or uphill/downhill races at your local ski hill, then you will want to look at the Dynafit Superlite 150 or a similar touring binding with a focus on minimalism and light weight. However, these bindings do come with sacrifices, namely in release technology and, therefore, safety. If you are a heavier or more aggressive skier who takes jumps, skis bumps, and rips long, dynamic runs in bounds, then a burlier binding is more appropriate. You won’t notice the small amount of added weight, especially if you are coming from an alpine binding.

Brakes, the type you might be familiar with from downhill alpine bindings, are omnipresent on touring bindings now as well. But many people forgo them if they are only skiing in the backcountry. Small leashes are lighter weight, less prone to snagging, and do the job of keeping you from losing a ski in deep snow.

It is typically against the rules to ski in-bounds without brakes of some kind. For this reason, if you are going to be riding lifts with your new setup, it is recommended to just go with the brakes. Unless you are an expert, a ski-mo racer, or some other kind of weight weenie, brakes are a major plus. They keep your skis from sliding around when you don’t want them to, and they make it easier to click in. They can also really come in handy when you’re standing on top of a windy, hard-packed peak trying to get clipped in before your ski slides or blows away from you, leaving you in a potentially dangerous situation.

Durability

Most, if not all, of these bindings are highly durable, but this can vary. For beginners, something very durable, such as a Marker Alpinist 12, or something known for its ease of use, such as the G3 ZED 12, gives you great reliability, a middle-of-the-road weight class, and a good mid-range DIN.

As stated above, it’s safe to say that any backcountry touring binding is going to be durable. Really, its one job is to hold up to extreme conditions. So, if you have any issue with a binding’s durability, the manufacturer will almost certainly warranty it.

That said, some are more durable than others. Plastic breaks more easily and more often than metal. Fewer moving parts and less complex technology tend to be more durable over time. These bindings are going to get stomped, thrashed, banged against rocks and ice, frozen, unfrozen, beat, but hopefully not trashed. So avoid any unnecessary dropping of your skis off of rocks and vehicles, don’t stomp on them too hard in the wrong places, and overall, take a bit of care with this very expensive piece of life-saving and fun-enhancing equipment.

Again, simplicity typically equals durability, so something like a Dynafit Superlite 150 or Seven Summits is literally guaranteed to be the utmost in durability. Some manufacturers that employ more plastic parts, such as the Fritschi Xenic 10 or the ATK Raider 11, could be more susceptible to breakage when not used correctly. Atomic/Salomon bindings also continually score well on durability.

Bring your skis inside at night when possible so that you are not stomping on frozen parts first thing in the morning. Also consider how much you’ll be traveling with your skis and what type of conditions you’ll encounter to even get to the backcountry. Early-season skiing is bound to put more wear and tear on your gear. Additionally, invest in a nice padded ski bag, and inspect and dry your skis and bindings, as well as your skins, after each use.

Boots

To get started, make sure that your boots are compatible with backcountry skiing bindings. That is, do they have tech pin inserts on the toes and tech heel inserts on the back?

Another pair of boots is costly, yes, and a pair of frame bindings like the Marker Baron may be compatible with your alpine or resort boots, but skinning in those boots can be pretty uncomfortable.

Tech bindings require backcountry ski boots with the molded-in toe fitting originally developed and licensed by Dynafit; and a slotted plate at the heel. Currently, most alpine touring boots will work with most alpine touring bindings. To be safe or if you’re unsure, triple-check to make sure that your boots and bindings are compatible, either by contacting a shop or the manufacturer, before buying.

When deciding on touring boots, consider the type of skiing you plan to do. Fast and light alpine touring or ski mountaineering boots cut weight to help you travel uphill fast, but they often lack the power and stiffness of alpine boots. There are also plenty of four-buckle touring boots that are high-performance and ALMOST as stiff as your resort boots, but not quite. And there’s lots in between.

Crossover boots are a great option if you plan to ski at the resort and take some backcountry trips with your setup. The new K2 Mindbender is a great example of this type of boot. They’ll be heavier on the uphill, but they’ll dominate the downhill, letting you ski as aggressively as you like. Check out our guide to the best backcountry ski boots to learn more about your options.

Frequently Asked Questions