An Alpine Binding you can tour with

By Andrew McLean Ranked #9 - Alpine Touring Bindings February 3, 2009

I got a pair of Marker Dukes for resort skiing and kite skiing as I wanted a binding that I could ski bumps with, use with any boot (alpine, AT, whatever) and had excellent release characteristics in all situations. I dont really plan on touring with them as they are quite a bit heavier than Dynafits, but I like the idea that if I had to tour, I could. For instance if I skied out of bounds at a resort and had to do a short tour back, or if the wind died while kiting and I had to get back to the car the Dukes would be WAY better than walking.

For kiting and resort skiing, being able to step into the binding is a big plus and the Marker Duke does that very well. It also has excellent return-to-center abilities, which is nice for chattery conditions.

They are fairly easy to do a home-mount with, although the instructions are geared more for a shop mount and require some reading between the lines.

The swap-over method from skiing to touring is a bit janky (have to remove your ski), but not that big a deal, especially considering the beef of the binding.

View Details: Marker Duke Ski Binding

Helpful Votes: 3 Yes