 When we're talking about skiing equipment, most people always think about their skis or the boots. One area people rarely focus on is the binding. Now the binding is the bit that actually connects you to your skis. If you've got a system ski, it's been pre-designed for you. Binding comes with a ski as a package and you have no choice in the matter. But as you start progressing and you might be looking at different types of skiing to do, we have four choices effectively. You have traditional alpine style like this one. You have a strong toe piece and a strong heel piece. Loads of safety features, that means if you do take a tumble, you release safely. But they're designed for the downhill. You have a lift up and then you have just about downhill performance. There is high ones in the market where you can put in a, like this one for marker, uses the sole ID system, where you can use a touring boot or touring style boot within this binding, but they are really all about the downhill. Then we move into the touring market. Now the touring market is split up into three separate components. First of all, we have the frame binding, which uses what looks like a more traditional alpine toe and heel. And it's great if you want to start looking further afield than just lift work. So this one allows you to have lift access and then do a small tour. You might have some hike and ride ski boots, which gives the brake at the back. So this one allows you to have a little bit of uphill use, the heel lifts. You lock it back into ski mode and you have the same performance you'd get with an alpine. These effectively come into two different categories, either the lightweight ones, which are dominantly plastic or the heavy weight ones, which have a normally magnesium or steel components, which tend to get stronger for the more free ride focus. There is a weight compromise with these, but performance and strength is key on the free ride side. As you move on from the first purchase of touring equipment, you can then move into pin certified ones. These are now the next level on from the frame. So you have an alpine style heel, but you have a pin up front. This one gives you a significant weight reduction on the frame binding, but without all the, but with still most of the performance. So you have a really strong heel unit that locks you well to the ski. So your performance is great going downhill. But as you put it into walk mode, you're rotating around the pins at the front. It gives you really, really good uphill performance as well. These have been a fairly recent addition to the binding market, perhaps the last four or five years and have really ignited the touring thought process for a lot of people because it gives you the same feeling of solidity you would have the normal alpine setup, but the freedom of use of a pin setup. Then we move into the pin market and pin binding. These are the lightest of all. They are great for multi day tours and they're great for producing a really light ski binding package. But you do have a site compromise on the downhill performance because we don't have the same grip into the back of the boot as you would normally get with a pin certified or an alpine style. These are all about the weight saving and the reduction of weight on the bottom of your foot. Now, that might seem a really complicated group of bindings to look at. My suggestion would be go to your local S Brigham store, pick up on the catalogue and speak to their staff who have been well trained on all of these products.