From entry-level to hard-charging, here are our picks for the best ski bindings.
The best ski bindings hold you in as you ski and pop you out when they need to. They’re also user-friendly, easy to step into, and let you forget about them. You’ll find Powder7 staff say, the best ski binding is the one you hardly notice.
But, there is clearly a variety of bindings on the market with different use cases, prices, and features. It’s hard to know intuitively which is the right one for you. To help you navigate the market, we compiled our take on the best ski bindings available right now, along with a binding purchase guide below. You’ll find information like how to choose a ski binding, choosing brake width, and what all these crazy terms like “ramp angle” and “elastic travel” mean. Click the table of contents below to explore, and if you have more gear questions, get in touch with one of our ski and gear nerds on staff.
Note: we’re focusing on downhill ski bindings in this guide. Explore all alpine touring bindings here.
Best Overall Ski Bindings
These bindings are versatile for different conditions, skill levels, and skier styles. Sort of like the all-mountain of bindings. We’ve included both DIN range options when applicable. Learn more about DIN settings below.
Salomon Strive 14
The Strive is a relatively new binding from Salomon that takes wins from the Shift binding (high elastic travel, lower weight) and turns it into a downhill specific binding. It uses the latest binding technology to provide a low center of gravity to provide an intuitive feel. It also offers higher than average elastic travel specifications for better suspension and weighs slightly less than comparable bindings. We also find the Strive to be one of the easiest bindings to step into.
The Strive is offered in a lower DIN option, with the Salomon Strive 12.
Marker Griffon
The Marker Griffon has been around for years, and for good reason. They’re just rock solid bindings that you can trust. The tall heel tower on the Marker Griffon encourages a strong bond to the boot and features more metal than comparable bindings. This is a binding that can be knocked around. The “Anti-Ice Rail” on the toe piece helps get snow off the bottom of your boot. We love it for skiers looking for a strong binding with exceptional power transfer.
The lower DIN option from Marker is the Marker Squire, and features a different heel design that’s easier to step into.
Tyrolia Attack 14
The Tyrolia Attack 14 is another binding that has been in their catalog for some time now. It features a no-frills design that is slick to the eye and on snow (and very cool colors). The design of the Tyrolia Attack 14 makes it our pick for the best ski binding in powder. The Tyrolia Attack heel piece is the easiest heel to step into out of all comparable bindings. The stack height is also very low, providing an intuitive, close to the snow feel. Low profiles are nice for off-trail soft snow skiing, and a binding that is easy to step into is ideal if you pop out in deep snow. The design of the Tyrolia Attack 14 makes it our pick for the best ski binding in powder.
The Tyrolia Attack 11 is offered for lower DIN skiers, and our top pick for easy-to-use bindings.
Look Pivot 14
The Look Pivot is by far the most unique binding on this list. The turntable style heel piece has been on skis for decades, because the design works. It doesn’t save your knees (contrary to popular belief) but does offer the best elastic travel in the binding market by a significant amount. This means a smoother ride with less chances for pre-release. Overall, this binding is sought after by freestylers and freeriders for the suspension, but also anyone who likes a smooth ride. Dive deeper into why the Pivot is so special here.
Like the others, the Look Pivot is offered in several DIN options, including a 12, 15, and 18.
Best Beginner Ski Bindings
Beginner ski bindings are easy to step into, offer a low DIN range, and are affordable for breaking into the sport. If you’re content with sticking to trails, don’t ski that often, and need something user-friendly that gets the job done, this is your category. If you plan to progress quickly, purchase outside of this category.
Look NX 11
We love to recommend the Look NX 11 for beginners for a few reasons. It’s simple and user friendly, easy to step into, and comes in at a killer price point. It’s the perfect pair for someone who isn’t racing gates and would rather spend the ski budget on a new pair of boots (what we always recommend) rather than on bindings. For the price, it comes with some of the tech from other Look products like the Full Action Toe, which gives you better power transfer and a solid connection. That all means more control for you on the hill.
Tyrolia Attack 11
The Tyrolia Attack 11 is an easy to use binding with an incredibly easy heel piece to clip into. So if you might be popping out some from learning the ropes, or just want an easy to use binding to keep those ski days simple, this is an excellent choice. The DIN range also goes down to 3 (instead of 3.5 like some comparable bindings), so it gives you just that extra room for lower adjustment. The wide toe platform offers great power transmission for the weight, and the low stack height keeps it easy to slide and slarve when the legs are starting to give out at the end of the day.
Best Ski Bindings for Aggressive Skiers
These bindings are loaded up with metal constructions and high DIN settings. We recommend these to folks are pushing the limits, sending big, and are putting their bindings through the ringer.
Marker Jester 16
For riders that are no frills and all charge, the Marker Jester is a great choice. It doesn’t come with the Pivot’s pivot-yness or the Strive’s low center of gravity, but it offers the best power transfer out of the three recommended here and the more durable construction. Loaded up with metal and strong materials, the Jester feels like a bomb-proof connection with the ski. We love it for riders whose gear takes a beating and who like maximum power transfer, even in their freeride and freestyle binding.
Look Pivot 15
Aggressive riders may be more in tune to the subtleties in ski binding design, and if you’re particular, we’d probably point you towards the Look Pivot 15 (or 18, if you’re a superhero). The 15 and 18 are fully constructed with metal compared to the lower DIN options, and feature a redesigned toe wing system for better power transfer. We love the suspension the Pivot offers, and well, you know ski techs love Pivots. The only drawback is some riders find them hard to get into in powder on the slopes, and the price.
Salomon Strive 16
While a newer binding in the lineup, the Strive 16 offers a metal construction like the others and a low center of gravity. If you like the idea of the Pivot, but the turntable heel scares you off in powder, the Strive is another great choice. It skis like a binding with a lower stack height than it does, and features elastic travel numbers that challenge the Pivot as the second-highest elastic travel. Plus, great colors.
How do I choose a ski binding?
There are three main considerations we recommend to customers when choosing a ski binding: the DIN range offered, brake size, and price. There are also additional factors when considering bindings, such as elastic travel, ramp angle, or weight, but we generally find that the variacnes between most major ski bindings are so subtle, most skiers won’t notice. That said, in case you’re an expert rider (or ski binding nerds like us), we’ve included basic information on all those features below.
Different ski bindings do offer different features. The Look Pivot bindings feature a turn table style heel piece that offers more suspension and elastic travel (learn more about what makes Look Pivot bindings special and sought after here). The Marker Royal series offers a de-ice rail that is helpful for clearing snow off the bottom of your boots. We’ve described some of the features in depth below, and explain who they’re ideal for.
DIN Setting
DIN refers to the binding’s retention settings, and what tension range they offer. Each skier gets a DIN setting calculated based on height, weight, age, boot size, and skier type (cautious, average, or aggressive). The lower the DIN setting, the generally smaller, lighter weight, and more cautious the rider is. The higher DIN settings are saved for more aggressive riders. You can find an estimated DIN setting for yourself or a buddy with our DIN calculator here.
Even though size and skier type give you an estimated DIN setting, it’s important to get your boot size right too. The larger the boot, the lower the DIN setting, while smaller boots get higher DIN settings. It all has to do with physics but trust the DIN chart.
When choosing a ski binding, you generally want your personal DIN setting to fall into the middle of a binding’s DIN range. For example, a skier with a DIN of 4 can ride on a Salomon Strive 14 but would be better fit on to a Salomon Strive 12. That gives you room to dial the DIN setting down in case anything changes. We generally don’t recommend maxing a binding’s DIN range out for risk of pulling the binding out of the ski. Expert riders who run a DIN setting of 11 or higher, might want to consider a high DIN offering like the Marker Jester, Look Pivot 18, Tyrolia Attack 17, or Salomon Strive 16.
Brake Size
Ski brakes are the metal wings that come down on either side of your ski from the heel piece. They’re used to stop your ski in case the ski starts to slide down the slope, and attach your skis together when they’re stored or you’re carrying them to and from the hill.
When choosing a brake size, you want to keep it as close to the waist width of your ski as possible. The waist width of your ski can often be found in the model name (ex. Nordica Enforcer 94 is 94mm underfoot), or the sidecut dimensions (ex. 129/94/117 which is the tip width/waist/tail width). The dimensions are usually printed on the ski somewhere.
We generally recommend buying a brake as close to the waist width as possible. Never go wider than 15mm larger than your ski’s waist width. You can also go with a brake that is a few millimeters smaller. This allows the brakes to tuck up snugly and reduce the chances of a brake snagging on ski pants or each other. Most brakes can be stretched up to five millimeters. If purchasing a brake for a 94mm ski, you could go with a 90mm, 95mm, or 100mm brake size. But don’t go down to 85mm, or up to 110mm. For this example, we would choose the 90mm brake for the closest fit possible.
Price
Generally, the higher the DIN range, the more expensive the binding. So there’s no need to get into a high DIN offering if you run a relatively average DIN setting.
The more features a binding has, the higher the price as well. For example, Look Pivots offer unique features that improve the ride, but come in at a higher cost.
Bindings that use more metal (for durability) are also more expensive. Some bindings use more plastic to keep costs down. We like to recommend the Look NX 11 as a price point binding, as it has great functionality and is great for a beginner to intermediate who doesn’t spend their time hucking cliffs.
The most notable difference between ski bindings are their DIN range and price. If you get into nitty gritty binding tech, there are variences between different bindings’ ramp angle and elastic travel. We find that these specs are not noticeable or significant for the majority of skiers.
Elastic Travel
Elastic travel in a ski binding refers to the amount of travel your boot has in the toe and heel piece before the boot is released. This is essential for creating a smooth ride, and preventing pre-release when you’re skiing fast or in rough terrain.
The easiest comparison is to a mountain bike. As you ride over rocky terrain, the suspension soaks up those vibrations so they don’t travel up to you. A ski binding with elastic travel does the same thing. If they didn’t have this travel, you could be skiing fast or in challenging snow and the binding would register those forces as equivalent to a crash, and needing to release you prematurely. Elastic travel makes our bindings run smoother and prevent pre-release in certain situations.
This is a binding feature that is not typically printed on the tech specs or readily found information. Generally, bindings with high elastic travel are the Look Pivot and Salomon Strive series. Riders who are putting a lot of force on their bindings (like freestyle, freeride, or hard carvers) may prefer high elastic travel numbers.
Stack / Stand Height
Stack height refers to the height of the toe and heel piece above the ski where your boot makes contact with the binding. The higher these numbers are, the more control and power transfer you have when you tilt that ski on edge. A lower stack height usually means the binding is a little more intuitive.
We typically find bindings that have lower heights are better for soft snow and off-trail riding (think bumps and trees), while high stack heights are great for maximizing performance on carves. Some bindings that offer low stack heights are the Tyrolia Attack and Look Pivot line.
Ramp Angle
A ski binding’s ramp angle refers to the difference in height between your toe piece and heel piece. Some bindings are more neutral, while some are a bit steeper. Generally, this is not something that’s noticeable. However, there has been some discussion that ramp angle can affect smaller boots more aggressively, as the distance between the toe and heel is shorter.
Folks who might want a neutral ramp angle include freestyle riders who are skiing switch a significant amount of time, or women who ride in smaller boots. Bindings that have a more neutral ramp angle include the Look Pivot series.
Is one ski binding safer than another?
The short answer is yes, and no. In terms of safety, all major ski bindings are held to the same safety requirements and testing. So, no one ski binding is technically safer than another. The Tyrolia Protector and independent KneeBinding could be considered exceptions, as they use a unique lateral heel release that has been shown to reduce knee ligament strain.
That said, skiing is a high-speed gravity sport that requires our lower bodies to be clipped into skis. There’s no binding that will assure a 100% safe descent every time. There will be some amount of risk, whatever binding you clip into.
