Fritschi vs Marker

The debate -

Fritschi Freerider Plus vs the Marker Baron AT Binding

The stats -

Intermediate skier, 179lb, 5'11'', Mostly skin up local resort then ski down. Will do more touring in the future.

Which should I purchase?

Will Cobb wrote:The debate - Fritschi Freerider Plus vs the Marker Baron AT Binding The stats - Intermediate skier, 179lb, 5'11'', Mostly skin up local resort then ski down. Will do more touring in the future. Which should I purchase?

Dynafit.

Yea, but I can not find the Dynafit's on sale...

Will Cobb wrote:Yea, but I can not find the Dynafit's on sale...

There's a reason for that.

Have a number of friends who have brand X. They all either wish they woulda popped for the Dynafit bindings, or, have and have sold brand X.

They are great and very worth the money. Usually some retail places have a spring 20% off deal around this time. Might be a good time to splurge.

Cheers!

i'm pro-dynafit as well.

but, as for your comparison...those two bindings aren't comparable. the fritschi is an AT binding. the marker is an alpine binding w/just enough touring functionality to get by.

get markers if you're just planning to do laps at berthoud or loveland pass. get the fritschi if you actually plan to get out into the backcountry.

get the dynafit if you want a really, really, really good binding.

Depends on whether you have a seperate alpine set up. If so, definitely pop for dynafit.

If not, depends on intended use lift served/touring:

Mostly lift served with occasional tour: Markers
50/50: Fritschi
Touring with occasional lift serve: dynafit

One other consideration, depending on your intended use, is the quality of the binding's release for the sake of preventing knee injury. In light of your intermediate level, and if you use this as your primary alpine rig, that is another reason that you may want to consider the Marker or Fritschi.

Edited to add: checkout BentGate (site sponsor) for sales on Dynafit and the G3 Onyx (same system for less $$)

Oh, one other consideration is that dynafit/G3 requires compatible boots...so if you were hoping to use your alpine boots, Fritschi and Marker are your only options.

Here's a good FAQ on the dynafits:

wildsnow.com/articles/dynaf…

Dynafit ( ST )

The markers are very solid and skin well enough, and it's more than worth it to some people to lug the extra weight for the control and safety it provides. But honestly I've skied on nothing but free-rides since the year they came out. I'm still using a pair of the white ones, which are not nearly as stable as the black ones, and I have no problems with them.

I have the fritschi freeride plus bindings (the black ones) they are sweet for touring, they have a bunch of heel height settings which makes touring a breeze. The only problem is I ski really hard, and they're a little weak for serious air. The din only goes to 12 so if you plan on stomping 30+ footers or straight-lining big chutes, these are gonna let you down.
The problem with the Marker dukes is that apart from being heavy for a touring binding, they require you to take your boot out of the binding in order go from free heel to locked mode and vice-versa. this might be a small sacrifice for 16 din binding, but that can get really scary when you're in a situation where all you wanna do is lock you heel down ASAP.

never tried the dynafits, they just look way too skimpy for me to feel all warm and fuzzy and like i'm not gonna fall down a mountain because my ski fell off.

Got a kick out of this (showing how wimpy the dynafits are):

telemarktalk.com/phpBB/view…

To me its kinda telling when guys like AM do necky first descents like Hunter...

But if I was cliff jumping, yeah, I'd probaly have...a hospital bill!

Cheers.

For the OP, though, an intermediate skier who's probably not skiing super steep chutes (or writing books like the Chuting Gallery) or "huckin' his meat" off cliffs...

Dynafits are a pure joy.

Whatever you get, get 'em and get on 'em!

After breaking the toe piece in a dramatic explosion of springs and plastic... as well as breaking the heel pins off, twice, I've sworn off the Dynafit.
The Freeride worked well for quite a while but when the Duke came out I went for 'em and like them so far. More solid than the Freeride. More reliable than the Dynafit.

Brian in SLC wrote:But if I was cliff jumping, yeah, I'd probaly have...a hospital bill!

A great way to break your neck as my hospital bill will attest.

Thanks for all of the information, but the debate may now be mute. Looks like I just tore my acl. During the best snow season Flagstaff has seen in years. With several weeks/months left in the season. MRI scheduled for Monday am.

However, by all means keep the information coming. It isn't like I won't be out there again next season.

(BTW leaning towards the Fritschis. I fit in the 50/50 category that JoeP defined.)

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Bummer man! I'm laid up for a couple months myself, I thought I tore my ACL for a week before I got the MRI, (two doctors told me they were almost certain it was torn) but The MRI showed only a broken tibial plateau, which sucks but not nearly as bad as a torn ACL. You might get lucky and the MRI will show no ligament damage. fingers crossed.

Fritschis rock. Dynafits are fine too. All you'll lose is 3 pounds with the lightest pair of dynafits compared to Freerides.

Just make sure you take a huge dump before you go on your tour and your and you'll feel like you're wearing dynafits.

I bought freerides when I first started AT skiing (three years ago). I use the same set of skis for resort and backcountry so reliability, durability, and ease of maintenance were my primary concerns. Freerides fit all those, and are more than adequate. However, if i was doing it all again, i would tele. I didnt want to learn at the time, but i am jealous of my friend who teles and gets all the face shots. I will probably switch over next winter.

FWIW i was advised against dynafit because i was using the same set-up for resort skiing, and people i spoke with didnt think they would stand up.

Dynafit. Hands down. The 100 bucks you're going to save now buying fritchis on sale is nothing compared to how happy you'll be down the road if you go with dynafits. I only have one pair of skis, which I ski equally at the resort and in the backcountry, and my dynafits have held up wonderfully.

But whatever you do, don't get the markers. They're pretty much useless for touring.

I own all three bindings and have them mounted on different skis for different uses and heres my two cents.

heavy aggressave skiing go with the Dukes

middle of the road than go for the Fritschis

light weight dynafit.

While I like the dynafit bindings the toe connection still to this day
freaks me out and I know for a fact that this alone has affected my skiing , when im on ether the Dukes or Fritschis I ski like a mad man
not so with the dynafits .

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Instead of purchasing bindings, I am purchasing a new ACL next Thursday. As far as which bindings to go with I am always been very pleased with every BD product I have purchased. Not sure if I am going to get the Fritschi's, but they are in the lead. The Dyn's sound awesome. The Markers sound like they are bombproof, but heavy. I will have 6-9 months to figure it out.

Thanks again,

Will

I ski the Fritschi Eagles currently and I do 50:50.
The 50 inbounds is ski patrolling and I have never had a problem with Fritschis even when tobogganing a 300lb man with and ACL injury off a 48 degree slope. Hope you heal well and get back to skiing soon.
PS The Markers are a bitch to clear ice from to lock down after a tour.