SEE ALSO:
Marketplace
Contests
Auctions
ISF Schedule
FIS Schedule
Full Schedule
Ski Resorts

	[click for animation (219K)]

The reasons for buying a step-in binding system used to be simple: the speed of entry, and keeping your butt out of the snow. While these conveniences remain the major draw for step-in systems, this year the manufacturers have focused on delivering systems that get closer to the feel of a traditional soft boot set-up. As a result, you won't hear step-in manufacturers talking about sitting in the snow anymore.

The butt is out, the feel is in.

While everyone loves the tight-fitting interface that a step-in system creates between boot and board, stiff, bulky boots have kept the manufacturers from body-snatching the entire industry. Since the advent of snowboarding, the comfortable boots have placed snowboarders on a higher evolutionary plateau, but early step-in boots threatened this. Step-in sales are booming, accounting for 30 to 40% of new bindings sold in North America.

"More products keep showing up to the step-in prom, and it's not readily apparent which is the better dancer..."

The manufacturers have heard these rumblings, and this year they deliver some answers. Burton's debut at the step-in party features a system specifically engineered to deliver that soft boot feel. Innovations by K2 and Emery add external highbacks and soft boots to their proven interfaces. Morrow enters the game with a unique three-point interface. And Device, Switch, Marker, and Airwalk continue to improve on their designs.

From a consumer's point of view, it's getting confusing. More products keep showing up to the step-in prom, and it's not readily apparent which is the better dancer. Each system varies in distinct ways from the competition — connections at the heel and toe versus instep and outstep, stepping in straight down versus coming in sideways or toe to heel, external high back, internal high, detachable highback. All of these designs achieve success in certain areas.

And they all illustrate that there is no "one" way to make a high performance step-in system.

Why Step In At All?
While a binding won't make you ride harder, it will make you ride differently. According to Stefan Reuss, Binding Category Manager at Burton, a step-in binding helps to riders exerting more torque on a board. Because the step-in system offers a tight and constant connection to the board, riders are able to bend and flex boards more readily than with strap-on bindings. As a result, riders can set edges, drive carving turns, go edge-to-edge, and otherwise influence their board's flex though an interface that more directly transfers a rider's weight through the board.

Another advantage to using a step-in system is that it helps you achieve a consistent set-up. Everyone loves soft boots. They're comfortable. You can drive a truck in them. They're great for kung-fu fighting. But with a strap-on binding, your boot always sits in the binding a little differently in the base plate due to snow on the bottom of the boot and variable strap tension. Step-ins guarantee that your boot meets the board at the same spot, every time.

Admittedly, the manufacturers are putting together the step-in puzzle one part at a time. First, they developed the boot/binding interface to ensure a bullet-proof, never-come-out attachment. They've achieved this goal. Now, as they turn more of their brain cells to the boot, you can expect systems that deliver more responsiveness with the same comfort and feel. Our brightest snowboarders are on the job, and they won't rest until we've reached the moon.

Choosing a Dance Partner
How do you pick a step-in system from the throngs of manufacturers jumping onto the bandwagon? The obvious answer is to demo as many systems as you can, and then choose the one that best matches your style of riding. If you don't have access to an on-snow demo, read on for an explanation of what to look for in the step-ins that are on the market this year.

The high-backed prom dress

	Burton ssi [click]

The biggest news in the step-in market is Burton's long-delayed unveiling of the SI Step-In ($169). "We wanted to duplicate the strap binding performance and feel, and avoid the ski boot feel," Reuss said. With a highback attached to the binding (and not part of the boot), Burton ensures that the upper retains the same flexibility as a traditional boot.

Burton decided to go with the a nylon interface on the sides of the boot for a couple of reasons. In order to keep the boot laterally soft, they didn't want to put any interface on the bottom of the boot. The side connection points also allow a rider to step directly down into the binding, which is another feature of the SI system worth noting. Because the boot doesn't connect to the highback, the system responds to weight transfers just like you're strapped in.

Dancing with Many Partners

	Clicker HB Pro [click]

K2 started the step-in revolution seven years ago when it began developing the K2 Clicker, a step-in interface with Shimano, the clipless bicycle pedal manufacturer. Over the last four years, the Clicker step-in system hasn't changed much beyond getting lighter and more shock resistant. But this year, K2 introduced the Clicker HB Pro ($229). HB is for Highback, which, like systems from Burton, Emery, and Device, features a highback which is part of the binding as opposed to the boot. The accompanying boots are much softer, and deliver the flexibility that jib zone dwellers demand from a boot.

K2's step-in approach focuses on performance. By putting the binding's contact points at the heel and toe, a rider's weight transfers directly to the board's rail. Probably the sexiest aspect of the Clicker system is that K2 manufactures snowshoes and crampons that interface with the Clicker boots: approaches have never been easier and powder turns never more accessible.

The Softies

	Device SE [click]

Device has also been in the step-in game since the start. Their approach then, like what other manufacturers are coming out with now, was to keep the soft boot feel in a step-in system. By keeping the highback as part of the binding, Device pioneered this step-in soft boot technology. The Device SE ($160) connects under the toes and at the back of the heel for superior weight transfer from rail to rail. Their systems are simple - engineered with one moving part - so this year's innovations have focused on enhancing boot functionality.

	Emery HB [click]

Emery is another manufacturer that offers a soft boot feel with their SIS Freestyle ($119) system. Also marketing the system under the Rossignol and Original Sin brands, the Emery system attaches to a bar that protrudes from the sides of a compatible boot.

The Stiffies
K2 and Switch began the step-in revolution with systems that put the highback inside the boot. While it makes the boot stiffer, it's the ultimate in simplicity. The Switch A95 Team ($239) attaches at the sides of the boot, and is probably the easiest system to step into. This year's enhancements include new vibration dampening in the binding, and the virtual elimination of snow clog.

K2 has gone a little nuts by introducing the Clicker Carbon Pro, at $349 the world's most expensive, and also lightest, step in binding. The Arcane Arc ($120), Marker Interface 2.02 ($149 - also marketed under the Santa Cruz brand), and the Airwalk Quad ($150) are other systems that offer a simple, two-point connection between boot and board. All of these step-in approaches put the highback inside the boot, and focus on making the interface between boot and board seamless.

The Debutante

	Device SE [click]

Morrow has been developing a step-in binding for several years, and this season the world finally got a chance to see it. The Engage 3 ($160) looks like something out of Star Trek, and is the only system to offer three points of contact between boot and binding. With two connection points on the inside of the boot and one centered on the outside, the Engage system is designed for lateral flex. This means more flexibility for freestyle maneuvering, while still using a boot constructed with an internal highback.

What Next?
As more manufacturers enter the step-in market, one of the most important things to think about is which companies are going to be around in five years, and which ones are doing the most innovation in boot design. These are going to be the companies that will make your investment in a step-in system one that lasts a long time. The step-in market will continue growing. Pro riders are already proving that the systems are built for performance by winning contests ranging from halfpipe to extreme riding. The performance and feel is only getting better, which means step-ins are definitely here to stay.

— Jim Humes, Mountain Zone Correspondent