5ive Sports Teases New Alpine Touring Binding Design

Simply put, traveling uphill on skis used to suck. Bindings were heavy, clunky, unreliable, and seemed like an afterthought. Boots and skis were arguably even worse at first, but those issues were soon remedied. After Dynafit's patent on "tech" or "pin" bindings expired in the early 2000s, other manufacturers jumped at the opportunity to capitalize on creating bindings that enabled efficient uphill travel (by allowing the heel of your boot to come off the ski, mimicking a natural stride), and locked down like a standard alpine ski binding to enable "normal" downhill skiing (sorry Jack!).

The standard pin binding clamped your boot to your ski using two opposed horizontal pins at the toe of your boot, and two parallel pins that slotted into the heel. The heel pins could release, allowing the boot to pivot around the toe pins for uphill travel. In the last few years, those designs have evolved even further with the introduction of hybrid bindings that focused on improving downhill performance while still retaining uphill capability. Some popular examples are the Marker Kingpin, Fritschi Tecton, Salomon Shift, Marker Duke PT, CAST Freetour, Tyrolia Attack Hybrid, or ATK HY.

At first glace, the First Era looks much like a Kingpin or Tecton–with an alpine-style heel mated to a tech toe. However, a closer look reveals a novel way to attach your boot toes. It still uses horizontal pins (so it should work with any tech binding-compatible boot), but clamps differently, using a large lever that opens and closes the toepiece.

On the back, the heel assembly looks inspired by the vertical-springed Look Pivot style of heelpiece. That should allow for adjustable alpine-style vertical and lateral release. There is no indication yet whether the binding will be fully DIN-certified, something that so far only the Fritschi Tecton has achieved as a binding with a pin-style toepiece (the Duke PT, Shift, and CAST systems clamp the toe with an alpine-style interface for ski mode).

The First Era binding's weight is listed at an impressively light 450 g (an ultralight version without brakes and a smaller heel unit is claimed at 230 g).

On their website and other marketing materials, 5ive Sports talks about creating the binding specifically for the unique demands of freeride skiers. The all-metal binding should stand up better to abuse than ultralight pin-style touring bindings. However one thing in the marketing caught my eye, and that's their note about improved power transmission. "What truly sets the first.era apart is its superior connection between skier and ski. The direct power transfer makes you feel more connected to your ski than with any other binding, allowing for maximum responsiveness and control, especially in demanding freeride terrain," the product description reads.

What I've found the shortcoming of most metal pin bindings to be, particularly in a freeride setting, is the fact that they offer almost no elasticity and shock absorption in the boot/binding/ski system. Sure, that means there's better power transfer from me to the ski, but the flip side is that it transfers feedback from the snow directly into my feet and legs. It's the main reason why skiing pin bindings inbounds is something I try to avoid. I appreciate that my bigger, heavier alpine bindings (looking at you Pivots and STHs!!) take the edge off rough, uneven snow. That elasticity also prevents pre-releasing during intentional big impacts like landing airs or forcing a hard turn through funky snow.

Overall, I'm really curious to see how the First Era binding continues to develop–at that weight, it sure looks like an intriguing alternative!