Review: ATK Freeraider 15 EVO Touring Binding

I’ve long been a fan of ATK’s ultralight options, like the Kuluar 12 and Haute Route 10 bindings, pairing these with bigger touring skis like 4FRNT’s Raven or Faction’s La Machine 3. The sub 250-gram weight and mindless simplicity of a brakeless pin binding is something I think more people really need to take advantage of. I’ve even mounted these microscopic bindings to bigger skis like WNDR’s Reason 120 or the Black Crows Nocta for big-vert powder touring setups, but was curious if I was missing out on downhill performance with these lighter bindings.

That said, I was eager to try something beefier from ATK, and see what the freetouring binding hype was about. After all, these are the bindings skied by athletes like Nikolai Schirmer when he's hucking cliffs and straightlining couloirs in Norway. Sometimes, a little extra heft can be a good thing, especially when pairing the binding with a heavier alpine ski to ski with crossover boots. 

I drilled the new Freeraider 15 EVO into a pair of and Renoun’s Citadel 107 and WNDR’s new Dubai-produced Intention 108 (two very different skis) and tested it with a variety of boots including the Salomon Shift Alpha, the Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro, and the Dynafit Ridge Pro. Testing took place in the Teton backcountry and at Grand Targhee resort.

Features:

The ATK Freeraider 15 EVO is a pretty complicated-looking binding–there’s more internal and external adjustments than I’ve ever seen on a pin binding. The all-metal 7075 aluminum construction is decidedly meant to be burly, but strategic machining and forging of parts saves weight in creative ways.

On the EVO toepiece, it’s possible to adjust both release value (7-15), and how tightly the toe lever locks into uphill mode via two separate dials. The toepiece also comes with an optional 4mm shim that raises the toe relative to the heel to offer a flatter, more neutral stance. On the heelpiece, adjustments include independently adjustable vertical and lateral release (7-15), 25mm of boot sole length adjustment, and an optional freeride spacer that can be adjusted using various included plastic shims to fit a particular boot.

The heel offers a whopping 14mm of elastic travel, more than I’ve seen in any pin binding and comparable to most alpine bindings. While the brakes are technically removable, the binding was designed to be used with brakes. They automatically lock up when the heelpiece is turned to uphill mode and a boot is pressed down–no more awkward lever/button from the older ATK Raiders. The two heel riser options fold very easily and smartly lock in place using integrated magnets. There’s also clever ice and snow-proofing on both the toe and heel, designed to prevent dreaded ice buildup that can cause improper clamping on your boot.

ATK’s freeride spacer is designed to fill the gap between your boot and the top of your ski, removing the vague floating feeling suffered by traditional pin bindings, and offering a much more solid, direct connection with your ski.

A cool detail that I've never seen on pin binding before is laser-etched marks on the heel pins that indicate when your boot is properly aligned. This should make swapping between boots with different BSLs a breeze.

The binding comes in five different color options.

How does the ATK Freeraider 15 EVO perform?

When I first mounted the binding to my skis, I was admittedly a bit skeptical about how much better it could possibly ski than lighter, simpler options like the Kuluar, Haute Route, or even the Marker Alpinist. Would I be able to feel that promised improvement in boot-to-ski connection? Would the extra features make the binding safer? More comfortable? Could I possibly ski hard on these inbounds? Would any of that be worth the extra weight? There were a lot of questions bouncing around my head.

Within a few days of testing, mostly at the ski area pre-season in truly horrible conditions, I was really blown away by the downhill performance of these bindings.

To start, they are really damp–they skied like alpine bindings, particularly in nasty refrozen conditions. That’s not just the skis I tested them on–there’s a pretty significant weight difference between the 1600-gram Renoun Citadel 107 and the nearly 2000-gram WNDR Intention 108–and neither felt like I was skiing a chattery touring ski. The freeride spacer and the heel’s elastic travel do a remarkable job in taking the edge off uneven snow and transferring power to the ski. You really feel locked in, enabling much more powerful skiing than I’d typically expect on light setup.

The optional shim on the toepiece made a much bigger difference than I thought in how the binding skis. Especially when paired with really stiff crossover boots like Salomon Shift Alpha, the more upright and centered stance is super noticeable. The best way to describe it is that it feels more "natural," and much more like skiing an alpine binding. While folks have been shimming bindings for years, Moment first messed around with it on a production binding with their Voyager pin binding, touting its virtues of hard-charging freeride skiers. Turns out, that binding was actually an ATK is disguise, and was a precursor to where ATK has evolved the Freeraider 15 EVO. 

I did get to unexpectedly test the bindings release characteristics more than once after clipping buried rocks and stumps, and feel confident in their ability to safely release in a crash. That’s not something I’d necessarily say about most pin bindings, especially lightweight ones with less adjustment.

The incredible downhill performance didn’t really surprise me, given all the design features dedicated to that cause. What did surprise me was how happy I was touring on them. At 395 grams, they’re nearly double the weight of the Kuluar LT or Haute Route. I also feel that brakes don’t do much to actually stop a ski in powder and just add another unnecessary step to the transition process. So, I was a bit skeptical at first.

However, the automatically locking brake works exceptionally well. There’s no extra step in the process–when heading uphill, pop your skins on, turn the heel as normal, click in and step down with your boot and they will lock up. I also got used to having brakes to keep my skis together when carrying them–no need for an extra ski strap here.

There’s much discussion about how difficult it can be to step into pin bindings, but the Freeraider 15 EVO doesn’t seem to have any issues with this. It’s easy to line up your boot with the toe clamp, which firmly clicks into your boot and pushes any snow and ice buildup out of your toe holes.

The added weight is barely noticeable–let’s be real, at under 400 grams, they’re still lighter than the majority of other touring bindings out there. Finally, all the attention ATK pays to reducing snow and ice build up pays off. Even in deep cold, dry powder or nasty wet spring-like conditions, I never had an issue with my bindings icing up and preventing proper function.

What compromises does the ATK Freeraider 15 EVO make?

I’m actually pretty hard pressed to find any compromises the Freeraider EVO makes. Sure, for huge vert days and ski mountaineering missions, where weight really does matter, a simpler and lighter binding would be more appropriate. But for everyday backcountry skiing, freeride powder touring, and even light-duty resort skiing, the Freeraider 15 EVO is an excellent option.

What type of skier is the ATK Freeraider 15 EVO for?

ATK’s Freeraider 15 EVO is hands-down the best pin binding for you if you care about downhill performance in the backcountry. With little compromise for uphill travel other than a few added grams, the freeride-ready features and remarkably powerful boot-to-ski connection make this a quiver-killing option for aggressive backcountry riders.

If you're out hunting big lines on foot, hitting airs, and skiing the same way you would inbounds, but in the backcountry, this would be an excellent option. Pair it with a ski in the 1800-2200 gram range, a stiff crossover boot, and get ready to ski better than you have ever before in the backcountry. This binding really gives hybrid touring options like the Salomon Shift2, Marker Duke PT, and even the CAST system a run for their money. It’s much simpler, lighter, and skis just as well.