I Tried The Three Most Popular Binding Options So You Don’t Have To

Step Ons

The bindings: Union Atlas Step Ons

The setting: Powder day at Loon Mountain Resort, two bitter cold days at Bolton Valley.

Say the words “Step On” and you’re bound to trigger an intensity in some people that few other pieces of equipment can mimic. I once had a dude on Facebook tell me he was going to sue me for millions of dollars over a review I wrote about a pair of Burton Step On boots. Right now, there’s a woman crusading against Burton and the entire Step On system after breaking both of her ankles. I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole right now.

Maybe it was because I wanted to maintain a high core score. Maybe it was because of my prior experience with easy entry bindings. I really didn’t want to like riding in Step Ons.

The plot twist? I do actually like them.

I didn’t fall in love with them. I didn’t immediately make the switch across my entire quiver. But dang, it sure was nice to get off the lift and immediately be able to start riding.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cYox4On_MtI

It takes some time to learn how to get in and out of them. Once you do, though, you’ll be ready to ride before your skier friends finish picking a song on Spotify for the run. Simply step into the bindings with your heel first, then engage the two cleats at the toe. To release your foot at the end of the run, pull the release lever on the back of the binding and lift your heel, then twist your toe gently.

It takes some practice, but once you get it down, it's lightning-fast.

One thing that doesn’t get enough attention with Step Ons is this: being able to pop in and out of your binding quickly isn’t simply to save time when you get off of the lift. If you encounter a flat area that leaves other riders unstrapping and walking, you can simply step off your board, skate a little bit, and click back in without losing too much momentum. If you’re teaching someone how to ride, you can unstrap easily to offer them assistance. If you’re shooting photos or a video, you can easily unstrap to set your footing up for the best shot, then hop back on your board to travel down the hill and catch up to the homie you’re clipping up.

At Loon, when you get off the North Peak Express quad and turn right, there’s a bit of a traverse to the top of the next run that took me years to master. I take pride in being able to strap in while riding, but it sure was nice not to have to worry about that while using Step Ons. I skated to a spot that gave me enough momentum to proceed downhill, stepped into my bindings, and was good to hit some sidehits on the way.

If I can make one concession, it is this: I did not love going fast with my Step Ons. Perhaps it will just take time to get used to, but bombing downhill at 40 miles per hour with no straps felt a little bit sketchy. There are also some safety concerns surrounding avalanches.

Keyboard warriors will often say something like “iF StEp OnS ArE sO gReaT, wHy DoN’t pRos uSe ThEm?!” A fair question, but not entirely an accurate one. Burton team rider Rob Roethler has been riding them for some time now and has been involved in the development. He says that when riding in the streets, it’s nice to have an easier way to strap into his board when sitting above something sketchy.

But take Rob out of the equation, and I will say this: Unless you can spin above 540 degrees, you are probably not good enough to worry about what the pros are riding. Rafael Devers uses a different baseball bat than the guy in your Sunday recreational league. Professional cyclists in the Tour de France use different bikes than you do on your leisurely ride to get ice cream. I hate to tell you this, but if you’re reading this story, you probably aren’t at an ability level where you can compare yourself or your gear to the likes of Mark McMorris.

I use my Step Ons most often when I’m heading out the door to session a mellow terrain park.

FASE

The bindings: ThirtyTwo T32M x Scott Stevens, Jones Mercury

The setting: Most of my season. Park days at Beech Mountain and Appalachian Ski Mountain. Mixed conditions at Breckenridge. Surprise dustings of powder at Aspen. Slushy spring days at Sugar Mountain. Bluebird days below freezing at Stowe and Bolton Valley in Vermont.

I don’t mean to oversimplify this review, because what the Nidecker family has done in developing the FASE system was by no means an easy task. But if you feel yourself really stressed out about venturing away from traditional bindings, consider this:

The FASE system is legitimately just a regular binding, but easier.

If parts of the FASE system were to fail during a day on the mountain, they will still perform like a regular binding. I can say that with confidence, because during a day at Palisades Tahoe, that happened to me.

I lost a screw, leaving me without a functional toe strap for the better part of my first day. I simply rode without a toe strap for three hours. Was it ideal? No. Was there a risk to my safety? Also no.

FASE entry was designed to work like a shoe. Simply pull the binding back, slide your foot in until it connects with your toe strap, and step down. The highback will snap up and meet your foot. Ratchet your ankle strap into place, and you’re ready to ride.

The biggest thing to stress here is that FASE is a system of compromise. Henry and Xavier Nidecker told me in an interview that despite the ingenuity of the Step On system, the product was still rejected by snowboarding’s core, largely because, as a whole, we snowboarders are resistant to change. Without the support of the core, it’s difficult for new technology to gain traction.

So they went back to the drawing board and invented something that still feels familiar. And as we all know from listening to the Bomb Hole, you feel good, you play good. You play good, they pay good.

FASE makes getting in and out of your bindings nominally easier. Let’s call it, for argument’s sake, 20% easier. It’s not a difference you’re going to notice at first, until you have to strap in at a precarious spot. Maybe that’s somewhere in the backcountry or sidecountry. Maybe it’s atop a jump line that you’re hiking. Wherever that might be, that is where the FASE system thrives.

There are some slight differences for sure. The highback is shorter. The ankle strap is longer. I can genuinely say that neither impacted my riding in any way. For me, there was no adjustment period. If you’ve been riding the same setup for years and make the switch, you will probably have a more difficult time adjusting.

Straps

The bindings: Union Strata. Jones Orion. Union STR. Arbor Hemlock.

The setting: Most of my life.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I’d say that for the average intermediate-level resort rider, straps are going to work just fine. Don’t stray away from them just because there is different technology out there. If you ride less than 10 times a year, it’s going to be tough to justify both learning an entirely new system and shelling out the money for one.

But if you are getting a little bit older or suffering from mobility impairments or impingements, it might be time to make the switch! For one reason or another, bending down to strap in can get difficult. If the FASE system or Step Ons will allow you to ride your snowboard more often and longer, then it is entirely worth a shot.

The Verdict

I find myself running my FASE bindings most often these days. This is a bit of a shocker to myself, because up until this season, I was a Union Binding Co. die-hard. But the system still provides me with the constant stability to bomb hills at high speeds, as well as an easier option for getting attached to my board in uneven terrain. It also gives me the option to wear whatever boots I want.