Everyone makes mistakes

Last year the snowsports industry went crazy over the new Marker Duke, a totally new and unique product from a company that's been making ski bindings since 1952. Whats unique about the Duke is that its a downhill binding with alpine touring capabilities versus an AT biding with downhill capabilities. The folks at Marker managed to give the Duke a din setting of 16 which was previously unheard of in the world of AT bindings. How did they make this possible? Lots of heavy plastic and more metal. Those of you who like to hike up the mountain before you ski down it may see this as a problem. You're absolutely right. The Duke is noticeably heavy when you're heading up and for a skier like me, not quite necessary when you're skiing down. See, I'm a little guy. At 155 lbs and very respectful of gravity, I would never use a din setting higher than 10! In the Duke's defense, there are some dudes out there that weigh a lot more than I do and are hucking it big of cliffs and jumps. Those guys could actually use a higher din setting making the Marker Duke the ideal product. Lesson learned. I hiked today with my new Fritschi Freerides and I love them.

Lets sum this up. If you're a little guy like me and you stay on the ground most of the time, I don't think you should get it! If you're a little heavier and you go big in the air not just on the ground, it's probably perfect for you.

Stop by BreckGear.com to take a look at all the great new The North Face products available for this coming winter!!