In Defense of Step-in Bindings

A lot of experienced snowboarders have bad things to say about step-in bindings.

I’m going to be a contrarian and say that there ought to be more rather than fewer step-ins. I think they would help grow the sport.

Consider, for example, the cross-over skier. Someone’s been a skier for a while, sees a lot of riders, and wants to give snowboarding a try. What’s he used to in bindings? Step-ins. Toe, heel, click, and off he skis.

He then goes to the rental shop to get snowboarding gear. Straps? More work:
– Bending over for a prolonged time OR sitting down and then standing up with both feet in (neither are easy)
– Fidgeting with threading one piece of plastic through another (often requiring removing one’s gloves–brrr!)
– Not stepping on a flopping rear strap while doing skating exercises.

I recently taught a very good skier how to ride. We did sessions at two different ski areas. One had step-ins; one had straps. The verdict? “Damn straps!”

I must say that step-ins don’t always live up to their promise. More than once I have had to point out to one of my students the need to clear snow away from the binding on the board, the metal bar on the boot, or both. When I tried step-ins (admittedly, four years ago), I always had a hard time knowing whether I was “in” or not.

Count me in the “love ’em” camp of Flows. Adjust your settings on the dry land, slap that back lever into place on the mountain, and slide away. But even here, there are some problems, notably, a beginner getting into them on uneven ground. (One solution: enter toeside and then do a ground roll if a heelside ride-off is desired.)

In short, I think there’s plenty of room for someone to come up with a newbie-friendly binding system that will work in a variety of conditions. Learning how to ride is difficult enough, especially if you’re older than, say, 21. It’s too bad that the equipment makes that more difficult than it otherwise could be.