Marker

Marker

Marker have been making bindings for over 65 years since the company was founded in 1952 in Germany by Hannes Marker. Marker were instrumental in developing the sophisticated alpine bindings with reliable release that we now take for granted. In 2007 Marker introduced the "Royal Family" of freeski and touring plate bindings. In 2015 Marker produced the highly popular Kingpin 10 & Kingpin 13 bindings which combine the uphill efficiency of insert bindings with a sturdy alpine style heel unit, providing new levels of power transfer in a touring binding. For 2019 the new Alpinist bindings will be in big demand amongst ski tourers looking for a lightweight "efficient" touring binding.

Until the 1950s the ski industry had not developed different bindings for the various ski discplines and all skiers, whether downhill, cross country or touring used the "Kandahar" cable bindings. Invented in 1929 by the Kandahar Ski Club in Mürren, Switzerland, these bindings used a cable binding that attached to the toe of the boot, with a toe piece and strap over the boot toe to keep the boot in place. Another cable went around the back of the boot and had springs that gave forward pressue to keep the boot in the toe piece. The innovation of the Kandahar bindings was to add two small metal clips near the instep or heel, which could be used to lock the boot down snug on the ski for skiing downhill. These bindings gave much better control since the skier could now apply torque to the ski to turn faster. These bindings were also very dangerous since the leg was now locked onto the ski, and many injuries occurred. It has been estimated that during each season 10% of skiers using these bindings were injured. In the 1960s Dr. Richard Spademan dealt with 150 fractures during one three-day weekend event at Squaw Valley in California. Skiers needed better technology to ski safely.

Hannes Marker's first binding was called the "Duplex" and was an improvement on the Look's Nevada bindings, which allowed the boot toe to release laterally from toe piece, which could rotate sideways. Hannes developed this idea further and the "Duplex" binding toepiece used two metal clips that fitted over the toe of the boot sole to hold it down, with a spring keeping the boot centered. If the event of a fall, the clips could be forced outwards, allowing the boot to exit the bindings. These bindings were successful and the Marker binding company was born.
Over the next 50 years Marker continued to develop alpine binding technologies, including the famous M40 racing bindings in the 1980s and the M46 bindings in 1985. These used a twin-cam toepiece and heel unit with vertical release as originally developed by Salomon. This has been the standard design for Marker alpine bindings since.

In 2007 Marker started producing the Royal Family of bindings for freeride skiers and ski tourers. These bindings were designed for the wider skis now being used for performance offpiste skiing, with three models for downhill use, the Jester, Griffon and Squire, and four touring models, the Duke, Baron, Tour 12 and Tour 10. The Royal Family alpine bindings had wider footprints to efficiently transfer power to wider skis. These bindings were often used with hybrid alpine/freeride or touring boots, boots with flat or rockered soles that varied from the standard alpine boot sole height and had Vibram rubber soles for walking uphill. These bindings have toe units that can be adjusted for height plus an AFP Anti-Friction Plate under the boot toe, to ensure rapid lateral release even with non-standard boot soles.

The Duke, Baron, Tour 12 and Tour 10 touring bindings are plate bindings but differed from the Diamir bindings produced by Fritschi in that the plate connecting toe and heel units sat directly on the ski, eliminating the lateral flex that was inherent in the Diamir design, where the bindings are positioned on a rail that sat several cm above the ski. These bindings were immediately in big demand and are now the best selling alpine touring plate bindings.

In 2015 Marker produced the Kingpin 10 & Kingpin 13 freerando touring bindings. Strong skiers were looking for binding that combined efficient uphill mibility with higher levels of downhill control. The heel mechanism of the insert binding design with the two forward-pointing heel pins only a few cm apart did not provide sufficient contact and lateral rigidity. The Kingpin bindings have a hybrid design with a light yet beefy insert toepiece with six springs and a rigid alpine style heel unit that can move back in walk mode and has heel lifts. The Kingpin provided new levels of power transfer in a touring binding.

For winter 18-19 Marker will introduce the new Alpinist bindings. These lightweight bindings weigh only 490 g a pair. There are two models with DIN 4-9 and 6-12 and thet will certainly be in big demand amongst ski tourers looking for a lightweight "efficient" touring binding.

Marker Alpine Bindings
Marker Jester 16
Marker Griffon 13
Marker Squire 10
Marker Plate Touring Bindings
Marker Duke 16
Marker Baron 13
Marker Tour 12 EPF
Marker Tour 10
Marker Freerando Insert Hybrid Bindings
Marker Kingpin 13
Marker Kingpin 10
Marker Efficient Insert Bindings
Marker Alpinist 9
Marker Alpinist 12
 

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