Which ski boots and ski bindings are compatible?
Not all bindings are compatible with all boots and vice versa. But how do you know what works together? Freeride is here to guide you!
It is crucial that the boots on your feet and the bindings on your skis work well together. A mismatch can mean that, at best, you won’t be able to connect them at all, but it can also lead to a combination that seems to work but lacks a safe and predictable release function—something your knees and lower legs will quickly become aware of if an accident occurs.
Once upon a time, compatibility between boots and bindings was not an issue, but the new developments in backcountry skiing have definitely complicated things. Here, Freeride attempts to bring clarity.
The new technology has also led to a lot of terminology that can be tricky to keep track of. Therefore, there is a glossary at the end of the article in case anything is unclear. Speaking of terminology, we also want to mention that what we refer to as pin bindings or inserts are often also called tech, low-tech, or Dynafit bindings.
Standards for Boot Soles
We need to start with either the soles or the bindings, and here we have chosen to begin with the soles. Boot soles are designed according to different standards set and maintained by various organizations. These standards dictate which bindings they are compatible with.
Alpine Sole – ISO 5355
The classic plastic puck, hard and flat, commonly referred to as an alpine sole or DIN sole. The hard sole provides excellent contact between the boot and binding, allowing for very good power transfer down to the ski. It also makes it easy to design a binding that releases consistently and safely. The biggest downside is something everyone who has used them knows, especially those who have been to a restaurant with stairs down to the restroom. Walking in boots with this type of sole is, to say the least, cumbersome, uncomfortable, and slippery.
This sole is almost exclusively used for pure alpine boots and is, from a safety perspective, compatible with all bindings except pure pin bindings. However, a small caveat must be noted for touring bindings, where it may be worth checking that the toe plate can be raised high enough to work well with the alpine sole. Most touring bindings that are not ancient will work fine, and even if they don’t, it won’t be dangerous. However, the biggest advantage of the alpine sole—the good contact and power transfer—will suffer if there is a gap between the boot’s and binding’s toe.
Walk To Ride (WTR)
An old standard that is no longer used, having been replaced by GripWalk. Simply put, it has the same concept as GripWalk, but it is more similar to an alpine sole than GripWalk is. The idea was to maintain the performance of an alpine sole while improving walking comfort slightly through a very gentle rounding of the sole and using a coarser tread pattern with a smooth area where the sole contacts the binding’s toe plate.
In addition to being usable with alpine bindings, they can also be used with Walk to Ride bindings, which are specially designed to work with that type of sole, and MNC/Sole.ID bindings. Their compatibility with GripWalk bindings is not straightforward and depends on a case-by-case basis, so it’s best to consult your shop. Whether they are compatible with pin bindings depends on whether they have pin inserts, just like with GripWalk, and the same caveat applies to touring bindings as with alpine soles.
GripWalk – ISO 23223
GripWalk is a more modern standard that serves as a sort of middle ground between alpine soles and touring soles. They are rubber-coated and slightly rounded (meaning they are not completely flat on the bottom) to make walking with them a bit less cumbersome, but compared to a pure touring sole, they do not have a very coarse tread pattern. They also have a flat hard plastic area under the toe where the binding and boot meet to maximize power transfer.
Because they are slightly thicker than alpine soles, they cannot be used safely with a pure alpine binding. There are also GripWalk soles that come without pin inserts; those boots will also not be compatible with pin bindings. Otherwise, this is a sole type that works with all kinds of bindings.
Touring Sole – ISO 9523
After the alpine sole, this is the oldest sole standard we have, created simply because those who went touring wanted better comfort while walking in their boots even without skis on their feet. Thick rubber-coated soles with coarse tread patterns and proper rounding in shape often resemble a winter boot on the underside. In all bindings except pin bindings, however, the thick rubber sole means that power transfer while skiing suffers. There simply isn’t as direct contact through a soft rubber sole as there is with hard plastic against hard plastic.
Touring soles are compatible with MNC bindings, Sole.ID bindings, touring bindings, and, if they have pin inserts, pin bindings. Most boots with pure touring soles today have pin inserts, but there are exceptions.
Uncertified Touring Soles
Some boots are super specialized for touring and have therefore chosen to deviate from all available standards. In practice, this means that the underside of the sole is of the same type as a touring sole, thick, coarse, and made of rubber—but usually, the lips at the front and back of the boot are either very short or completely absent.
Uncertified touring soles can only be used with pin-type bindings, so all of them will also have pin inserts.
Standards for Bindings
Just like boots, there are several different binding standards maintained by the same organizations that set the sole standards and determine which sole types they work with.
Aside from pin bindings and certain types of touring bindings, it is difficult, if not impossible, to see an obvious difference between the various binding types. Most look like “regular bindings.” The most obvious difference will be if the toe plate is adjustable, but the extent to which the toe plate can be adjusted can vary—and even an adjustable toe plate is not a guarantee. For example, there are Salomon STH2 bindings where the entire toe section is adjusted up and down in relation to the base plate. Therefore, it is especially important to keep an eye out for markings and labels on bindings.
Alpine Bindings – ISO 9462
Just like the alpine sole, alpine bindings are the classic old bindings. All bindings you see between gates and most of the bindings that glide down a slope in the Alps will be of the alpine type. If the binding has no markings at all and looks like a “regular ski binding,” it is almost certainly an alpine binding.
Alpine bindings are only compatible with alpine soles according to ISO 5355.
Walk To Ride Bindings
Just like WTR for soles, this is an outdated standard, but if you have a WTR-type binding, it should work flawlessly with alpine, WTR, and GripWalk soles. However, they are not designed to handle the thicker touring soles.
GripWalk Bindings
GripWalk bindings are specifically designed to work with GripWalk soles and traditional alpine soles, and just like alpine bindings and MNC bindings, they look like “regular” ski bindings.
They can also work with touring soles, but they are usually also marked as MNC bindings and will have adjustability in the toe, just like all other MNC bindings. Whether they work with WTR soles or not is… well, complicated. To find out, it’s easiest to consult your shop.
MNC / Sole.ID
MNC, which stands for Multi Norm Compatible, and Marker’s own brand for the same, Sole.ID, are bindings designed to be compatible with all sole standards. They usually look like a regular alpine binding but will at least have some form of adjustment for the toe section of the binding, either by allowing the toe plate to be lowered in some way or by allowing the toe section to be raised separately from the toe plate. This is necessary to accommodate the different thicknesses of soles between various standards.
This is probably the easiest type of binding to deal with since they work well with all bindings that follow a sole standard.
Touring Binding Standard – ISO 13992
ISO 13992 is a standard that is also on its way to becoming obsolete as pin and MNC bindings take over. It mostly appears on older frame and hybrid bindings, and many of those bindings could today be marked with MNC because their toes can be adjusted enough to accommodate everything from touring soles to alpine soles.
A new binding according to the touring binding standard will not be unsafe to use with any other standardized soles, but depending on how much the toe plate can be adjusted, it may be impossible to avoid a noticeable gap, which is definitely negative for the skiing experience. If you buy a used binding, it may be that it would today be marked with the MNC standard instead.
Pin Bindings
Pin bindings are bindings with pins that hold the boot in place and are designed for touring. They have many advantages when going uphill, such as lower weight, not needing to lift more weight than what is in the boot for each step, and having a pivot point in the stride that is very naturally placed. However, in terms of safety, they are a class below other types of standardized bindings, so they are not recommended for anyone who will not exclusively, or almost exclusively, be touring.
Pin bindings are forgiving in that as long as your boot has pin inserts, they will work with pin-type bindings.
Hybrid Bindings
Hybrid bindings are a new category of bindings that are not really a standard, but we mention them here separately. They are a sort of hybrid between “regular” bindings and pin bindings, in practice, they are (almost) always constructions that allow you to go uphill with “pin attachment” and then ski downhill with the same function as an alpine binding.
Different hybrid bindings follow different standards, and it is important to check on a case-by-case basis what they are compatible with.
Ski Boot & Binding Compatibility Chart
.✓= Works excellently
!= Works but may impair function, e.g., gaps, etc.
x= Does not work
* Compatible as long as your boots have pin inserts
If you still feel unsure, the easiest and safest option is to talk to the shop where you plan to buy your gear. A good shop should be able to help you find what is compatible with what to ensure you don’t leave with gear that will expose you to unnecessary risks or a poor skiing experience!
Adjusting Your Bindings
For all types of bindings, it is important that they are set up correctly to function as they should. Fortunately, Freeride has a great guide to help you set your bindings.
Glossary
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Toe Plate: Also known as AFD (Anti Friction Device), the plate that the toe of the boot rests on in a binding. For alpine bindings, it is often just a plastic disc, but for bindings compatible with multiple sole types, it is usually movable sideways.
- Pin Inserts: Specially designed metal-reinforced holes in a boot’s toe and heel that allow it to be used with pin bindings.
