ATK Haute Route Binding Review
ATK Haute Route Binding Review
ATK Haute Route Binding Review:
The ATK Haute Route 10 is a sexy binding. The Aluminum construction and svelte weight (approximately 200 grams per pair) make it an attractive binding for the weight conscious ski tourist. Personally I think think it would be good to have a wider base plate on the toe pieces to spread out the mounting screws on the ski. Currently, the mounting screws are similar to the old Dynafit TLT, a binding that was designed for skinny skis from 20 years ago. I have these bindings mounted on 120mm under foot skis. When I am skiing on firm wind slabs I wonder about the amount of torque being exerted on the ski…so far so good.
The R01 plate leaves lots of room for adjustability, however four screws must be loosened to make adjustments. There are definitely easier bindings to adjust for boot size.
There are three positions for touring, pins turned backwards for walking in flat terrain. If you flip the heal riser with the pins backwards, you achieve the highest riser position. I have found the magnet that holds the riser in place can fail from time to time and the riser flips forward while walking on flat ground. This is a minor inconvenience and can be quickly fixed by a quick flick of the pole.
For the mid-rise position, you simply keep the binding in ski mode and flip the riser forward. The riser engages into the heel pins and off you go. Most of the time this is the riser position I have been using. There are a couple down sides to the flip riser design. The first is durability, I definitely walk gingerly and try not to bash them while breaking trail. The second is you have to kneel down and rotate the binding by hand to get into the high riser position. This is a bit awkward in comparison to the Dynafit Turn binding.
So far I have skied twenty-one days on the ATK Haute Route 10 and I have been pleased with their performance. The toe lock mechanism works well. They’re easy to get into and they haven’t pre-released. I’ll post an update towards the end of the season. You can checkout their binding line up here
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