Our biggest take away from the the SIA show was that manufacturers of beefy gear (Salomon, Rossignol, etc) are trying to lighten up and get into backcountry ~ and makers of traditionally light gear (Dynafit, Scarpa, etc) are producing more "robust," and usually less light, gear for touring. This, all in an effort to attract the growing ranks of slackcountry tourers, whose numbers are growing--maybe even faster than any other segment in the ski world.

The Dynafit Beast tech alpine touring binding fits this theory (which isn't rocket science, we know). The Dynafit Beast, at a possible setting of 16, has the highest setting of any tech binding almost on the market. We spoke a little about the Dynafit Beast in another post. The binding isn't for everyone. Many die-hard Dynafit fans will think it's overkill. I personally have my radical ST's DIN set at half the Beast's max. This is for the hard-charging crew, the meat huckers. Strategically, we think it makes a lot of sense for Dynafit to cover this growing chunk of the market.

Matt Whiteman, Dynafit guy, was kind enough to take us on a tour of the Beast. Check it out.

Funky toepieces which rotate 12%

Backside. No flat climbing position...not sure why.

The whole Beast

The Beast's good side.