4 Marker Duke Touring Binding Review

Reviewer: Angus Paterson, Glasgow   (15-11-2011)

I've skied the Duke for one season now in Chamonix. I had them mounted on my S7s. I'd say for a ski that’s already badly suited to any sort of long tour due to its shape and weight they work perfectly. Yes they're heavy, but with good reason. They are solid!

This was my first binding from Marker and I've been impressed with how they feel. I've had a few issues with snow under my boot clogging them easily but no other real concerns. If you don't need a 16 DIN I'd go with the Marker Tour, though it has quite a lot of plastic components, most of which are metal on the Duke. The tour mode isn't ideal but as I said they aren't for long tours but great for accessing lines when it’s all about the way down.

3 Marker Duke Binding (Winter 2010) Review

Reviewer: Terry Walker, Woodley   (7-10-2011)

I have been using this binding on my Rossi Steeze freerides for 2 seasons now. A great set up for going down hill, as you can imagine very heavy.

Positives:

• Bombproof when in downhill mode.
• Good high DIN settings which evokes confidence in not popping out in a no fall zone.
• Easy to mount on almost any ski

Negatives:

• Can slowly wobble and lengthen on long tours, so suddenly my boot is relatively too small and therefore get lots of movement in the binding.
• Uphill aid clip is hard to engage and only has one height
• I also snapped it off when touring on a cambered slope and kicking quite hard to flatten the slope.

Great binding, but not really for touring, just the occasional uphill walk in my opinion

4 Marker Duke Binding Review

Reviewer: Lorne Cameron, Glasgow/Chamonix   (11-3-2011)

As of just now the Duke is the only feasible option for a touring-capable binding that you can trust more or less 100% to ski as hard as you like on the downhill (besides buying Trekkers but then you're talking good alpine bindings + £100, sacrifice weight/space in your pack and have a worse time on the uphill). I tour/ski these on fat skis and have had no issues at all, they release/retain predictably like an alpine binding at the same DIN setting as I would normally ski. Yes, they're heavier than some options out there but they ski the most solid which is my priority for what I do. They do seem to be more fussy about snow/ice on your boot soles than any alpine binding I've used so you need to get as much off your soles as possible. The stack height is noticeably higher than any alpine binding (34mm vs about 19mm) which you do notice if switching between setups - I'm not sure how much this actually affects my skiing but I like to be as low as possible.

5 Marker Duke Binding Review

Reviewer: Nicholas Cutter, Petworth   (13-1-2011)

I own a pair of Line Prophet 90's which is a great all round ski and for the same thing I wanted an all round binding.

I have only done short tours on this binding and wouldn't want to do a long tour due to the hiking angles. However this binding comes into its own when you lock it back in and turn it downhill, super stiff and locked into the ski like you wouldn't believe.

The beauty, unlike the Diamir bindings, is that the binding sits flat on the ski and does not sit up. Due to this it’s a bit heavier but also stiffer. A lot of people who use the Diamir bindings say they feel disconnected from the skis due to this height, but have said they feel more connected to the skis via these bindings.

If your weight conscious then I would shy away from these bindings, but for the alps for short ups and big downs get on them.