Re: The new Rottefella XPLORE OFFTRACK Binding System Review
Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:50 am
The magazine (Fri Flyt, same conglomerate as Utemagasinet) came out yesterday. They had tested the prototype bindings from this spring, as well as Alfa Free APS and Alpina Alaska XP prototypes, but all pictures shows the Free boot and the author sounds like he only tested that boot. The title is "When Rando met mountain skiing" and has some new info;
The Alaska had a different sole that was wider and heavier than the one coming to shops.
The Alfa Free APS boot had a very stiff sole that bends in just one spot and was uncomfortable when walking. It also wore the front part of the sole (which engages the flex) was quite a bit, perhaps due to the stiffness. Not all testers liked the Free's BOA closures, and the boot's upper fabric bent in one spot and could be irritating, so test before buying. They felt 75mm was better for walking without skis and was skeptical to durability of XP boots when navigating scree. This is disappointing, but I hope the production sole/boots are better for walking this year, but first years buyers sounds like we might be beta testers.
There is also some technical updates coming in the production of the binding, but most is equal.
They noticed a small but distinctive difference between the medium and hard flex and also tested the free flex, but preferred to use the medium flex even on ascents as there was a bit of dead zone before the flex engaged so free flex gave little advantage and the flex made the ski return underfoot easier. There is a new wider version of the hard flex coming; My comment: You can can that see in this video from Rottefella: There are also videos for the medium and free flex, and they seem to me to show a flex that engages faster. They still avoid lifting the heel high and the test shows rear boots without much flex. Hopefully the new flex and a better sole will be able to bend properly and give an even better experience than in the test, but that remains to be seen.
They stepped into the binding easily in 8-9 out of 10 times, but struggled the last 1-2 times and had to have several tries then, especially if the boot was dirty after hiking. Some times they though they where in the binding, but only one of the sides was engaged which you don't see, so they adapted to double checking that the boot was properly engaged. Had there been ski brakes it would have been easier, but they like the simplicity of the binding. They also feel that the heel lifter is too high. All this sounds bad, but they are actually quite positive.
The binding and boots are silent(!), unlike very many existing bindings, and also really light. It's a joy to use on the uphill, lighter than almost any rando setup. They struggled a bit with the supplied skis (Rabb, Falketind and Nansen with short skins on some ascents, but also chose steeper tours to have more turns. The binding and boot is significantly less stable than telemark equipment, but more stable than NNN-BC. You get rewarded for knowing your telemark technique. On hard snow and/or steep hills, you will cross instead of turning, but on gentle slopes that are boring on rando it is superb. You get good contact with the ski, so the turning experience for mountain skis is tops. It made them visit the gentle slopes they had avoided the last 20 years. Xplore is neither a rando, telemark nor cross-country binding, but a binding for mountain skiing that invites you to explore all the snowy terrain around you. They write that classic 75mm equipment with toe binding would enable much of the same, but they enjoyed their time on Xplore and look forward to using it much the coming season. Coming to shops in December.
I hope I have managed to capture and convey the essence properly. I am excited and a bit anxious if the Skaged boots fits and is as good as I want/expected for both walking and skiing. I'll report back as soon as I can get my hands on the binding and/or boots.
The Alaska had a different sole that was wider and heavier than the one coming to shops.
The Alfa Free APS boot had a very stiff sole that bends in just one spot and was uncomfortable when walking. It also wore the front part of the sole (which engages the flex) was quite a bit, perhaps due to the stiffness. Not all testers liked the Free's BOA closures, and the boot's upper fabric bent in one spot and could be irritating, so test before buying. They felt 75mm was better for walking without skis and was skeptical to durability of XP boots when navigating scree. This is disappointing, but I hope the production sole/boots are better for walking this year, but first years buyers sounds like we might be beta testers.
There is also some technical updates coming in the production of the binding, but most is equal.
They noticed a small but distinctive difference between the medium and hard flex and also tested the free flex, but preferred to use the medium flex even on ascents as there was a bit of dead zone before the flex engaged so free flex gave little advantage and the flex made the ski return underfoot easier. There is a new wider version of the hard flex coming; My comment: You can can that see in this video from Rottefella: There are also videos for the medium and free flex, and they seem to me to show a flex that engages faster. They still avoid lifting the heel high and the test shows rear boots without much flex. Hopefully the new flex and a better sole will be able to bend properly and give an even better experience than in the test, but that remains to be seen.
They stepped into the binding easily in 8-9 out of 10 times, but struggled the last 1-2 times and had to have several tries then, especially if the boot was dirty after hiking. Some times they though they where in the binding, but only one of the sides was engaged which you don't see, so they adapted to double checking that the boot was properly engaged. Had there been ski brakes it would have been easier, but they like the simplicity of the binding. They also feel that the heel lifter is too high. All this sounds bad, but they are actually quite positive.
The binding and boots are silent(!), unlike very many existing bindings, and also really light. It's a joy to use on the uphill, lighter than almost any rando setup. They struggled a bit with the supplied skis (Rabb, Falketind and Nansen with short skins on some ascents, but also chose steeper tours to have more turns. The binding and boot is significantly less stable than telemark equipment, but more stable than NNN-BC. You get rewarded for knowing your telemark technique. On hard snow and/or steep hills, you will cross instead of turning, but on gentle slopes that are boring on rando it is superb. You get good contact with the ski, so the turning experience for mountain skis is tops. It made them visit the gentle slopes they had avoided the last 20 years. Xplore is neither a rando, telemark nor cross-country binding, but a binding for mountain skiing that invites you to explore all the snowy terrain around you. They write that classic 75mm equipment with toe binding would enable much of the same, but they enjoyed their time on Xplore and look forward to using it much the coming season. Coming to shops in December.
I hope I have managed to capture and convey the essence properly. I am excited and a bit anxious if the Skaged boots fits and is as good as I want/expected for both walking and skiing. I'll report back as soon as I can get my hands on the binding and/or boots.
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