In the first of our videos from Blister Summit 2025, we sit down with AlpenFlow Designs co-founder, Steven Waal, to get the whole story on how and why they decided to make a ski-touring binding; how their prototypes of the AlpenFlow 89 have evolved over the first 5 years of development; what they believe sets it apart from the rest of the market; how it actually works; and more.
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Steven was impressive, speaking as a fellow ME. How much do these cost? Or will cost when in full production?
Hey Scott! Steven here from Alpenflow Design. Thanks for the kind words!! It was really fun getting to talk over the bindings in detail with Luke.
Pricing is a bit tricky right now due to all of the uncertainty in the supply chain and global economy. Having said that, we are targeting MSRP of $760 at the moment. We are running a pre-order campaign right now so if you sign up for our emails you will get a discount code that will get that price down below $700. You can learn more at: https://www.alpenflowdesign.com/
One other question, gaps between your boot sole and the binding pads can reduce skiing precision, how does this new binding deal with that? Heel looks to be clamped down, how about the toe?
(Steven from Alpenflow Design again)
Great question. You are correct that the heel piece is clamped down so it will not have this problem.
The toe piece is different. When clicked in, it is designed to only interface at the pins. We believe (and have personally verified through testing) that this will give really good downhill performance and control. Read on for the short explanation.
One of the critical design characteristics we look at is the torsional rigidity at the interface between the boot and the binding. I’m sure you understand this, but for anyone else that is reading, I am talking about the ability of the joint to resist torques (or “rotational forces”). A good analogy is this: stand up straight with your feet side by side, and have someone push you to the side. Now spread out your feet (shoulder width apart) and have someone push you to the side again. Your ability to resist the push is significantly increased when your feet are apart. The further you spread your feet apart, the easier it is for you to resist your friend’s push. The interface between the boot and the binding follows the same basic principle.
In a traditional low tech heel piece, the heel piece is locked in with pins and the heel itself floats above the surface of the ski. The pins that lock in the heel are really close together, just like the case when your feet were side by side. This and the fact that the heel is floating means the joint isn’t as stiff, so the ability for the skier to control the ski through the binding is reduced. You can partially solve this problem by adding spacers under the heel, but you sill won’t have as much torsional rigidity as a complete alpine style heel latch like we have on the Alpenflow 89.
The same principles apply to the toe piece. Only this time, the traditional low tech pin inserts are already spaced really far apart, meaning (assuming that they don’t open) the torsional rigidity will already be really high. The tech toe piece is analogous to the situation of standing with your feet shoulder width apart, just like a traditional alpine toe piece.
There are of course many other phenomenon at play, but this discussion highlights just one of many reasons why we went with a tech toe piece in our design. Another big factor in this decision was the user experience/touring performance side of things, and on this front, a tech toe is absolutely necessary and allows for a truly unique and easy user experience.
Hope that helped! Feel free to reach out to us through our website (https://www.alpenflowdesign.com/) if you have more questions! You can also check out our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@AlpenFlowDesign) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/alpenflow_design/?hl=en) pages if you want to learn more.
This design is a cross between the ATK Rider and the TRAB TR2.
In the past, the design restrained the heel by inserting pins due to the soft rubber sole.
The risk is that the boot heel will float inside the binding and/or that the heel will have to be packed (preloaded) a lot to guarantee contact between the boot sole and the ski.
Bear in mind that people walk in touring boots too. The sole could wear down and the heel’s thickness could vary.
The steel insert was a clever choice.
However, I would like to try them.
Very interesting binding! Is this binding compatible with a ski crampon? If so, please explain if it can work with current ski crampon designs or do you require use of an AlpineFlow specific ski crampon system.
Thanks
Just a few questions: what are the ramp angle and stand height on this binding? How big is the footprint; I.e., are the heel piece screws positioned directly under the heel of the boot, like a Look Pivot? Does the heel piece have a range of fore and aft adjustability like a Salomon STH2 13/16? Besides including a paper template with the binding, do you sell the jig directly to the consumer? (I have been mounting my own bindings for almost 2 decades). Are all the parts metal, or is the binding mostly metal, with some plastic in strategic places? Do you suggest loosening the springs during the offseason? Do you suggest seasonal/maintenance lubrication for the springs?