La Sportiva RT Binding Review

A lot of people are aware by now that La Sportiva – long a well-regarded player in the footwear game – has broadened their product offerings to include ski gear. And they’re not starting off small by dipping their toes into the low end of product offerings, either. La Sportiva has gone for the competition’s jugular by offering up sophisticated, high end, lightweight products that are long on design while being short on frills and excess weight.

Entering the ski market with a bang, La Sportiva showcased their lineup of five different skis at the Winter Outdoor Retailer show in early 2011. (They also offer custom fit skins cut to the lengths and dimensions of the various skis in their product line) Also on display were the ultra-lightweight carbon fiber Stratos ski boot; a high-end ski boot lighter than many leather hiking boots. And finally, the La Sportiva RT tech binding was also visible for curious eyes to gaze upon.

The clever approach of La Sportiva to a new realm of gear manufacture was to enlist the help of established players, presumably to ensure quality. While Sportiva may be the sole engineers behind their Stratos boots, they’ve enlisted Pomoca to make their skins, and ATK to make their bindings. ATK is a Euro company, and the RT binding offered by La Sportiva is a mirror image of ATK’s RT binding, although the color scheme is different.

As presented, the La Sportiva RT binding borrows, as all lightweight tech bindings seem to do, from the original Dynafit toe piece design. The skier places their booted toes between two arms and steps down, closing the arms – and their pins – into the corresponding holes in the ski boot.

Speaking of corresponding holes, the binding mounting holes for the RT binding toe pieces are identical to those of Dynafit’s toe pieces. There are, however, only four holes, as compared to Dynafit’s five. The RT eliminates the forward screw, the one classically located beneath the toe lock mechanism.

As for the rear, the La Sportiva RT binding offers three heel positions for the ascending backcountry skier – flat, middle, and a high post. The high post is optional, and is not attached to the binding from the factory. To mount the high post, one simply unscrews the topmost screw (centrally located on the top of the heelpiece), puts the heel riser in place (it only fits one way), and tightens the screw. Take care here: this screw also adjusts one of the two DIN release values for the heelpiece. Because of this, the screw never feels fully ‘locked down’ as is typical when tightening screws.

All Four Heel Positions, in Pictures:

Each rear heel riser position is achieved by rotating the binding 90°, whereupon it notches into place until being twisted again. To ski down the hill, the binding is maneuvered until the two horizontal pins face forward, and the skier simply steps down, locking the rear pins into the boot.

Pretty straightforward stuff. Like most lightweight tech style bindings, the La Sportiva RT is easy to use once one is familiar with the basic concept. Now for some finer details:

Weight per single binding:

8 mounting screws (4 for the toe piece, 4 for the heel piece): 12 grams

Toe Piece: 88 grams

Heel Piece: 83 grams

Heel riser: 7 grams

Total: 190 grams per foot, with risers attached

Total Weight per pair, with screws and risers: 380 grams

La Sportiva claims the weight as 175 grams per side for a total of 350 grams. Adding on the weight of the screws, the official total would be 374 grams. So, they’ve obviously done a fine job landing very close to their stated weight. 6 grams of difference in machined parts is not something I’m going to spend any time worrying about.

There is a lot going on in these tiny, lightweight bindings. Check it out.

Points of Note:

One of, if not the lightest, releasable bindings on the binding market. The release values aren’t technically DIN, but they are comparable enough that one can think of them similarly. Release values range from 5-10. As is typical on tech bindings, if one is on steep terrain and desires that their ski not come off, locking out the toe will provide a substantial boost to the stated release values.

The toe provides a single release value while the heel pieces provide two adjustments: frontal and lateral release. For anyone who hasn’t been enamored with the lack of adjustable release values on tech bindings in the past, the La Sportiva RT binding caters directly to your concerns.

The rear heel riser adds 26-27 millimeters of extra lift. The middle riser position yields approximately 38 mm of lift by itself. It’s a curved piece, so where exactly your boot hits will differ depending on a number of factors. At the topmost riser position, there are about 65 mm’s of lift on offer for those ascending steep skin tracks.

The bindings include a ski crampon attachment point. Ski crampons provide excellent grip in icy conditions, used in conjunction with skins. However, the width of the crampon attachment point is just a few millimeters wider than Dynafit models. Anyone wishing to continue using their previously owned B&D ski crampons with the La Sportiva binding will find that a bit of custom filing is in order. Other than that, B&D crampons slide into place and fit the RT binding perfectly.

Adjusting the release values couldn’t be simpler. One screw in the front handles that chore, while two do the same duty in the rear. All adjustments are indicated by easy-to-read numerical displays.

As with many ultralight, race or fast touring oriented bindings, these require a very precise mounting job. There is zero adjustability built into the rear binding, as heavier bindings offer up. This lack of fore and aft movement means 2 main things:

• If you use multiple ski boots with different shell lengths, you’ll have to pick one pair to use exclusively with the bindings.
• A mount job that’s a millimeter or more off can cause issues such as your heel lifting out of the binding during the unweighting movement of ski turn initiation. The binding mount job must be precise in order to avoid pre-release issues.

Review:

Ah, the review. The fun part. Using the bindings is a whole lot more fun than merely talking (or dreaming) about them. Stepping into the toepieces is smooth. The lengthy toe lever provides plenty of leverage to quickly lock the toes in place. The lever’s action is very smooth – it pops out of the retaining groove and into the locked position with one smooth action, and no ratcheting noise. You’re either locked in, or not. There is no deceptive middle ground, or grey area, as some bindings present. That adds to the feeling of security on gnarlier terrain.

Ejecting boots at the end of a run is smooth. It’s during the eject phase that the lengthy arm’s additional leverage is noticeable. It’s really easy to squeeze the lever and step out of the bindings.

I wondered about the lack of an ‘ice carver’ groove in the toe pins; it hasn’t proven to be an issue at all. Of course, older tech bindings didn’t offer this feature either, and I didn’t find it to be an issue on them, either.

A large part of the appeal of these bindings are their adjustable release values. Being able to ski knowing that you’re not ‘locked in’ is handy. This is particularly so in a low snow year, when looping deadfall and shrubbery, catching rocks, bludgeoning buried tree stumps, and sinking in to the ground on turns are more likely than usual.

When skiing with locked toe pieces, it takes enormous force to eject a ski from the boot in a fall. The release values offered up by the unlocked toe pieces offer some margin of safety, as well as mental freedom in knowing that the skis will come off if something untoward occurs.

Since I habitually lock my toes out, even on easy terrain, it has taken some effort to remember to trust the binding and unlock the toes for descents. However, I’ve managed to become more comfortable with the concept after having had no incidents. Regardless of the terrain, including high speed, chattering, icy descents, the bindings have held tight for me even when in the unlocked position.

Twisting the heel pieces is smooth, if a touch stiff. Once in one of the four swivel positions, the bindings don’t budge until twisted by hand again.

Using the highest riser position makes it a bit easier to ascend steeper skin tracks. It provides a noticeable boost to the binding height, which parlays into less rearward motion of the heel on each step. In all, it’s a more efficient way to ascend steeper slopes. Quite a nice feature, for little weight penalty.

All told, La Sportiva’s entry into the backcountry binding market – the RT binding – is a very solid effort. The bindings are comprised almost entirely of metal, which lends itself to durability. My sole concern with these bindings are the risers, which appear to be constructed of a plastic composite. It’s possible those could break with enough stomping during steep skinning. Fortunately, should that happen, it’s an easily replaceable part.

One other minor detracting aspect of the binding that I’ve noticed is that the inside of the numerical release value setting indicator can cloud up (on the heel pieces), making it hard to see what value the bindings are set at. Internal moisture or sun damage on the plastic cover? I’m not certain.

As for the total package, these incredibly lightweight bindings have performed impressively so far. They provide real grip on the boot while offering up a remarkably meager weight. The RT binding is a very impressive freshman effort from La Sportiva, helping to push American lightweight ski mountaineering in the right direction.