Rottefella Xplore Backcountry Ski Bindings
Built to expand your skiing experience, the Rottefella Xplore backcountry bindings help you ski, hike, climb, descend and explore groomed trails or fresh tracks with more stability and control.
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- Meadow skipping, touring, tele skiing, skimo—Xplore is made for exploring snow-covered landscapes on groomed trails or making your own tracks
- Ideal for skis with a grip pattern or skin-compatible for diagonal grip; fits skis with 68 to 100+ mm waist width, depending on where you explore
- Toe-mounted system and hinge point offer a natural/efficient stride while climbing and striding
- Compatible with XP and Xplore boots (not included), such as the Alpina Alaska XP boots
- A wider connection point and increased lateral support add stability and control while skiing downhill
- Spring pin technology allows for step-in entry and easy exit, while helping to prevent snow from clogging the bindings
- Pins are back and on the sides of the toes for added stability and to maximize boot grip while hiking
- 36 mm high heel lifters provide more comfort while climbing
- Compatible accessories include the Rottefella Hard Flex Plate, Ice Plate and Leash (not included)
Imported.
View all Rottefella Cross-Country Ski Bindings| Best Use | Backcountry Skiing |
|---|---|
| Cross-country Style | Backcountry |
| Boot and Binding Compatibility | Xplore |
| Weight (Pair) | 13.1 ounces |
| Gender | Unisex |
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Expensive but work beautifully
Rotafella's new binding system is a very nice design. They look and operate very similar to AT (Alpine Touring) bindings. They're easier to step in and of than Rotafella's previous NNN systems and seem less prone to being fouled by ice and snow. I have taken them on a few tours now both on ungroomed trail and in deep powder as well as a few downhill runs with no issue of releasing. There does seem to be better ski control but part of that may be due to the better Alfa boots I've paired these with. Replacing my old NNN-BC Magnum bindings on my Fischer SBound 98's was easy as some of the mounting holes are in the same locations so there is no need to find the ski centers again either side-to-side or in-line. This is a sweet upgrade from NNN-BC bindings if you can swallow the cost which is about 3x.
All that I hoped for
I've skied these Xplore bindings a couple of dozen times now over the past year and found the Alpina boot/Xplore bindings on Fischer Traverse 78s to be great. I'm primarily on ungroomed mountain trails and forest service roads with flat to 20% grades. The downhill control is far better than regular NNN bindings, but still well short of AT bindings. I've never skied NNN BC or three-pin with cables, so can't compare to those.
Great for BC/XCD, REI can't mount (but will try).
I don't want to rate the binding like this, but I have to to keep others from making the same mistakes. TL;DR: After one season of hard back county/XCD use they are great bindings, DO NOT LET REI TRY TO MOUNT THEM! Skiing: 5 Stars This binding is great, and they look awesome on nice skis. Comfortable pivot point, great leverage, and fairly easy step in/out of. Skiing on any terrain that the fish scales will go up is easy, and on semi flat or flat ground they cruise with very little effort. These are highly enjoyable to cruise around on. Going up steep hills with climbing skins on is easy even with the stock toe flex plate (being able to swap these is a great feature). Based on a four day back country trip around the steep Snowbank lake hiking trail in the BWCA which required climbing skins the entire time, and carrying a very heavy pack: They skied great, were comfortable, and held up. As a back country binding these are hard to beat. The only downside is boot selection, while there are very high quality boots from a few different brands, there are no good options for boots with enough stiffness to really telemark turn well on wide skis, limiting what I believe is a pretty good downhill binding. The skis these are mounted to are 174cm long, 124/98/120 XCD skis for reference. Durability: 4 Stars While these bindings survived a four day trip with a 60lb+ pack, 5+ feet of the worst snow conditions possible. A mix of wet snow in the sun and power in the shade which would stick to my climbing skins and build up between 6-12" thick on the bottoms of the skis. Turning the skis into essentially the worlds heaviest snow shoes, then going up and down steep hills. If a binding was going to break, these would be the conditions to do it. They proved to be mechanically sound. Unfortunately I dropped one though and the plastic release tongue broke. Upon examination the plastic in that component is incredibly thin for a back county binding. This design needs to be updated. I glued it and it works, but I don't trust that part of the binding. All in all, a great back country or XCD binding with much better pivot geometry and boot leverage than 3 pin/75 mm, but worse boot selection. All of the other XC binding systems are extremely out classed by these two for back country/XCD. REI's MOUNTING SERVICE: 0 STARS Why zero stars? Because REI destroyed my skis attempting to mount these bindings. I went to the REI flagship store in Bloomington MN after they assured me they could mount these bindings. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ALLOW REI TO MOUNT THESE BINDINGS!!! Just do it yourself, trust me, all you need is a drill and a screw driver. It's easy, tape the template onto the ski, align the binding by eye, mark the holes, mark your drill bit, drill the holes, and screw the bindings to the skis with some sealant. REI, take notes, this is how you mount these, not with some contraption designed for skate skis. I took them in because I wanted to make sure they were perfectly mounted to my new skis, huge mistake. I even brought the mounting templates from Rottefella, REI did not want that, and would not take it. Instead they assured me again that they could mount these to 98mm underfoot skis. Instead of calling and telling me they wouldn't actually be able to, they decided to butcher my skis, and then tell me how much trouble it was after the fact. One of the bindings is so crooked that (this actually happened) they were on the other side of the room and someone noticed and commented on it without prompting. REI technicians do not have the skill required to mount these, especially on wide skis. Either go to a shop that does AT tech pin bindings, or do them yourself.