Binding Review: 2012/2013 Now IPO

How much have bindings changed in the last 10 years? Not that much. 20 years?? 30!? A couple step-in options that came and went. A couple that stuck. Lots of small incremental changes, not much different thinking. Until Now. (The puns just write themselves.)

JF Pelchat thought the same thing. In 2004 he filed his first patent and in 2006 he began work on what would become the Now IPO. As with Jones and Yes Snowboards, Nidecker stepped up to the plate on production. With a quality team behind him, production dialed and six years of work into the product, it was time to unveil the IPO binding.

JF was on hand at the Baker Banked Slalom to demo his bindings. As such, he breezed through the setup with the speed and efficiency of someone who has been inside these bindings for six years. I have no idea how long it would have taken me, but I'd imagine no longer than an average binding. Now has one mounting disc to take care of 2-hole sliders, 3-hole and 4-hole insert patterns. The foot pillow that covers the disc gets out of the way without tools. Forward lean is tool-free as per usual. The highbacks are even pre-rotated a few degrees to solve a common problem.

I rode the Now IPOs on my Never Summer SL-R with Salomon Dialogue boots. My size 9.5 (US men's) boots went into a medium binding. Now lists 9.5 and smaller boots as their medium size and 10 and bigger as Large. JF set me up with the Medium bushings at the binding-board interface.

The fit was great. The first thing I noticed was how tight the heelcup held my boot in place. I couldn't just step out at the end of a run, I had to pull my foot out of the binding. Not difficult, but not effortless. JF mentioned that this is something they're still dialing in for future models. Once I got used to it, I liked that snug feeling. It was like having another strap that locked your heel down without actually having  to buckle it. Also, the highback is sandwiched between the heelcup's two loops. This makes it a snap to take out the highback and go no-back style without altering the fit. I'd love to try that, especially on a pow day. Imagine the Japan you could tweak out. Knee to the deck! With the highback in place, flexibility was still good without being gooey.

Speaking of the straps, they are standard. Not big and puffy, not bare bones, just medium. Comfortable enough. You can ride the toe strap up top or out front.

The vibration absorption of these bindings is next level. Between the 5mm bushings and the 15mm foot pillows Now has your dogs swaddled in EVA for a magic carpet ride through the most unforgiving chop. I'd like to see thinner foot pillow or bushing offerings for a lower ride with more board feel. Again, it could make for a rad pow day.

See the rest of JF and more IPO tech and specs Now

What about response? My main preconceived concern with these bindings was that taking the binding out of direct contact with the board and setting it up on bushings would sacrifice response. Not the case. My board responded as good or better than with traditional bindings. As JF explained, the kingpin and bushing system transfers energy more directly and eliminates the performance-robbing binding warp in other models. Translation, you say "Carve," your board says "How hard?"

The bushings bring about another question for me. What about the possibility of setting up the bindings asymmetrically? With snowboards again messing around with asymmetrical sidecuts, could a similar benefit be achieved by putting the hard bushings under your heels and the soft ones under your toes? What about using thinner bushings under the instep to create a cant?

One long-term worry I would have with these bindings is the extra moving parts. Add moving parts to a system and you add liabilities. As with any new product, it remains to be seen how rugged these parts will be. The next few years will answer the durability question.

I'm intrigued to see where Now will go next. They have some room for improvement, but their IPO was a solid offering. Freestyle, freeride, big mountain, all mountain; I'd say the next big thing in bindings is right here, right Now.

27th Baker Banked: Another Legend

Yup, last one to the party, no doubt, with the 27th Annual Legendary Baker Banked Slalom info. Had to make the haul down I-5 yesterday with some stops. Then, crashed out early because today was a powder day at Meadows. Who'da thunk? That crazy ice layer is still lurking, though. Tripping heel edges you thought were going to spray powder all over the free world. Serious damage done today. In a real way. To my meat box. Not some metaphorical 'destruction.' I feel broken. Enough about me, though, things got legendary over the weekend. Let me tell you what eye saw.

Saturday. Hard to get motivated when it's been raining all week. More on that later. Managed to get down there and check out the race. Even demoed some gear: Jones Hovercraft, Yes Pick Your Line and Now IPO bindings. All good in different ways. You will hear more, but here's the teaser.

2013 Yes Pick Your Line

2013 Jones Hovercraft and Mountain Twin flanked by Yes men

JF Pelchat sets me up with the Now IPO.

Mervin boards I didn't ride. Look for C3 BTX next year.

What about the race? I watched a few folks from the top and a few from the middle. Not much middle ground as far as the race. Folks were either slaying or getting bucked. Gnarly-ass course. Makes me wonder whether I really want to get accepted to ride in it. Gwyn Howat said that for the first time ever some of the banks were over her head. And she's no pixie at six feet tall. Another first, mid-week the course was an icy mogul field and the crew was praying for rain. You read that right. They can't just power-till the course, so the only natural cure would be the four-letter word we usually curse. It came. Course softened. What could have been a bobsled track got downgraded to 'challenging.' Thank the rain. Ha. Just make sure it knows its place. For example, don't rain on the salmon feed/handplant contest. Thank you. 

Who is this, Marben? Where's the light from, God?

So much food they were giving it away at the end.

The grindage up top was looking tasty, too.

Sunday Finals. No demos as my crew again lacked motivation and the demo tents were packing up early. I did get a glimpse of some pro men's runs and some groms' after them. Let me tell you something, it's easy to appreciate video-part-quality snowboarding when it's on a screen in front of you, but it's even easier to appreciate when it's carving down a hill in front of you. Professional athletes on a closed course. Sit back and watch. If you can't watch Josh Dirksen take his LBS turns and aspire to replicate them, you're either Terje or you're numb. Not everyone films a three-minute shred-porn section every year, but, much like REM said, everybody turns. Sometime. Still, no one ever says, "I want to turn like Josh Dirksen." Well, I do. Maybe next year I'll ask all the micro-groms who their favorite riders are. I will take special note of those who respond with Dirka-Dirka-San. All that said, this is a results-based game, no one cares what you look like, you gotta WIN! Overheard in the lodge before the awards, "Dirksen has all the qualities you envy in a person except the ability to win." I should have asked that dude his name, I'd love to have an attribution for that. You know who you are, third floor of the lodge around 4pm. Of course he goes on to take second AGAIN. Maybe he just knows that silver is the only real duct tape color. Everything else is an impostor. Who would want that? Temple Cummins came in third because the only place he ever lands at this event is on the podium. Terje won because he's that good. He had to bounce to Norway and the World Snowboard Championships before the awards, though, because he's in demand. And because he's that good.

Scotty Wittlake praying

Scotty Wittlake slaying

Another special moment for me that day was Kevin Pearce's presence. What can you say? Has a time ever mattered less? Kevin looked more stoked than anyone at the awards ceremony. What an inspiration to anyone who's ever had to come back from a serious injury. Traumatic brain injury to gnarly banked turns in a couple years. Ending in Banked Slalom entries for life. See you next year, Kev. Wear your helmets, kids.

Watching Milo Malkoski race and win his first gold was pretty cool, too. You can read all about it on his proud pop's blog. What he won't tell you is that dad was pacing/racing Milo down the first half of the course. Talk about a stoked dad. Milo's time was just a little slower than the old man's, too. What does he get when he finally beats you, Johan?

Who says the groms don't take it seriously?

Hearing the crowd go nuts when someone from Glacier wins is amazing. Makes me wish I could have been there when Lucas DeBari won in 2007. Must have been off the meter. My first year was 2008, when Temple won it and I thought that crowd was nuts. I couldn't even hear Danielle Davis's name getting called this year. And this wasn't her first win. Glacier loves its own.

Sarah Taylor, "I get second every six years: 2000, 2006 and 2012."

Maelle Ricker owns the women's pro division. This year marked her sixth win in a row. And she won by almost five seconds. She also wrecked into the fence in her second finals run. Like a true pro, she unstrapped, hiked up around the gate, took a bow, buckled back in and finished her run without a DQ. Is the mark of a pro the flawless winning time or the unwillingness to give up?

That quote sums it up.

Finally, I just can't top Baker for getting together with all my shred buddies. I have quite a few that I only see there. I wish I could see them more often, and I wish I'd stop missing some even there, but as long as the Legendary Banked Slalom goes down, at least I'll know where they'll be for that one weekend in February. You guys know who you are. See you next year!