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This Game-Changing Snowboard Product Solves the Biggest Problem(s) with the Last Game-Changing Snowboard Product

Burton’s most innovative release of the past decade has a new rival, and after testing it on the slopes, I foresee a quiet revolution.

Close-up of a yellow and black ski or snowboard binding strap mechanism, showing the adjustable ratchet buckle in motion. The brand name "RAISE" is visible on the black part of the binding.Jones Snowboards

By Steve Mazzucchi

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No matter where your brand loyalties lie, there can be no denying that Burton’s Step On binding is a paradigm-shifting innovation.

Its incredible ease of use and reliability makes it hugely beneficial, particularly to beginners, but also to anyone tired of dealing with binding straps and even to their impatient ski buddies. 

Snowboard binding in black and neon yellow with an adjustable highback shown in multiple positions. The binding features a toe strap and an ankle strap, with the brand name "Jones" and model name "Mercury" visible on the baseplate.
The three key ingredients of FASE are the AutoBack (left), FastStrap (middle) and Locked-In Toe Strap (right).
Jones Snowboards

Heck, the breakthrough has been so monumental, the brand is even licensing the tech to big binding makers overseas, spreading its reach far beyond US borders. 

Even so, there are detractors. Some are just general Burton haters, but there are at least a couple valid criticisms. One is that you are limited to Burton and a few brands they work with when it comes to compatible boots. 

Because it is more a variation of a traditional binding, as opposed to a reinvention, FASE feels pretty familiar, and the performance is exactly what you’d get from a classic two-strapper.

The other is a little harder to grasp if you don’t snowboard, and totally understandable if you do. A lot of us just feel a lot more comfortable shredding with straps. 

That’s where some new tech I got to test last season comes in. Meet the FASE binding, which just might have the Big B shaking in its proverbial boots.

How it works

FASE is short for Fast Entry System, and while it’s not the first step in binding ever, it is the most seamless execution of the tech I’ve encountered in 20 years on the slopes.

Perhaps the best proof of its legitimacy is some of the names adopting it, including Jones Snowboards and ThirtyTwo. Two very different, highly respected brands that gave me a chance to test the Mercury FASE and T32M Fase X Pat Fava, respectively.  

Four-panel collage showing a snowboarder in action. The first three panels focus on close-up shots of the snowboarder's foot securing into the snowboard binding on snow, highlighting the process of stepping in and fastening the boot. The fourth panel shows the snowboarder from behind, gliding down a snowy slope surrounded by trees, wearing black snow gear and a helmet.
Using FASE-powered bindings like this ThirtyTwo set is as easy as stepping in, dropping your heel to close up the highback, tightening the top strap and dropping in.
Photos for Gear Patrol by Ed Hui

While the styling and unique brand touches are different, both bindings rely on the same tech, which can be broken down into three key ingredients. 

First is the AutoBack, which angles the highback outward to make it easy to slip your foot in, and features a small tab you trigger with your heel when you step in, which essentially closes the gate behind you. 

This 57-second video below breaks down the literal ins and outs of the system as clearly as possible.

The next key piece is the FastStrap, a long top binding strap that, unlike a traditional strap, loosens but does not completely detach from the buckle. This makes it easy to slide your foot in, and quickly ratchet the strap closed. When it’s time to eject, you just pull the tab on the buckle to loosen things up and ease your boot out.

Last but not least is the Locked-In Toe Strap. This one secures in a way that lets you set it and forget it, so it’s ready to go whenever you insert your boot, without you even touching it. The ultimate result is halving the number of binding straps you even have to futz with at all, dramatically reducing your in-and-out time.

Why it’s great

One huge advantage is that unlike Step Ons, these FASE-equipped bindings are compatible with pretty much any boot and board you already have or get in the future. I can’t underestimate how excellent that is in terms of democratizing things for both riders and brands.

Of course even more critical is the reality that, after seven years of R&D, the FASE binding just plain works.

It takes a little getting used to, but then again so does the Step On, and once I got the hang of it, I found I could get in and out of them really quickly, even while in motion or while sitting on the lift. 

A person wearing a black jacket and olive green pants, both branded with The North Face logo, is holding a black snowboard with neon green bindings. The background shows a snowy mountainous landscape.
Once mounted to a board, FASE bindings look very similar to traditional ones — and work with pretty much any boots.
Jones Snowboards

Because it is more a variation of a traditional binding, as opposed to a reinvention, it feels pretty familiar, and the performance is exactly what you’d get from a classic two-strapper. That should be welcome news for veteran riders, some of whom simply don’t trust the Step On (though it has been stress tested to the max). 

I rode the Jones and ThirtyTwo products at a little Pennsylvania hill (Bear Creek Mountain Resort) as well as Mammoth Mountain in California and Powder Mountain in Utah, which provided an interesting perspective on use cases.

In some ways, they were even handier in PA because the mountain was so small, we were doing tons of laps, meaning a lot of strapping and unstrapping. For that reason I can also see it being hugely popular with freestyle riders — like the bulk of ThirtyTwo’s sponsored riders — who spend a lot of time lapping the pipe and park.

Snowboard bindings attached to a snowboard resting on snow, featuring gray and black straps with a perforated design on the ankle straps. The snowboard has a graphic design with text and illustrations.
FASE’s quiet binding revolution may ultimately have a bigger impact than Burton’s bolder one.
ThirtyTwo

That said, there’s a case to be made for sidecountry use as well, as it can sometimes involve a degree of hiking or riding T-bars or pushing through flats — and sometimes having to strap in at tough spots (like in deep powder) that might be tricky for Step Ons tech, which does require a very firm stomp of the foot.

Perhaps that’s why a brand much better known for big mountain products, Jones, has also signed on for this tech. 

In just a few days with these products, I can’t help thinking that it may be only a matter of time before ThirtyTwo and Jones are just two of many.

Availability and pricing

ThirtyTwo’s T32M Fase X Pat Fava bindings cost $350. The Jones Mercury FASE bindings cost $380.

About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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