This is long. You've been warned.
When I was in the market for this system there weren't a whole lot of good write ups that answered the questions I had, so here's my attempt to do just that.
I was looking for the following in a telemark boot/binding setup: releasable (this was and still is mandatory where I work), better edge control than my old setup, comfortable, durable, easy in and out. Basically the one thing missing from that list is lightweight which I could pretty much care less about...so the NTN seemed like the obvious choice.
I should preface all this by saying that I was coming off of a Voile CRB/Garmont Energy setup when I first demo'd the NTN. I think the Energy was a good boot, however, IMO the CRB is a terrible binding. It never instilled that feeling of confidence to me. I've seen a lot of them fail, to me there wasn't any solid edge control, and it seemed like everyone using that binder had some story of it releasing on them at a very inopportune time. Basically I was unimpressed with the equipment options, and worse teleskiing wasn't that fun for me. So I tried the NTN.
Me: 25y/o, 5'10", 170ish#, pretty shitty telemark skier when I first tried NTN, strong alpine skier...interpret that last part however you want.
The first 5 NTN turns: I thought to myself, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. This sucks ass, how does anyone ski this shit?" It was like I couldn't flex the bellows or the binding.
Turns 6 - today: SOLD. Completely sold and never looking back. To this day I don't really know what happened...I guess I just went for it, whatever that means, but it felt SO right. I bought the setup, and have been skiing it at work and on my days off. IMO, I've become a pretty fucking good teleskier...I feel like I can say that because I spend 130+ days on the hill and see pretty fucking shitty teleskiers all the time.
Ok. I really like the binding, no doubt. Here is where this review might get a little different. I'm not going to tell you how hard it slays powder or bumps or crud or Grand Canyon sastrugi right now...look, I think it skis great, a lot of people will agree with me here. So this is where I will try to answer some of the questions I had before I bought in.
The "easy in, easy out" feature: From the get go, these were kinda marketed as a binding that's easy to get in and out of. As mentioned I work in skis and I'm constantly in and out of my bindings. So how do these stack up against an alpine binder? Really well, to my surprise. After watching the videos on Youtube of people using (and relying) on ski poles to put their skis on, I was skeptical. The NTN binding does take some getting used to for one to be able go in and out of quickly, but it's no problem. And ***you don't need a ski pole to do it***. Use you skis to step on/pull up on the levers. EASY. I can think of one exception where things get tricky, and that's steep, icy groomers. I should point out that 75mm bindings weren't ever that hard to use...unless they start to slide away. That brings me to the next topic:
BRAKES! : Holy fucking shit what a novel idea. I'm not sure what else there is to be said here, but I love this feature. For those of you who are thinking "Just flip your skis over when you take them off, asshole. Problem solved"...you haven't worked at Breckenridge. Last season I saw the wind pick up an 80 pound toboggan and throw it down Horseshoe Bowl...and it doesn't take nearly that much wind to flip a ski over. NTN bindings do require a slight kick of the foot towards the toe bail for the boot to fully seat, and the brakes keep the ski in place. Speaking of kicking your bindings...
Reliability: This is a problem. Rottefella has released several updated versions of the binding for whatever reasons, but here's the truth. With exception given only to some of the lighter women I know using these, EVERYONE has cracked their frames in at least one place. I was using mine for nearly the whole season when I finally broke off the toe bail. They were done at that point. Upon closer examination, my frames were cracked all over the place. Talking to others who have broken their bindings (in some cases multiple sets) here's what I think is going on:
*Just general abuse.
*We leave our skis outside in a ski locker. Skis are put away wet/slushy/whatever at the end of the day. Overnight they freeze, the ice expands cracking or weakening whatever is in it's way.
*I know I sound like a broken record, but we're in and out of our skis all the time. I kick my bindings, specifically the toe bail, to get snow off of my boots. This may be (hell, it certainly is) weakening the binding.
*I'm such a rad, badass teleskier that my bindings just can't hold it together.
***Rottefella seriously needs to make their shit better. As a huge NTN fanboi, I don't like saying it, but it's true. Yeah, it's a heavy binding so you don't want to add metal. Whatever. Fix it. People are getting fed up.
After talking with Scarpa (U.S. Rottefella distributor at the time of this review) when I warrantied my bindings, it sounds like Rottefella is releasing yet another version. It's supposed to be black and further address the frame cracking.
To try to be fair, complex bindings do break. Fritschi's break off at the toe piece (only one screw holding it on), Naxo's suck, Duke AFD's break off, all kinds of shit can break on a 75mm binder, not even Bishop's and HH's are immune. But none of those are breaking at the rate of NTN's. At least Rottefella is acknowledging a problem and they're trying to rectify it.
Scarpa Tx Pro boot: I'm going to try to be objective here rather than go into how they fit as that will obviously vary foot to foot. They do seem to fit a bit small, but I say that after talking to others. The bellows are soft which I like. You can easily compensate with the different power tubes in the binding. Other folks have complained about the durability of the "duckbill", if you can call it that anymore. Mine are worn too, but I think it comes back to kicking the binding when you step in. I should point out that when you buy these boots, loctite all the screws as soon as you get home. Scarpa may be doing this now. I was warned about it, didn't listen, and lost one of the t-bolts that joins the upper and lower cuff. The boot has two forward lean modes, no I don't know the angles, I just leave it in the more upright mode. The walk mode is pretty fricken nice, especially with what I think Scarpa calls the "Heel Retaining Strap". When touring you can lock that fucker down, leave the top buckles loose, put it walk mode and be very comfortable with a solid range of motion. One thing that isn't so awesome is if you leave your skis and go into snow deeper than your ankles, the snow may push up the walk mode lever, putting it into..well...walk mode. You'll know as soon as you're back in your skis, but heads up.
Some more subjective things about the Tx Pro: Surprise!..I'm a pretty big fan. My feet have always stayed warm in these even on the coldest days, probably thanks to the Intuition liners...I think they're warm liners. On that note, I haven't had problems with wet feet either. They feel pretty light to me, fit my foot exceptionally well (rare), and I really like the cuff height. I also like the flex of the boot (not just the bellows) for a tele application, however, I think they would be pretty soft if you were using them with a tech binding. That's speculation though, I've only tele'd with this boot. Some people have talked about getting their foot pinched by the bellows. I may have figured this out...I truely don't think this binding or boot was designed to get really low. As in trailing knee one inch off the ski. I didn't have any problems with pinching until I let a buddy borrow my setup...his TRaces were killing him. He gets low. Awesome skier, but skis low (he's one of the few that didn't like the NTN). I got the boots back, and all of a sudden I was having pinching problems. I skied it for a couple of weeks, not getting low, and it went away. If some of you guys that had pinching issues want to chime in here with your thoughts, I'd love to hear about it. Maybe...alright, I probably am...full of shit.
Weight of the whole setup: I don't have one problem here. Why? To me this setup is exactly like that of my Scarpa Hurricane/Duke setup. It represents an excellent compromise of downhill performance (I actually don't think there's any loss in the DH) and uphill "fun". If you're one of the gram-counting-super-techy-check-out-my-sick-Arc'teryx-everything-kit and wear the orange tinted glasses even when you sleep...consider the following:
1. No one cares you Dynafit in the ski area.
2. This may not be the setup for you.
3. That's okay, because Boulder cares you Dynafit in the ski area.
4. You [most likely] won't win any Rando races with this setup. That wasn't Rottefella's intention...why would it be your's?
The release feature: This binding has a release feature. It's only "rated" for a sideways release, whereas the Voile CRB will release sideways and upwards. I have the "DIN", if you will, set at 4 with the blue power tubes. I still have not released from this binding...good. I have blown the fuck up a couple of times expecting my skis to be up the trees or something, but they're still with me. Personally, unless I'm going to be doing serious damage to myself I don't want my skis coming off. I've heard people complain about prereleases, but there's usually one of two things happening: (yeah, TWO post review)
