When I was a kid, snowboard bindings didn’t really innovate for at least a decade. The biggest new development would be a new toe piece or some new bushings.
Then, a few years ago, Step-ons came out and totally changed the game. Since then, snowboard bindings have been evolving at a rapid pace. It seems like with each new season comes a totally new way to lock your feet to your board.
This season is no different. Although new this year, the FASE system has been in development for upwards of seven years to this point. Standing for Fast Entry System (although the acronym is tepid at best), the idea is to find a sweet spot between the convenience of a step-on binding and the versatility of a traditional strap binding. Read on for the rest of this review to find out what is good and what could use some refinement for nexst year.
Several companies are coming out with their own version of FASE bindings this year, and I was lucky enough to demo a pair of the Jones Mercury, a brand-new design built for the freerider in mind.
How the FASE System Works
On first glance, the FASE setup looks like your traditional two-strap binding. But when you take a closer look, there are two main distinguishing features: 1. The highback has a hinge near the heel to where it folds back, allowing for you to step into it. When you step down, it clicks up into place. 2. The main ankle strap is considerably longer than normal, allowing you to loosen it without taking it fully off. This allows for a faster, one-handed re-entry when strapping in.
Ultimately it saved me a good 10 seconds or so, per foot (give or take). This may not seem like a lot, but if you add up a few dozen times a day, by however many days you snowboard each season, it turns into a ton of time saved in the long run. People at resorts with less vert will benefit the most from this; since less vert means more on and off the chair.
Really, anyone who gets in and out of bindings more than once in a day are going to benefit from the time saved here. So, pretty much everyone, really. The more you ride, the more time you’ll shave off of the in and out process. The time saved will compound to many more runs a season; it’s just classic arithmetic.
Testing Conditions
I took the bindings out on both Blackcomb Mountain and Mt. Baker, two iconic mountains that test freeride snowboarding to its limit. I tested in late spring which is actually a better test for bindings than mid winter in deep pow. Spring conditions bring variability; and so with each aspect, time of day, and elevation change, you find a wide range of snow conditions.
For Blackcomb, it was a late-season snowfall that ran the range from light and fluffy up top to warm and slushy down low. At Baker, we experienced a melt-freeze that stayed frozen, meaning nice hard chunks that made me think maybe I should have gone biking instead. It did warm up in the afternoon a bit, but never to where it was fully soft. Great for testing out how the bindings hold up, even if the riding was less than exceptional.
Over the chatter, onto the sidehits, and into the air I went. Riding for fun and riding for a review are a bit different. When you’re writing for a review you’re really trying to push it to it’s limit. Every binding has a sweet spot to stay in to give maximum responsiveness, tweakage, or balance on the rails. Once the bindings were on, it was hard to make a distinction between any other traditional pair of binding for structure; so the responsiveness in various conditions and ability to take abuse on hard pack and chunder became what I sought out to report back on.
Benefits of the Jones Mercury FASE Bindings
The reason you’re probably here reading this is to find out about the fast entry system, and I can say with confidence, that it’s a huge step (in) above the traditional two-strap system. It only took a few tries to figure out the movement needed to get in and out with ease, and after that, it only got faster every time.
Only one movement is needed with your hands, and that’s the main ankle strap. It’s a bit longer than a traditional strap, and that’s about it. The ratchet holds into place so that when you loosen it, it doesn’t come completely undone, saving time when the stoke is high to just do your business and move on down the hill.
Is it revolutionary? Maybe not as much as the Step On system that allows stronger pull on the toe edge by being firmly locked in. But it has way more versatility than the step on in that you can use any boots you’d like instead of specialty boots.
Drawbacks of the Jones Mercury FASE Bindings
One of the best advantages of the Jones bindings is that they are a rebrand of NOW, an innovative company started by OG Wildcat JF Pelchat out of Whistler, BC. It is now part of the YES. Snowboards umbrella, all made in the Nidecker factory along with Jones. I’m not privy to the ownership and contract details for Jones to use the Now (or YES) system, but it rules, and is what’s missing in these bindings. I’ve come to love and crave the responsiveness of the Skate Tech, and these bindings are missing that tech.
Another missing part of the NOW puzzle is in the baseplate cover. To secure it to the baseplate, you need a phillips head screwdriver. This can be problematic for two reasons. One is that I never like more space fore snow to get into, especially if/when it’s icy and it can cause jamming. The other is that if you want to change your stance on the fly, it’s one more finicky step to make that happen. Going back to the first point, if that changing is being done in icy conditions, it’s all the more difficult to do. Also, let’s hope you don’t lose it!
Final Thoughts
The Jones Mercury FASE bindings performed excellent in all different types of conditions, giving me confidence to engage the turns, and really find the sweet spot of power and finesse that comes with a good pair of bindings. The assymetrical highback provides control with enough freedom to make some fun maneuvers. It’s not something many people might notice, but those who ride many pairs of bindings willl appreciate the subtle difference.
The fast-entry system is on another level of convenience and speed when you compare it to traditional two-strap bindings. It’s also far lighter and simpler than the Supermatic step-in system, and the closest step-in binding to traditional bindings you’ll be able to find. Once you get the routine dialled, it’ll speed up the flow of the day by a large margin.
The Mercury bindings themselves seem geared more to high-performance riding, where the more you load into a turn, the more you’ull get out of it. Casual rigders may not appreciate the responsiveness but they will certainly appreciate the easier in and out that the bindings provide. But if you prefer a softer binding setup, this might not be the best bindings this time around.
All in all, the bindings support fast turns and nuanced edge control really well. It can also take some abuse in variable conditions without much issue. If they can get a more solid footbed and incorporate Skate Tech, the bindings will be hard to compete with for a high performance step in system.
