How To Properly Adjust Your Ski Bindings

Did you just buy that new pair of ski boots you’ve been drooling over on the internet, eagerly click into your favorite pair of skis in the garage, and then realize that your new boot doesn’t fit into your old bindings? Fret not! Adjusting your ski bindings is a quick process that you can do at home using simple tools. Follow this step-by-step guide to safely adjust your ski bindings, whether they’re alpine bindings or backcountry touring bindings.

Can I Adjust My Own Ski Bindings?

Yes! You absolutely can set your own bindings. There’s literally nothing stopping you, but before you grab your screwdriver, it’s important to be aware of what you’re getting yourself into. Modern ski bindings are designed to release when you crash, and an improperly set binding may either pre-release or not release at all in a fall, potentially leading to ugly leg injuries.

With that disclaimer out of the way, setting up your bindings isn’t rocket science. If an underpaid 22-year-old rocking these sunglasses in your local ski shop can do it, so can you. Of course, if you’re unsure of your work, take it to a shop and have them confirm proper adjustment! It’s also worth having a shop test your ski bindings using a special testing tool if you’re unsure of a used binding’s functionality.

Related: A Skier’s Glossary of Gear and Tech Terms

What Tools Do I Need to Adjust Bindings?

The exact tools you’ll need to adjust your ski bindings depend on the actual binding brand you’re working with. Generally, all you’ll need is a large screwdriver with a long bit that can reach the binding adjustment screws. Some bindings take a flathead, some take a Phillips head or Pozidriv, while others take a T-20 or T-25 Torx bit. These should all be easy to find at your local hardware store.

A Note on Boot/Binding Compatibility

It’s important to note that not all ski boots work with all bindings. Despite mostly looking the same, ski boot soles need to conform to a certain shape in order to fit into different binding types, and small changes make them incompatible. Currently, there are four major standards of soles: Walk To Ride (WTR), GripWalk (GW), Alpine (ISO 5355), and Alpine Touring (ISO 9523). The Alpine standard is further categorized into standard adult (A) soles and smaller kid’s (C) soles.

Your sole type will determine which bindings will work for your boot. Luckily, most binding manufacturers make “multi-norm” certified bindings now, meaning they are largely interchangeable among WTR, GW, and Alpine soles, but always double check what your exact binding says. The Alpine Touring standard features a heavily rockered rubber sole and is designed specifically to be used with pin bindings. It is usually not compatible with traditional alpine bindings.

Here’s a deeper dive into the matter.

What Is DIN?

DIN stands for Deutsches Institut Für Normung (German Institute for Standardization). In the ski world, it refers to a scale of release force settings for your ski bindings set by the Institute, which is published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). So many fun acronyms!

Ski bindings have springs in the toe and heel pieces that determine how much force is required to release the boot in fall. Those springs are adjusted according to the DIN scale, which for recreational alpine bindings runs from 0.75 to 18.

What Is Boot Sole Length (BSL)?

Boot sole length refers to the length, in millimeters, of the outside of your ski boot sole. It generally ranges from about 150 to 380. Most boots have it stamped or etched into the bottom or side of the sole, so it’s easy to find. Evo also has a handy reference chart for most modern ski boots here .

Adjusting Alpine vs. Pin Bindings

Traditional alpine bindings and backcountry touring pin bindings are designed to work very differently, hence they must be adjusted differently. Alpine bindings are designed to flex and move slightly on your skis to allow for some built-in suspension. This adds weight and internal complexity, but makes them ski downhill much better, and makes them easier to adjust.

Given their intended use, pin bindings shave weight by using very simple designs and, therefore, require a bit more precision to adjust properly. On pin bindings, it’s important to note that there generally isn’t much of a standard when it comes to adjusting forward pressure or release values.

Some require a specific distance or “heel gap” between the heel of the boot and the binding, while others require a flush fit. SkimoCo has a handy page explaining this in detail. Note: most pin bindings do not adhere to the DIN standard, but their adjustable “release values” can be interpreted similarly to DIN values.

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6 Steps To Set Up Your Alpine Bindings

Here's how to safely adjust your alpine bindings. Make sure to repeat this process for both skis!

1. Inspect Your Binding

Before adjusting your bindings to your boots, always inspect your binding for any damage to the plastic, springs, or brakes. Also, make sure the mount screws are still tight and that the binding is securely attached to your skis. If anything looks broken, take it to your shop.

2. Find Your BSL

Check your boot soles for the BSL measurement, it’s usually printed somewhere near the heel of the boot and should be a whole number between 150 to 380. Don’t confuse this with your mondopoint size, which will have a decimal in it.

3. Calculate Your DIN

Using the BSL measurement from your boot, plug in your own height, weight, age, and skier type into a DIN calculator like this one to determine your DIN setting.

4. Set Your Forward Pressure

If you’re using a binding on an adjustable demo plate, adjust the toe and heel piece to the numbers corresponding to your BSL. If using a normal alpine binding, your new boot’s BSL will have to be within about +/- 10mm of your old ones to work without having to remount your bindings.

Click your boot into your binding. Now, with boot in the binding, look at the heel piece’s forward pressure indicator. Every binding model does this differently, but this is generally done by either centering the needle inside a small indicator window (some Look/Rossignol bindings), by turning the adjustment screw flush with the binding housing (Salomon/Atomic and Marker bindings), or by centering the metal adjustment tab within the lines (Tyrolia bindings).

A special case is the Look Pivot binding, where forward pressure is adjusted by the two Phillips head screws that hold the heel piece onto the metal arms. The indicator is the white tab underneath the heel piece and must be centered on the line.

5. Adjust Your Toe Height

For bindings without automatic toe height adjustment, you’ll have to manually set the toe height to ensure a safe release. Depending on the exact binding, this is either done by adjusting the height of the Anti-Friction Device (AFD) or by actually moving the whole toe unit up and down using the adjustment screw.

With your boot in the binding, pull back on the boot as if you were leaning backward on your skis. Now, adjust the toe height to leave about a 0.5mm gap between your boot sole and the AFD. This can be checked by sliding a sheet of printer paper between the boot and AFD. You want the sheet of paper to just barely be able to move freely in there.

6. Set Your DIN

Finally, it’s time to actually set your DIN. Using the values you determined in Step 3, use the proper screwdriver to turn the DIN screws on your binding to the proper value.

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3 Steps To Set Up Your Pin Bindings

Here's how to safely adjust your pin bindings for backcountry skiing . Make sure to repeat this process for both skis!

1. Inspect Your Binding

Before adjusting your bindings to your boots, always inspect your binding for any damage to the plastic, pins, or brakes. It’s worth checking your boot soles as well if you’re adjusting new bindings to older boots—touring boot soles tend to wear down quite a bit faster than alpine boots. Also, make sure the mount screws are still tight and that the binding is securely attached to your skis. If anything looks broken, take it to your shop.

2. Adjust Your Heel Gap or Forward Pressure

Click your touring boot into just the toe pins of your binding, and lower it to the heel piece without clicking into the pins. Check how much of a gap exists between the tech insert of your boot and the heel tower of the binding.

For bindings that require a heel gap (most of them), adjust the heel forward or back on the mounting plate into the proper position. For ultralight tech bindings without a mounting plate, you’ll have to re-drill your ski to move the binding. For bindings like the Marker Alpinist, some Dynafit bindings, and some G3 bindings, the heel gap is 0mm, so adjust accordingly.

It can be difficult to click your boot into the heel piece by hand, so don’t be afraid to use some force here. Once the boot is clicked into the heel pins, double check your adjustment.

3. Set Your DIN or Release Value

Finally, it’s time to set your Release Values or DIN. Many tech bindings require separate adjustments for horizontal and vertical release in the heel, so make sure you set both to the value that you prefer using the different adjustment screws. For the few bindings that offer adjustable toe release, make sure to adjust this value as well.

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