This is a specialized product in a niche market. Overall, other products definitely perform better on our scoring rubric.
Performance Comparison
Lead test editor Jediah Porter transitioning the KingPin on Teton Pass, Wyoming.
Touring Performance
This model offers almost as much touring efficiency as the other tech bindings. It allows you to tour flat-footed, includes two levels of heel rise, and has toe-piece range of motion that should do all you need to do. Despite many moving parts and bulky construction, we did not have particularly notable snow or ice build-up on the KingPin.
Relative heel lifter heights of the Plum Guide and Kingpin, in maximum lift mode. These two are pretty comparable.
Downhill Performance
This binding offered some of the best downhill performance of any tech binding we tested. The Marker Kingpin was the first tech binding to receive the AT ISO/DIN certification from the German testing organization TUV. Other bindings have since earned this same certification, but Marker did it first and has made minor tweaks along the way. To earn this third party certification, AT bindings must prove safety and consistent retention, as well as its release values (AKA "DIN settings").
Our testers agreed that the more traditional, alpine-style heel offered our testers efficient energy transfer from boot to the ski. The downhill performance of the Kingpin was virtually indistinguishable from that of the Top Pick Fritschi Tecton, and both of these exceed the downhill performance of all the other tech style bindings we have tested. The difference between these top downhill performers and something like the other award winners is the heel piece. The alpine heel piece creates release "elasticity" and lends downward and forward pressure to your ski boot.
When we reference binding elasticity, we are referring to how far your boot can move in the binding, side to side, and still stay connected to the ski. Traditional tech style bindings have very little elasticity. As soon as the boot is deflected even a little bit, the binding completely disengages. In the Kingpin, there is much greater elasticity. While skiing hard, your boot can move laterally, at the toe, and the heel piece forward and downward pressure will push it back into position.
Tour mode on the KingPin. In order to do all this binding does, the whole heel piece slides forward and aft between ski and tour modes.
Finally, the Kingpin's 38 mm hole pattern is in line with the widest mounting patterns among tech bindings, allowing the binding greater leverage on the ski, and better energy transmission from your boot to the ski.
Now, how much does this enhanced downhill performance mean to you? We'd argue that it shouldn't mean much unless you are skiing truly fast and hard. No matter who you are or how you are equipped, skiing fast and hard in the backcountry increases your hazard exposure. Most responsible backcountry skiers, especially those truly going into the wild without back-up support, are skiing well within their limits. For most skiers, skiing within their limits also means skiing within the limits of more traditional tech bindings. In our expert opinion, Kingpin bindings do indeed make super hard-charging skiing marginally safer. In that same expert opinion (and in decades now of experience with tech bindings), "normal" paced backcountry skiing isn't much safer in Kingpins than it is in traditional tech bindings.
Ease of Use
This model is pretty easy to use. When stepping into the toe piece, it uses two very functional toe guides to help line your boot up in the correct spot; the toe piece ease of entry was slightly above average overall (when compared to other tech bindings).
The small screw visible between the two larger screws holds the brakes up in tour mode. Earlier versions of the KingPin had problems here, but this one (17/18 version) works very well.
The Kingpin's main usability disadvantage is that it is nearly impossible to transition with your boot still in the binding. From ski to tour, a transition that requires reconfiguring bindings and installing skins, everyone takes their skis off anyway. The Kingpin isn't alone in this requirement. However, to go from tour to ski, a transition that requires binding reconfiguration and skin removal, biomechanics allow one to keep skis on. Most touring bindings also can be reconfigured with the ski still on one's foot. The Kingpin binding transition is performed with a lever that sits squarely beneath one's foot. You must remove your skis to move the binding between modes. No other tech bindings we tested have this requirement. If you remove your skis to remove skins anyway, this attribute will not be a real disadvantage.
This lever lives beneath the center of your boot and changes the Marker KingPin between ski and tour modes.
After extensive use and side-by-side testing, it required marginally less body coordination to enter than average Our testers really appreciated how the design of this product's toe made it easy to clean snow and ice out of it. The gap is big enough to fit the end of a pole in, which helps to easily facilitate cleaning ice. This larger opening also makes it easier for snow and ice to fall out on their own.
Weight
At 3 lbs 3 oz for the pair (1430g), this is one of the heavier tech bindings on the market and weighs in more than a pound heavier than either Editors Choice winner. It weighs two-tenths of a pound more than the otherwise close competitor Top Pick Fritschi Tecton. It is this weight difference that mainly edges the Tecton ahead in the Top Pick race.
Durability
In the long run, with years now of field application, this is one of the burlier tech bindings on the market. We could almost recommend this binding for day-in-day-out in-bounds skiing, which is perhaps the best durability endorsement we could offer.
The toe piece of the KingPin is a beefed up version of the classic design pioneered by another manufacturer in Austria 30 years ago.
The 2017/18 KingPin bindings were recalled by Marker. We have tested these bindings and had no problems, but Marker's recall notice points out that the toe pins could fail entirely.
Like regular resort bindings, the KingPin addresses ski/boot friction with a sliding "anti friction device", in this case mounted to the top surface of the brake.
Value
If you need and want the performance of the Kingpin, you'll handily justify the expense. Kingpin bindings are more expensive than some of the competitors, but not by much.
Conclusion
Our testers love the Kingpin for its downhill performance and overall ease of use. It wouldn't be our top choice for a pure-touring binding, because it's heaver, and we don't have the option to rip skins with the skins with skis still on our feet. It should be considered by anyone looking to ski hard and is worth considering for those that want to ski the same setup both in-bounds and out of bounds.
