What this document settles
It fixes what an alpine binding has to do and how that is measured. The visible result is the Z scale: an index, running roughly from 0.5 on the smallest children’s bindings to 16 and beyond on race models, that corresponds to defined release torques. A binding declares the part of that scale it covers, and every model on this site is listed by that range.
Two release modes are treated separately. Twist, at the toe, is the rotation that a fall across the slope produces. Forward lean, at the heel, is what happens when a skier is thrown over the front. A binding is tested for both, and the same Z figure applies to both scales on the dial.
The document also covers what the binding must hold on to. Retention — not releasing when it should not — is as much a requirement as release, and it is the half that never appears in a listing.
What it does not promise
It does not promise that the binding will release in your fall. The tests apply a load in a defined way; snow does not.
It does not make two bindings with the same range equivalent. Elasticity — how far the binding can move and return without letting go — differs between models and is rarely published. So does stand height, which changes leverage over the edge. So does whether the toe piece accepts more than one sole standard.
It does not say anything about touring. A pin binding that locks for the climb is not doing what this document describes, and the touring bindings on this site are built to a different one.
And it does not set anything. The scale is defined here; the value on it is calculated by the workshop procedure, which has its own page.
What it is read alongside
The assembly and setting procedure is the document this one feeds. The boot sole standards decide what the binding can grip in the first place — and the mismatch between a binding built for one sole geometry and a boot moulded to another is the most common incompatibility on this shelf. Touring bindings sit under their own requirements.
Where it turns up on this site
Bindings, and every ski sold with one. A ski listed “inkl. Bindung” arrives as an assembly, and the range of that binding is part of what is being bought — it is printed on this site beside the ski, not only on the binding page.
This site handles it in one way, consistently. The published range is reported as a range, with the maker named. The brake width in millimetres is reported beside it, because that is the second figure that decides whether the assembly is possible at all. And no page here describes a binding as safe, at any setting, for anybody.
The questions asked most often
Is a Z 13 binding better than a Z 10?
It is a different range, not a better one. A binding used at the very bottom of its range is being used outside what it was designed to do, so a Z 4–13 unit set to 4 is a worse choice than a Z 2–7.5 set to 5.
Do toe and heel release the same way?
No, and that is the point of having two. The toe piece handles twisting, the heel piece handles forward lean, and the document treats them as separate release modes with separate tests.
Does the scale mean the same thing on every brand?
The index does, which is what the standard is for. What differs is elasticity, stand height and how the binding behaves between releases — none of which the number describes.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026