The Step On thread

[jota]

Looks like it'll be an Atlas Step On, available January 2025.

https://eu.unionbindingcompany.com/en/pages/step-on

Union Binding Company and Burton Announce Partnership to Expand Step On® Into Industry-Wide Standard
Available January 2025: Limited Union Atlas Step On® Binding Release
DELEBIO (SO), ITALY & BURLINGTON, (VT) USA, November 14, 2024 – Union Binding Company and Burton Snowboards are excited to announce the release of Union Atlas Step On® Binding. Available in a limited release of men’s small, medium, large and extra-large sizes in January 2025, the latest Step On® partnership is the result of Union and Burton’s shared commitment to establishing an industry-standard mechanical entry system for the wider binding ecosystem.

First unveiled to the snowboard world in late 2016, Burton Step On® is a boot-to-binding connection system that Burton founder Jake Burton Carpenter personally challenged the company to research and develop. Since then, Burton’s Step On® system has been widely adopted by snowboarders who want a clean and simple boot-to-binding interface that offers unprecedented convenience and performance.

Widely regarded as a leader in the binding category, Union recognized that Burton’s Step On® technology was the only mechanical entry system that would meet their high standards of performance, durability, comfort, and function. The two companies first reached a prototyping agreement in 2021 when Union agreed to explore utilizing Burton’s Step On® technology for a new line of Union bindings. Union visited Burton’s Burlington headquarters in June 2023, and Burton visited Union’s headquarters in August 2023 to finalize the partnership.

“The Burton Step On® system is proven,” said Martino Fumagalli, Union Binding Co. CEO and General Manager. “It is the time and age to give something back, and this is a good way to collaborate on a project that can evolve the sport and industry. This partnership will continue beyond this one product— we want to evolve the system at all levels. Now that we’re in, we are all in.”

From the start, both companies understood that a true partnership would revolve around making sure both brands could maintain their own functionality and features with the Step On® connection point being the only similarity. This approach let Union design the Union Atlas Step On® Binding exactly to their highest specifications.

“I could not be more thrilled to see this partnership come to fruition and happily welcome the Union team into the Step On® family,” said Chris Cunningham, Chief Product Officer at Burton. “What makes this partnership incredibly unique to me goes beyond our two brands and comes from a shared, deeply rooted history in snowboard binding development and passion for evolving the sport of snowboarding.”

Empowering partners to develop their own products around the Step On® binding standard will support and strengthen snowboarding for everyone, improving each point of contact from dealers to retailers to on-snow performance and function for riders.

“We’re making the binding connection point the shared technology ingredient,” said Cunningham. “Collaborating instead of competing gives us the freedom to shift our
focus to further innovation, which is going to help us welcome more people into snowboarding.”

Step On® is an industry-changing technology, lowering barriers to snowboarding with a faster entry and streamlined experience from the lift to heading down the mountain. The system has been designed for the most demanding conditions, including the performance required from professional riders like Union’s Gigi Rüf, who tested the Union Atlas Step On® binding this fall.

“The aluminum heelcup and the unique, sleek highback design caught my eye right away,” says Gigi Rüf. “The setup quickly felt familiar as I focused on carving to really test the response and pressure on the equipment. I told my son about my excitement, and now he wants a pair too!”

A second release of Union Atlas Step On® Bindings will drop in fall 2025 and feature new colors. For 2026, an additional Union Step On® model is in development that will cover all men’s and women’s sizes. All Step On® system bindings are compatible with all existing Step On® system boots from Burton, Nitro & DC.

I wonder if Burton will give freedom and allow other manufacturers in its contract or license to develop step on and even have a product improvement or if in case someone generates that improvement, Burton will also be able to benefit from it.

[benjinyc]

I'd imagine Burton wants to keep quality control on the bindings at a high level, so I can't imagine they'll just let any binding company do these

[C.Fuzzy]

I'd imagine Burton wants to keep quality control on the bindings at a high level, so I can't imagine they'll just let any binding company do these

Counter point: Burton had for the most part kept their proprietary to themselves, ostensibly to sell more of their own goods because it didn't interface well with other brands.

I might see this as a departure from them towards licensing as a revenue stream vs. hard sales. And as licensing tends to go... maybe they go the Gore-Tex route, or maybe they eventually go the hello kitty route.

[michaelangelo]

IMG_3142.jpeg (58.42 KiB) Viewed 362 times

[coleslawed]

i wonder if they are just starting with the Euro market? or if it's just the euro website that leaked.

our Burton rep told us that StepOn wasn't catching on in Europe as much as North America, maybe they're using Union to trojan-horse it into the market there.

[casjcade]

i wonder if they are just starting with the Euro market? or if it's just the euro website that leaked.

our Burton rep told us that StepOn wasn't catching on in Europe as much as North America, maybe they're using Union to trojan-horse it into the market there.

Think a big part of that is that snowboards are almost non existant in retail shops around europe, ski companies push snowboard only brands away. So clueless beginners don't see them as much, and experienced riders are highly sceptical.

[sunokeru]

I'd imagine Burton wants to keep quality control on the bindings at a high level, so I can't imagine they'll just let any binding company do these

Counter point: Burton had for the most part kept their proprietary to themselves, ostensibly to sell more of their own goods because it didn't interface well with other brands.

Really? My understanding is that Burton made the Channel system available to anybody free of charge.

[jota]

i wonder if they are just starting with the Euro market? or if it's just the euro website that leaked.

our Burton rep told us that StepOn wasn't catching on in Europe as much as North America, maybe they're using Union to trojan-horse it into the market there.

They have been here from the beginning, trying to introduce step ons, but to give you an idea, a friend of mine has a surf and snowboard shop and now everything he sells is mainly step ons (and salomon boards) and on the other hand, last year at the big resort where I usually go, I saw two Step on at most (each day)

That's why when we talk about the future and the invasion of step-ons, I don't experience that here, for me using step-on is something totally anecdotal in a resort, at least for now

What I don't have is information about what happens in resorts located in the centre of the Alps such as Verbier or Les 3 Vallées...

A friend of mine bought flow bindings and he is happy

[C.Fuzzy]

I'd imagine Burton wants to keep quality control on the bindings at a high level, so I can't imagine they'll just let any binding company do these

Counter point: Burton had for the most part kept their proprietary to themselves, ostensibly to sell more of their own goods because it didn't interface well with other brands.

Really? My understanding is that Burton made the Channel system available to anybody free of charge.

Can anyone here verify if thats true? BC if it is... why tf aren't more brands using it?

[coleslawed]

Counter point: Burton had for the most part kept their proprietary to themselves, ostensibly to sell more of their own goods because it didn't interface well with other brands.

Really? My understanding is that Burton made the Channel system available to anybody free of charge.

Can anyone here verify if thats true? BC if it is... why tf aren't more brands using it?

mostly manufacturing/implementation. the tech might be free, but the tooling and changes to building the boards wouldn’t be.
and there are still folks out there that don’t trust and/or believe in The Channel/its functionality/benefits, both on the consumer and industry side.