Hey, Brad… you might want to update your blog… Tyrolia's entry into the touring market didn't just "happen last year". Maybe I'm dating myself but I skied Tyrolia touring bindings for a few years back in the early 80's and their touring bindings actually go back to the late 50's. BTW, the 80's vintage bindings had serious mechanical problems. The toepiece hinge wore out very quickly. NOt just mine, but every single pair that were owned by my friends as well. They had a "lifetime warranty", so I got a replacement pair after the first season, however, when those wore out just as quickly,  they wouldn't honour the warranty anymmore… instead the simply quit manufacturing the binding. I hope their current binding is a bit more robust. 

Here's a link to Lou Dawson's binding museum for more details:

http://www.wildsnow.com/backco.....untry.html

Thanks for the clarrification Armin, most of those were before my time. I guess I should have said "Tyrolia most recent entry into the AT binding market", I be sure to update the review. Great pics of some of the old gear - incredible how far things have come.

do you think this binding would be appropriate for a lighter person (say, 120 lbs) who's not hard on gear to ski as their daily driver at the ski hill and also use for touring and sidecountry?  or does the marker tour f12/f10 appear to be a more durable binding?

The Tyrolia Ambition 12 AT bindings are plenty beefy to ski at a resort most of the time and then take out of bounds, like wise the Marker F10 and F12 AT bindings are also capable. I have skied all of these bindings over longer periods of time and had no issue beating them up at the resort, and I weight 170lb. It really just comes down to preference and price.

any preference between those bindings (tour/ambition)? do you notice the freeflex thing with the tyrolia?  separate issue (not an AT binding), but I find I love the feel of the ski with my look pivots.  short mounting area and ski flexes nicely...

I like the Ambition bindings but they have not been out that long so long term durability could be in question, however I doubt this as it is Tyrolia. The Marker Products have proven themselves and I have them on several skis so I can attest to their value!

Can you better explain how the telescoping arm works to provide such a huge range of size adaptability?   If the heel platform and to platform are fixed to the ski, how does this capability work? Thanks

I put these on a pair of skis for primarily in-bounds skiing this year. They feel really great and are easy to get in and out of. On a tour however -  at least in wetter conditions - they repeatedly got compacted snow in the notch the heel retainer slides in and out of. Basically, the heel couldn't get down quite far enough to re-engage it - often frustratingly close (like a mm or 2). This meant any time I wanted to transition to lock the heel down I had to chip the ice out. Sometimes this meant taking the ski off. This gets really old really fast. Not a huge deal if you are only transitioning a couple times, but sucks for yo-yoing or other frequent transition situations. I ended up doing some tele technique just so I didn't have to lock them down.