Cast Touring

Brand overview and significance

CAST Touring is a skier-owned backcountry hardware brand built around one idea: you should not have to choose between a lightweight touring setup and a fully trusted alpine binding on the way down. Based in Driggs, Idaho in the shadow of the Tetons, CAST Touring emerged in the early 2010s when brothers Lars and Silas Chickering-Ayers—freeride competitors and big-mountain skiers—set out to design a binding system that would let them skin efficiently yet ski with the confidence of a full metal alpine binding. Over a decade later, CAST has become a reference name in the hybrid binding space, particularly for freeriders, film crews, and strong resort skiers who regularly duck into the backcountry.

Rather than offering a sprawling catalog of bindings and skis, CAST focuses on a tightly defined system. The Freetour platform integrates a pin-tech touring toe with a Look Pivot-based alpine toe and heel, giving skiers a solution that feels familiar underfoot in-bounds but can still handle long skintracks, bootpacks, and sled-access days. Within that niche, the brand is widely viewed as a “no-compromise” option: heavier and more involved than lightweight tech bindings, but uniquely confidence-inspiring on big landings, firm resort snow, and high-speed freeride terrain. For skiers who prioritize downhill performance first and accept some extra weight on the climb, CAST often sits at the top of the shortlist.

Product lines and key technologies

The core of the lineup is the Freetour 2.0 series. At its simplest, the system revolves around a machined base plate that allows you to swap between two different toes: a tech toe for the ascent and a Look Pivot-derived alpine toe for the descent. The Freetour 2.0 Pivot 15 and Pivot 18 are complete bindings supplied with the CAST hardware pre-integrated, while the Freetour 2.0 Upgrade Kit provides all the CAST components needed to convert your own Pivot 15 or 18 into a touring-capable binding. A Second Ski Kit lets you mount the CAST interface on multiple skis so one binding setup can serve several pairs.

Technically, the platform is built to keep as much of the original Pivot behavior as possible. The heel maintains the classic turntable architecture with significant elastic travel and a compact mounting zone, while the alpine toe option is an all-metal race-style unit designed for power, precision, and multi-directional safety release. The tech toe is a simple CNC-machined aluminum design with minimal moving parts, emphasizing reliability and low weight for long tours. Swappable AFDs (anti-friction devices) allow compatibility with standard alpine soles, GripWalk soles, and rockered touring soles that meet modern norms, so the same binding can be tuned to a range of boot categories.

Beyond the bindings themselves, CAST offers a Boot Conversion system for skiers who want to use traditional alpine boots with pin-tech touring toes, as well as crampons, skins, and softgoods. The catalog remains compact, but everything is oriented around one ecosystem: freeride-capable skis running a Freetour setup, going as far as you want under your own power.

Ride feel: who it’s for (terrains & use-cases)

The ride feel of the CAST Freetour is shaped by the Look Pivot heel and alpine toe. On the descent, most reviewers and experienced users describe it as essentially identical to a standard Pivot: powerful, elastic, and damp, with a smooth recentering feel that rewards modern freeride technique. The relatively low stand height and compact footprint keep the skier close to the ski, which helps with sensitivity when picking through tight chutes or stomping technical airs. On chopped-up in-bounds snow or heavy coastal powder, the binding feels much closer to a robust resort setup than a typical lightweight touring binding.

On the uphill side, the tech toe dramatically cuts weight compared to frame bindings or skinning in a full alpine binding. The climb still feels a touch heavier than the lightest pure touring options, but the pivoting toe, climbing aids, and crampon compatibility mean the Freetour can handle long approaches, steep skintracks, and repeat laps on storm days. The system is best suited to skiers who split their time between lifts and touring—50/50 resort and backcountry, sled-access pow laps, hut trips, or frequent sidecountry missions where the descent is high consequence and speed, exposure, or big landings demand alpine-binding confidence.

Team presence, competitions, and reputation

CAST Touring’s credibility is rooted in competition and film skiing. Co-founder Lars Chickering-Ayers has stood on top of Freeride World Tour podiums, and the brand’s story is closely linked with the evolution of big-mountain contests and backcountry video segments. That pedigree shows in the athlete program: CAST supports a large roster of freeride and big-mountain skiers, including names that appear regularly in Freeride World Tour fields, film festivals, and independent projects.

The official athlete list includes riders such as Karl Fostvedt, Sam Anthamatten, Jeremie Heitz, Juliette Willmann, Max Palm, Reine Barkered, and many others whose clips and segments are familiar to dedicated skipowd.tv viewers. When you watch a modern freeride film or a steep-venue contest replay and see Pivots on the heels, there is a good chance a CAST toe is involved during the approach. Among guides, patrollers, and strong locals in Teton country and other big-mountain hubs, CAST has developed a reputation as a hard-charging choice: a binding system you pick when you are willing to earn your turns but refuse to compromise on how the ski behaves once gravity takes over.

Geography and hubs (heritage, testing, venues)

CAST Touring operates out of Driggs, Idaho, on the west side of the Tetons. This location is not just a postal address; it shapes how the product is used and tested. The home terrain ranges from powder-loaded laps at Grand Targhee to the more exposed lines and tram laps across the range around Jackson Hole. Close access to classic Teton touring zones, sled missions, and lift-access freeride terrain gives the brand a daily proving ground for durability, reliability in storm conditions, and performance on long, technical lines.

Because the Tetons attract a dense mix of pros, guides, filmmakers, and serious recreational skiers, CAST equipment is widely visible on that local stage. At the same time, the products have spread across North America and into Europe via specialty shops, online dealers, and direct sales from CAST Touring. In many freeride-oriented communities, from interior British Columbia to the Alps, the Freetour setup is now a common sight on skis that spend half their time under lifts and half chasing untracked zones beyond the ropes.

Construction, durability, and sustainability

CAST’s construction story begins with metal. The Freetour tech toe is a CNC-machined aluminum unit designed with few moving parts, prioritizing simplicity and resistance to icing. The alpine toe and turntable heel use all-metal race-derived components with generous elastic travel, and the base plates and heel tracks are engineered to handle repeated swaps between touring and alpine toes without developing excessive play. Brake locks, climbing bails, and crampon interfaces are designed to be robust enough for daily Teton abuse: bootpacks, sled decks, and rocky early-season exits.

The brand leans into “made in the U.S.A.” manufacturing and a serviceable design. Many components can be repaired or replaced rather than throwing away the entire binding, which is an important but often overlooked part of a product’s environmental footprint. While CAST does not position itself as an explicitly eco-label brand, the focus on long service life, rebuildable hardware, and small-batch production in a local machine shop resonates with skiers who see sustainability partly as “buy once, use hard, maintain well.” For riders who ski 80–100 days per year, having a binding that can be kept in service for multiple seasons is both economical and less wasteful.

How to choose within the lineup

Choosing within CAST’s lineup is mostly about matching release values and usage patterns. The Freetour 2.0 Pivot 15 is aimed at strong all-mountain and freeride skiers who want high performance but do not need the very highest release settings, while the Pivot 18 version caters to heavier or more aggressive riders, people hitting truly big airs, and those who grew up skiing race-room bindings. If you already own Pivot 15 or 18 bindings in good condition, the Freetour 2.0 Upgrade Kit is often the most efficient route: you keep your trusted heels and brakes and add the CAST hardware and tech toes to unlock touring.

The Second Ski Kit is ideal if you rotate between multiple skis—perhaps a narrower in-bounds charger and a wider powder ski—without buying multiple full Freetour setups. Boot choice matters too: skiers with modern hybrid boots that feature certified tech inserts can run the system out of the box, while those committed to traditional alpine boots can look at CAST’s Boot Conversion solutions to add tech compatibility. Finally, consider your touring ratio. If you only skin occasionally but ski fast, hard, and often in-bounds, CAST’s added weight will feel insignificant compared to the security and familiarity of the Pivot feel. If you routinely link long human-powered traverses and multi-thousand-vertical days, you may prefer a dedicated lightweight touring setup in addition to a CAST-equipped freeride quiver.

Why riders care

Riders gravitate to CAST Touring because it solves a real-world problem: how to bring film- and contest-level skiing into terrain that requires climbing skins to access, without feeling like your binding is the limiting factor on the descent. For the skipowd.tv audience, it connects the dots between the gear under the feet of athletes in big-mountain edits and the setups that committed skiers can actually buy and use every day. A Freetour-equipped ski feels at home railing groomers, punching through resort chop, or dropping cliffs in a storm cycle, yet it also lets you pivot into touring mode when the lift closes or the best line is one ridge farther out.

In short, CAST Touring occupies a sweet spot: a focused, technically sophisticated brand that speaks directly to freeriders who are willing to work for their turns, but refuse to compromise on how their skis respond when they finally point them down the fall line. It is not the lightest or flashiest option, and it is not designed for every skier. But for those who recognize the Pivot silhouette and spend their seasons hunting steep faces, pillow lines, and sidecountry walls, CAST represents a binding system that finally matches their ambitions on both sides of the rope.