The dueling alphabet soup of binding systems is about to get a whole lot simpler. For the past decade or so it’s been two camps: Salomon’s SNS system or NNN. On Jan. 1, Salomon plans to reveal a not-so-well-kept secret.
Zach Caldwell’s role within the ski industry is hard to define. In trying to come up with a single phrase to describe his job, ‘ski technician’ isn’t nearly sufficient, as it doesn’t quite capture everything he is—structure designer, snow whisperer, wax chemist, engineer, ski evangelist, and occasional coach (he calls it his “hobby,” as if working with Kris Freeman and Noah Hoffman were as ordinary a pastime as fly fishing). Caldwell’s expertise in everything from kinetic...