Touring lift is elegant for backcountry skiing -- it's a simple wire bail you flip up as shown in photo above. The bail is prone to detachment and loss during heavy use, but is easily replaced, and the binding works fine without it.

As for the toe, the boot is held by a simple wire to bail as in photos above and below. This bail moves up and down to adjust for different sole thicknesses, but all lateral (side) release is in the heel, as noted elsewhere herein. The small slotted screw visible in the black plastic of the toe area adjusts tension of the return spring, which is the pink spring to the front of the screw. Return springs are intended to give some resistance to the up and down hinging of the binding, so the user has some control of the ski. Such springs have since been found to be unnecessary but are still favored by some backcountry skiers, and bindings such as the Fritschi models still have them, thought they're easy to remove and are thus frequently taken out.