Vintage Backcountry Skiing Binding – 1980s Marker M-Tour

Complete Marker M Tour backcountry skiing binding shown above. Binding is in tour mode with heel lift up. Click here for massive enlargement.

I got an email from a guy saying he had a pair of Marker M-Tour bindings that would fit well in the WildSnow collection. I emailed back and said “sure, we need those, how much for shipping? Reply: “I live two blocks from you, I’ll bring ’em over!” Sheeesh, at least some things in life are easy. (Note, later we received another donation of these bindings, in new condition, that we’ve stored away, thanks goes to Richard for the additional donation.)

Check out our Marker M-Tour museum display.

With the advent of Marker’s n Duke binding finally providing a touring binding that is also a full-on alpine downhill binding, it’s interesting to see what came before from the German ski binding company. Not only is the M-Tour a beefy binding with step-in step-out, but it also has a fore/aft adjustment for your boot position in relation to the ski. As far as I know no other consumer AT bindings have that feature (perhaps a few demo bindings do).

17 Responses to “Vintage Backcountry Skiing Binding – 1980s Marker M-Tour”

1. Clyde February 28th, 2007 1:26 pm

   1982 – 1985, according to Paul Ramer. We sold them at Neptune’s back in the day and it had a reputation for burliness but was a tank.

2. Lou February 28th, 2007 1:58 pm

   Thanks Clyde!

3. Lou February 28th, 2007 2:12 pm

   P.S., Clyde or anyone, is it written as M-Tour or M Tour (dash or no dash)?

4. Stefan February 28th, 2007 4:12 pm

   Lou, it’s M-Tour, with the dash
   back in the days when it came out, a couple friends of mine had the M-Tour. That was when I still lived in Germany (I grew up in Marker territory of Garmisch-Part.) I never thought buying one, it was a bit on the heavy side with that heel piece.

   Nice addition to your collection though,
   Stefan

5. Lou February 28th, 2007 4:26 pm

   Thanks Stefan! Now if we can just find out why they called it “M,” perhaps for “Marker?”

6. Sibylle Hechtel February 28th, 2007 4:35 pm

   Hi,

   I’ve got cross country race skis, bindings, and boots from 1979 – 1980; the ski I used on Shishapangma with the Austrian women’s expedition in 1994 (don’t remember what it is, maybe Sylvretta?) and my Dad’s old skis from Germany from the 60s, with old bindings.

   any sound interesting?

   sibylle

7. Lou February 28th, 2007 4:43 pm

   Sure does sound interesting! That’s probably a Silvretta you’re talking about…

8. Robert March 1st, 2007 7:24 am

   Oh, it seems like my present bindings :). Oh no, I’m sorry, I’m joking. I have Silvretta 404 now (which is also in your collection) and this one I had last winter. Good friend of mine gave me it to start skiing in backcountry. It was really good for beginner as me.
   🙂
   Robert, from Slovakia

9. Njord June 1st, 2007 3:27 pm

   Stephan,

   I picked those binding up in Garmisch-P back in the early 90s… They were used, but there were not too many choices back then either! They were considered heavy back then, but indestructable! They served me well… although I wish I was back “home” in Garmisch.

   Njord

10. Lou June 1st, 2007 4:13 pm

    Thanks for the bindings Njord! A worthy addition to the collection and your name will always be on the list of folks who made it happen.

11. martin November 30th, 2007 10:18 am

    I’ve got a pair of these, bought in Bavaria (Garmisch -P area) in around 1989.
    I was planning to use them this year, not having skied for a bit – I’m devastated to find thet they’re in a museum!

    Martin

12. Richard February 5th, 2009 7:56 am

    I had the Marker M Tours back in the late 80’s and used them into the early ’90’s when I “upgraded” to Silvretta 404’s. I think they were going out of production when I got them. The USA Marker guys were happy to get them out of their warehouse. I bought several pairs for friends because it was almost impossible to find touring bindings in the US at that time. The step in feature was very nice compared to other options of that time. Definitely an upgrade from my Isers. Very techy, lots of things to adjust, parts to loose, etc. They did come with ski crampons. Never failed me in the field though having a screwdriver handy was essential. Skied the Haute Route with them, toured in the Oberland, 4000 de Saas Fee, and the Ortler.

    I also had a Rotomat with a tour feature on it. I think it was called a Rotomat LT. It had a plastic wishbone shaped piece and a couple of hinges that allowed the heel to lift to about 45 degrees for touring. It mated with a standard M4 Marker toe. That was from the early 70’s. I had them in my workshop until a few years ago when they finally went into the recycling bin.

13. Richard February 5th, 2009 8:06 am

    One more comment. There was a Tyrolia plate touring binding in the late 80’s. I haven’t seen one in years, but would be interesting to track one of those down.

14. Richard March 17th, 2010 3:19 pm

    Lou,
    I have an M Tour Instuciton manual. I’d be happy to send it to you. Let me know if you want it or it’s going into the recycling bin.

15. Lou March 17th, 2010 4:17 pm

    Richard, thanks, that would be cool for the collection. I’ll email you with my addy. Thanks, Lou

16. Igor February 9th, 2011 11:36 am

    I have these bindings …I bought it three years ago with skis…..with them going each year 10 – 20 times at backcountry skiing and still working fine

17. Mike December 11th, 2013 1:03 pm

    It’s been a while since the last post, but I happen to have a pair of M Tours, new in the box. I also have another pair and a half of now-trashed bindings for parts. Back in the early 80’s, the Marker pro rep was a fantastic help to me, getting my bindings up and running. So much so, that she sent me a pair and a half free, with the pair I purchased at the pro discount (and I wasn’t a pro skier by any means)! They deserve better than the recycling bin, so I’m hoping someone is interested for the cost of shipping.