G3’s new ZED 12 strives, in part, to alleviate the tendency of many backcountry skiers to lock out their tech toepiece when descending no-fall zone terrain. The thought being that ejecting on a dangerous face is a worse fate than, say, a knee injury sustained from a locked-out toe. G3 solves this issue using what it calls “unique jaw dynamics,” allowing the toepiece to absorb up to 50 percent more energy than its predecessor (the Ion) prior to releasing, eliminating the need to lock it up on the way down. Skiers looking for jaw-dropping weight savings—the ZED registers 345 grams per binding, without brakes—paired with reliable downhill retention, step right in.