Ease Of Entry
The Ion LT is missing a few of the extras that the regular Ion has, but the experienced tech user will hardly notice. As soon as you are clicked into the toe piece, you know it, with that nice clamping feeling that you have come to expect from G3. The heel is indistinguishable from the regular binding, save for the brakes, and little more needs to be said other than you know when you are in and it feels secure.

Ease of Transition
As with most tech bindings you have to step out to go from ski to skin mode, but that’s where the difficulties stop. The heel rotates in either direction 90 degrees for touring mode and the lifters were easy to flip with a pole basket from flat to mid to high. A quick whack of the pole or hand turn via bending over puts the Ion LT back to ski mode in the standing transition for the down. In the end, we have zero complaints on the transition front.

Uphill Performance
Lighter than its big brother, the Ion LT saves some of those precious ounces that gram counters find attractive while still maintaining a durable binding. We liked the full array of options for lifter performance that is lacking with other lightweight options. The locked-in toe for uphill was a tight fit and gave full confidence to staying in even on icy sidehills.

Downhill Performance
The Ion LT is built for uphill and downhill performance. Freeriders may wish that there was an option for a removable brake, but that’s a different class. While the idea of egg beatering down a couloir with leashes attached may seem unattractive, this is a binding designed for ski mountaineering and longer tours, thereby catering to the crowd of skiers who prefer to ski with the mentality of not being allowed to fall. Overall, we had zero issues with pre release, with or without the toe locked out in ski mode. Our tester weighs in at over 200 pounds, and was pleased to find that he could ski the bindings in ski mode with high confidence.

Security
The Ion LT has the same secure step-in that the Ion does and little more needs to be said other than when you click in, you feel secure. Everything from pillowy pow laps to icy jump turns feel secure and reasonable on the Ion LT and they leave little to complain about in the security department.