When we're standing on top of a walled-in, 50-degree couloir, looking down at the steep face peppered with the footprints of our agonizing bootpack, we're extremely thankful to be clicked in to Fritschi Tecton 12 Bindings and ready to rip this gnarly line all the way down. The Tecton 12 uses the same nimble, uphill-friendly toe piece of the popular Vipec, which has quite a bit of lateral elastic travel to enhance retention when we're charging through crud and ice, while the heel piece is more similar to a traditional alpine binding to give us the security and confidence we need to slay the descent.