Every year, my job is to hunt through a teetering stack of catalogues to find the sweetest gear to grace the pages of SNOWBOARD. Products that stand out—be it graphics, features, bang for the buck, or just overall radness—deserve recognition, so this season we’ve come up with a new column in the mag to highlight the best of the best. Each month we’ll take a detailed look at the most unique, forward thinking products on the market—products that are specifically designed to make snowboarding better and more fun for you…and me. This month, we salute a product in a class of its own: The K2 Auto Binding. Remember step-ins? We’d rather forget them, and I’m sorry I conjured up the thought. Well, take a good look at the Auto. See anything weird? Extra or missing pieces? Look again. Ah, there it is. It looks just like a regular old binding (with some nice trim, I may add), but there’s no toe ratchet. Who took the friggin’ toe ratchet? Don’t worry, the heel ratchet is actually the toe ratchet. Attached to the ladder of the heel strap is a cable. That cable runs through the baseplate of the binding via a small channel, some pulleys, past a squirrel and up to the toe strap. Tighten the heel strap, and the toe strap tightens with it. It’s like a BOA binding. Simple, but effective. K2 also designed a completely new baseplate for the Auto. It’s really lightweight and attractive, has a new heel strap pivot point and is well nished with a covered heel ratchet and perforated ladder guide. Nice! This thing’s deluxe beyond just saving a few seconds of strap-in time each run. Hey, binding guy at K2, give yourself a pat on the back. Shitchyeah!