In 2005, the engineers at Salomon Snowboards noticed something long overlooked in binding development: lateral flex. Bindings are designed to hold you on your board, but they also serve to transmit input from your legs through the board and into the snow. Edge-to-edge, any binding needs to be strong, and depending on personal preference, offer varying amounts of response, but laterally (side-to-side), do they really need to be very stiff?

The simple answer is no. Enter Salomon’s Shadow Fit.

Basher breaks down more snowboarding technology in other What’s the Deal? videos. Watch them here.