2027 Marker Griffon X, Griffon X MWerks, & Jester X MWerks Ski Binding Review

Way back in 2025, we started seeing and skiing the new Marker Griffon X and Jester X bindings (and their associated MWerks counterparts). We had numerous conversations with engineers and designers from Marker, we skied these new bindings (sporadically) on various Volkl skis, and we lined them up, measured, and compared them to other top-end alpine bindings. Now, with a full season of skiing under our belts, we’re certainly ready to talk about the skiing performance and take a look into the future for Marker bindings, and perhaps more specifically, the Griffon X, which will soon become the marquee binding in Marker’s Royal Family. The bottom line is that by shortening the platform and lowering the stand height (considerably), Marker has a product on their hands that shockingly changes the behavior and character of any ski that you choose to put them on.

To recap, Marker dropped the stand height on these bindings by a mile. We now get 9 mm in the toe and 14 mm in the heel as opposed to 24 and 28 mm respectively. That’s a huge drop. And if you think a few millimeters doesn’t count, think again. That’s the biggest story. A close second is the reduction of the platform length by 25 mm. We can’t really call it a shorter mount zone since these bindings all use the same hole pattern as the traditional Griffon/Jester, but the heel plate is shorter overall, so there’s not as much interference behind the binding allowing for a more natural ski flex. Beyond that, the bindings pretty much look the same, although it is notable that we’re seeing a one-piece body in the toe housing.

Within the new lineup, we get three binding models: Griffon X, Griffon X MWerks, and Jester X MWerks. All three operate on the same platform, although the MWerks versions receive magnesium upgrades in the toe wings and heel frame. Griffon X uses plastic in these zones. Griffon X MWerks and Jester X MWerks are basically the same except for the spring, bumping the DIN up from Griffon’s 13 to Jester’s 16. The move to metal in MWerks bumps up the weight from 1045 g/binding in the Griffon X to 1130 g/binding in both MWerks options. We get brake options of 90, 105, and 120 mm, but these brakes are integrated into the heel plate, so they’re not as easy to replace or change out. Pricing jumps moving from Griffon X to MWerks, with the Griffon X coming in at $299.99. The Griffon X MWerks bumps to $429.99 and the Jester X MWerks tops the board at $489.99. It’ll be interesting to see who volunteers to spend the extra $130 for the metal parts of the Griffon X MWerks.

At a Glance:

2027 Marker Griffon X Ski Bindings

Bob’s Take:

The bigger question that we had going into this season was how are they going to perform and what type of limitations (if any) can we expect when it comes to ski pairing? Basically, and without getting too technical about it, I found that these bindings turbo-charge any ski that you put them on, and if that ski has a particular characteristic, the bindings accentuate whatever that may be. So, if you put it on a quicker ski, the bindings will make that ski quicker. If you put it on a precise ski, the precision is boosted. If you put it on a fat ski, the flotation will become smearier, and so on and so forth. It’s also worthy of note that it’s really hard, logistically, to put these bindings on all sorts of skis, and if we were to do so, would take a monumental amount of time. As such, it’s difficult for us to say how a specific ski will pair with this binding, as frankly, we just don’t know. What I can say, however, is that the performance changes that we found seem to be equally relative to anything we’ve skied—that is, the Griffon X will have the same effect on any ski that you put it on, and the difference between skis is negligible.

At a Glance:

2027 Marker Griffon X MWerks Ski Bindings

Personally, I’ve skied these bindings on the following skis, from narrow to wide: Blizzard Anomaly 84, Volkl Mantra M7, Volkl Revolt 101, and Volkl Revolt 112. I feel this is a good span, with many different styles and widths represented. With every ski on this list, I felt first and foremost that the acceleration into the turn was totally amplified. There was a surge in grip and precision with each turn, and I specifically felt it in the forebody of the ski—the zone between the toe of the binding and wherever the rocker started on each ski. That, more than anything else, stands out to me as the biggest difference. Even in the Revolt 112, the increase in precision on a smoother trail was highly noteworthy. In powder, the surfy nature of the ski was so easy to find, and the snow feel was second to none. What’s amazing is that a setup like this has never been seen or skied before this year, ever. When we had straight skis with low bindings, the skis were narrow, so this is certainly a monumental occasion. On the other end of the spectrum, the Anomaly 84 was very interesting. It felt like a classic combo—more like my old mogul setup rather than a modern pairing. The edge-to-edge quickness stood out the most to me, and I thought the mogul performance here was sublime. In chunkier snow, when I tried to lay it over a bit more, you could feel the boot getting scarily close to the snow and the higher the edge angle, the more that sensation accrued. I do think there’s a limitation on narrower skis when you want to carve through variable snow, but that disappears when you get to the mid-90's underfoot.

The mid-width skis on my list were very interesting. The M7 took me for a ride the first time I was on it, since you’re taking an already precise and super powerful ski and then adding horsepower with the binding. It certainly takes a minute to adjust. While I can’t personally think of a reason to make a ski like the Mantra M7 more precise, I’m 100% sure there are skiers who want that sort of thing and this is the product to add that power. The Revolt 101, and I think many other skis in the 100 mm non-metal range will see the biggest upgrades in terms of performance. I found the Griffon X made the Revolt 101 feel just that much more grippy, and at the same time, also increased low edge angle mobility, making it more functional in trees and bumps. I can imagine skis like the Salomon QST 100, Rossignol Super Blackops 98, or a Nordica Unleashed 98 CA greatly benefitting from the turbo-ification of these bindings. Overall, I’m sold on the fact that these new bindings enhance performance, add precision, and increase quickness on any ski. Am I ready to abandon a Look Pivot in favor of a Jester X MWerks? That I’m not so sure of yet.

At a Glance:

2027 Marker Jester X MWerks Ski Bindings

Jeff’s Thoughts:

It feels good to have logged some serious hours on the new Marker Royal Family bindings at this point.  I’ve even reached the point where the performance benefits they provide just feel normal to me, as opposed to the first few days on them when I was so distracted by how different they felt than anything I had ever used previously. Those performance benefits are still there, of course, and if anything, I have more appreciation for them, despite not acutely noticing them in the moment.

As most people know who read our articles or watch our videos, I differ from Bob in the sense that I have roots in park skiing.  The technology in these new bindings does go beyond use in the park, as Bob did a great job describing in his section, but it’s obvious freeski and freeride performance was at the forefront of the conversation in developing these bindings.  I now have three pairs of skis with three different bindings.  I have a Revolt 96 from 2026 with the Jester X MWerks 16, a 2027 Revolt 112 with a Griffon X MWerks 13, and a 2027 Revolt 90 with a Griffon X 13.  The Revolt 96 has been with me the longest and came up quite a bit when we first started talking about these bindings.  I’m still enamored by the connection to the snow the low stand height provides.  In the park, it’s amazing.  It’s hard for me to put into words, to be honest.  I’ve been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to figure out how to explain it.  I keep coming back to the word comfort.  The park is intrinsically an uncomfortable place to be.  It’s dangerous, there’s metal, my 40 year old knees hurt, the list goes on and on.  The low center of gravity this binding provides and the better connection to the snow just makes me feel more comfortable and more confident.  Hitting park jumps feels closer to just jumping on the trampoline than any other ski and binding combination I’ve ever used.  I know that might be a hard thing to relate to for a lot of skiers, but the big takeaway for me is you just feel more connected to what’s underneath you.  Whether that’s the snow or the metal of a rail, the binding provides the same benefit.  Also, similar to how they initiate a turn quicker than other bindings and give you more direct control over your edges, they feel ultra quick when you’re gripping and doing switch-ups on rails.  The downside to the Revolt 96 and Jester X MWerks 16 combo is it’s pretty heavy.  Some skiers won’t mind, myself included, but it’s at least noticeable.

That made me quite excited to try the Revolt 90 with the new Griffon X 13 binding.  While I appreciate having the Magnesium of the MWerks bindings, in the park, having a lighter weight setup does have its benefits.  The best part of the Griffon X 13 is it provides all the same performance benefits as the MWerks binding, but is much lighter on your feet.  I felt quicker on the Revolt 90 and Griffon X 13 than I did on any other ski the entire year (I think I skied over 100 different skis this year).  The ski itself is lighter than the 96, but the real difference came from the binding.  You still get the direct connection to your skis and the snow, but you’re dropping so much weight.  I genuinely felt about 10 years younger when I skied on this setup.  Now, there is a question of durability with the Griffon X 13 using much more plastic, but it’s not like that’s a new conversation.  There has always been that difference between Griffon and Jester.  What’s nice now is if you’re throwing down in the park and need the increased durability, but ski at lower DIN, you have the option of the Griffon X MWerks 13.  I do think the vast majority of skiers overall and the vast majority of park skiers are going to be just fine on the “normal” Griffon X 13, which honestly has always been the case between Griffon and Jester. Skiers have been successfully skiing on Griffons all over the mountain for years and years and year at this point, and certainly nothing about that changes with the new bindings.

Skiing the Revolt 112 with the Griffon X MWerks 13 honestly might be even more impressive than skiing these bindings in the park. On a wide, surfy ski like the Revolt 112, the benefits of this binding is undeniable. It’s a huge ski, but the quicker reactivity of the binding gives the skier way more control compared to a binding with higher stand height. It’s really quite something. Similar to in the park, the best word I can use to describe the way it feels is comfortable. Wiggling through trees and slashing the ski becomes so gosh darn easy with the closer connection to the ski. You don’t really think of power transfer when you’re skiing powder because nothing about powder skiing feels particularly “powerful,” but the same benefits apply. You just have better control of your edges and thus the overall skiing experience. It kind of feels like it increases the sweet spot of the ski, so to speak. It just comes alive a little more.

Are there downsides to these new bindings?  I think so, but there aren’t that many, and it’s only in specific situations.  I’ve booted out a couple times on the Revolt 96 as crazy high edge angles, but it’s hard to say that wouldn’t have happened on a different binding.  It is at least interesting to think about the angles.  Being lower to the snow does make your boot closer to the snow, and that same concept is true at any edge angle.  If you’re 50% closer to your ski with the stand height this binding provides, that means at anything less than a 90 degree edge angle, your boot is also closer to the ski.  There’s some interesting math here as at a 90 degree edge angle, you're not any closer to the snow than you would be on any other binding.  There is, however, at least in my opinion, a moment on certain width skis when the low stand height of this binding does create an increased chance of booting out, but it’s not like it always does that, and it’s only on pretty narrow skis.  I’d say the only other real downside is price.  They’re not cheap, but the Griffon X 13 isn’t any more expensive than a “non-X” Griffon was in 2026, so there’s not really a price increase. It just feels work pointing out that you’re going to pay for the MWerks bindings, but that’s also true with Pivot 15s and 18s and a few other high end bindings, so it’s really not a big deal.

Keep Exploring the 2027 Marker X Series:

2027 Marker Griffon X MWerks Product Page

2027 Marker Jester X MWerks Product Page

Marker Griffon X & Jester X M-Werks Ski Binding Review on Chairlift Chat