Burton and Union Partner on Step On Binding

Available January 2025, the Union Atlas Step OnĀ® Binding

Press Release:

Union Binding Company and Burton Snowboards are excited to announce the release of Union Atlas Step OnĀ® Binding.

Available in a limited release of men’s small, medium, large and extra-large sizes in January 2025, the latest Step OnĀ® partnership is the result of Union and Burton’s shared commitment to establishing an industry-standard mechanical entry system for the wider snowboard binding ecosystem.

First unveiled to the snowboard world in late 2016, Burton Step OnĀ® is a boot-to-binding connection system that Burton founder Jake Burton Carpenter personally challenged the company to research and develop. Since then, Burton’s Step OnĀ® system has been widely adopted by snowboarders who want a clean and simple boot-to-binding interface that offers unprecedented convenience and performance.

Widely regarded as a leader in the binding category, Union recognized that Burton’s Step OnĀ® technology was the only mechanical entry system that would meet their high standards of performance, durability, comfort, and function. The two companies first reached a prototyping agreement in 2021 when Union agreed to explore utilizing Burton’s Step OnĀ® technology for a new line of Union bindings. Union visited Burton’s Burlington headquarters in June 2023, and Burton visited Union’s headquarters in August 2023 to finalize the partnership.

ā€œThe Burton Step OnĀ® system is proven,ā€ said Martino Fumagalli, Union Binding Co. CEO and General Manager. ā€œIt is the time and age to give something back, and this is a good way to collaborate on a project that can evolve the sport and industry. This partnership will continue beyond this one product— we want to evolve the system at all levels. Now that we’re in, we are all in.ā€

From the start, both companies understood that a true partnership would revolve around making sure both brands could maintain their own functionality and features with the Step OnĀ® connection point being the only similarity. This approach let Union design the Union Atlas Step OnĀ® Binding exactly to their highest specifications.

ā€œI could not be more thrilled to see this partnership come to fruition and happily welcome the Union team into the Step OnĀ® family,ā€ said Chris Cunningham, Chief Product Officer at Burton. ā€œWhat makes this partnership incredibly unique to me goes beyond our two brands and comes from a shared, deeply rooted history in snowboard binding development and passion for evolving the sport of snowboarding.ā€

Empowering partners to develop their own products around the Step OnĀ® binding standard will support and strengthen snowboarding for everyone, improving each point of contact from dealers to retailers to on-snow performance and function for riders.

ā€œWe’re making the binding connection point the shared technology ingredient,ā€ said Cunningham. ā€œCollaborating instead of competing gives us the freedom to shift our focus to further innovation, which is going to help us welcome more people into snowboarding.ā€

Step OnĀ® is an industry-changing technology, lowering barriers to snowboarding with a faster entry and streamlined experience from the lift to heading down the mountain. The system has been designed for the most demanding conditions, including the performance required from professional riders like Union’s Gigi Rüf, who tested the Union Atlas Step OnĀ® binding this fall.

ā€œThe aluminum heelcup and the unique, sleek highback design caught my eye right away,ā€ says Gigi Rüf. ā€œThe setup quickly felt familiar as I focused on carving to really test the response and pressure on the equipment. I told my son about my excitement, and now he wants a pair too!ā€

A second release of Union Atlas Step OnĀ® Bindings will drop in fall 2025 and feature new colors. For 2026, an additional Union Step OnĀ® model is in development that will cover all men’s and women’s sizes. All Step OnĀ® system bindings are compatible with all existing Step OnĀ® system boots from Burton, Nitro & DC.

Learn more here.

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