hy 13 free vs freeraider 15 evo

The HY 13 Free bolts an alpine toe onto ATK's freeride chassis; the Freeraider 15 EVO stays pure pin and ~280 g lighter per binding — pick by how much resort time you actually plan.

The ATK HY 13 Free and ATK Freeraider 15 EVO are both freeride-oriented bindings from the same Italian workshop, built from the same 7075 aluminum and stainless-steel parts, and neither carries a TÜV/DIN certification. On paper they look like siblings. In the snow they are different tools. The HY 13 Free is ATK's first convertible hybrid — a tech-pin toe for the up, an alpine-style toe that locks into place for the down, paired with ATK's freeride heel. The Freeraider 15 EVO stays pure pin from top to bottom and adds the EVO platform's industry-first adjustable toe release.

That one decision — alpine toe in ski mode versus pure pin — pulls almost everything else along with it. Weight, transition speed, boot acceptance, elastic envelope, and the kind of skier each one rewards all follow from there. This is an in-brand choice, not a brand war.

Downhill: the HY 13 Free leans on its alpine toe

In ski mode the HY 13 Free locks the alpine-style toe into the chassis and gives you ~18 mm of elastic travel per side at the toe with 9 mm at the heel — closer to an alpine binding's release behavior than to any pin binding. The Freeraider 15 EVO runs a tech-pin toe with the Freeride Spacer and lists ~14 mm of elastic travel. Both heels share ATK's freeride lineage and similar lateral stiffness. If you charge variable snow, drive ski waists in the 100-115 mm range, or weigh north of 85 kg with edges-on technique, the HY Free's wider toe envelope gives you more margin before a pre-release.

Uphill: the Freeraider gives back ~280 g per binding

At 395 g per binding the Freeraider is roughly 280 g lighter than the 675 g HY 13 Free — about 560 g/pair over a full day on skins. Over a 1,500 m climb that adds up to meaningfully less leg fatigue. Transitions are also simpler on the Freeraider: pure pin in, step out, walk mode set. The HY 13 Free is fast for a hybrid but still asks you to flip the toe from ski to walk and back again. If half your days or more are skin-track days, the Freeraider's weight and transition advantage compounds every single time.

Safety: same engineering DNA, neither TÜV-certified

Neither binding carries a third-party DIN/TÜV certification. ATK confirmed to Skimo Co there are no current plans to certify the HY Free. That said, both are calibrated to ATK's in-house release standard, which is widely respected among tour-binding makers. The HY Free's alpine toe gives you more raw elastic margin before release; the Freeraider 15 EVO answers with the EVO platform's adjustable toe release — a genuinely new feature that lets you fine-tune lateral release independently. If raw elastic envelope is the priority, the HY Free wins; if release tunability is the priority, the Freeraider has the more modern toolkit.

Versatility: only the HY 13 Free takes GripWalk and alpine inserts

The HY 13 Free's alpine toe accepts tech-insert boots for touring and GripWalk/ISO 9523 soles with inserts for ski mode — it widens the boot pool to most modern touring boots and many freeride boots. The Freeraider 15 EVO is pin-only and asks for tech inserts on both ends. If you already own one dedicated tech-insert touring boot and that is the boot you ski, the Freeraider's narrower compatibility is not a real limit. If you want one binding that lets you swap into a heavier GripWalk freeride boot for resort days, the HY Free is the only option of the two.

Durability: the same ATK materials philosophy

Both bindings are built from 7075 aluminum, stainless steel and POM, and both come out of the same Italian production line. Long-term outcomes track the brand's reputation for tight tolerances and rebuildable parts. The HY 13 Free has more moving parts in the toe — convertibility costs complexity — but ATK's history with the hybrid mechanism is short enough that there is no field signal pointing either way yet. Treat durability as a tie and decide on the other axes.

Pick by primary use case

Pick the HY 13 Free if you want one binding for a mixed quiver where the same ski sees lift-served resort laps and weekly tours — or if you specifically value the alpine toe for its wider elastic envelope and GripWalk acceptance. It's the binding for the freeride skier who tours, not the tourer who freerides.

Pick the Freeraider 15 EVO if touring is your primary use and the resort days are the occasional bonus. The weight saving, simpler transitions, and adjustable toe release add up to a binding that disappears on the way up and still holds together hard on the way down. A rough rule of thumb: more than ~25 tour days a year and the Freeraider is the safer bet; fewer than that with regular resort use, lean HY Free.