Old timers might remember French Canadian JF Pelchat from the classic Mack Dawg movies of the late 90s, as well as the infamous Wildcat films. Just think ‘hairy party animal‘. Well, he’s popped back up as the face behind a new binding company called ‘Now Snowboarding’. Judging by the videos, he’s looking to market the no-highback concept which guys like Mike Ranquet have been advocating for years. Now, I’ve tried riding with no highbacks myself, and can vouch for the fact that it’s not as difficult to turn as you’d imagine. The key advantage is more comfort, more flex to really tweak your tricks and a looser feel that’s more closely related to skateboarding or surfing. So far he’s convinced Devun Walsh, DCP, Jeremy Jones, Romain de Marchi and Shin Campos to give the new protoypes a go, and they all seem into it. Interestingly, Pelchat isn’t the only pro looking to shake up the boring binding market. Halldor and Eiki Helgason recently announced they will be riding for new Bataleon-owned brand ‘Switchback Bindings’, which promises to “create a more flexible buying and riding experience for the consumers instead having to deal with a set of specs/features that a Brand decides.” What does that mean? Well, according to Eiki, it could include “Highback or No back… depending on the terrain, location or feature.”

Is the future no highbacks? Let us know what you reckon.