Salomon XA Supermatic Review: Easy Entry With a Softer Highback

Introduction

Salomon now offers a binding built on Supermatic technology, the rear-entry system most people associate with Nidecker. The Salomon XA Supermatic is essentially a rebranded Supermatic platform with one meaningful difference: a softer highback. Everything else, from the straps to the ratchets, carries over from the same licensed design.

If you have been curious about step-in convenience but want a little less response than the standard Supermatic, this one deserves a look. Here is how it performed.

Testing Conditions

The binding was ridden on a day with 3 to 5 inches of heavy fresh snow layered over crust, with icebergs lurking under the powder that would send you down without warning. Groomers were firm, fast, and a bit choppy and chundery, with softer slushier snow near the bottom of the mountain. It was set up on a Ride Shadowban snowboard with K2 Thaxis boots.

That mix of crust, chop, and soft snow is a reasonable stress test for any binding, and it gave a clear picture of how the XA Supermatic communicates terrain underfoot.

Straps and Adjustments

Adjustment is deliberately limited. You get a forward lean tab on the highback and flip tabs on the heel and toe straps, three in total. The straps are the same ones Nidecker uses on its Supermatics. The toe strap is pre-curved and cupped, so it fits most boot shapes easily. The heel strap allows more lateral play by design but stays more rigid through the middle, which you notice when driving into it.

The key setup detail: keep the middle flip tab a little looser. That makes sliding in and out much easier. If you constantly readjust the straps, the setup is wrong, not the binding. Cranking everything down leads to what riders call last click syndrome, which genuinely affects entry and exit. Set it up correctly and you lock them in for the day. The toe ramp can also be nudged forward or back, though the range is small.

One caution from testing: a sample pair had a slightly broken ladder on one side that needed to be fed in manually while holding the release tab. Since these are samples, that may not affect production pairs, but it is worth checking everything works before you ride.

Highback Feel

The highback is the one Salomon-specific piece on the binding, and it is soft. There is next to no rigidity in it. Push back into it and you are pushing through it for the most part. It is the softest Supermatic highback ridden so far, softer than the Nidecker LT, the carbon Supermatic, the regular Supermatic, and the Bent Metal Lightning Supermatic. There is a lot of play, and it does not feel like it adds meaningful support.

On the plus side, the forward lean tab is very easy to use. Flip it up, slide the lean to where you want it, and lock it back in place without fuss.

The Dead Spot Underfoot

Every Supermatic has a large dead spot underfoot thanks to the big disc and tray, and this one may be the biggest on the market. That reduces lateral flex and board feel noticeably. When trying to butter and play around on the Shadowban, the board was not there the way expected, and movements had to be pushed further than on other bindings.

The trade-off cuts both ways. That huge dead spot also reduces chatter coming from the nose or tail. However, like the newer Nidecker LT Supermatic, these produce more rumble underfoot than the first-generation Supermatic, which is concerning when charging hard. Most riders looking at this binding probably are not hard chargers, so many will not feel it.

Who This Binding Is For

The XA Supermatic fits someone who wants easy entry and a Supermatic with a softer highback, or who simply likes the Salomon brand. It also suits older riders or anyone with knee or back injuries that make bending down difficult, especially those cruising blue runs. For that rider, it is absolutely fine.

If you want a livelier feel or more precision, the weight and the dead spot are real drawbacks. These are heavy and bulky, and the size mutes board feel. For an easy-entry binding with performance closer to a traditional binding, the 32 Team Phase is worth a look. Otherwise, the comparable options are the Nidecker Supermatic and the Bent Metal Lightning Supermatic.

Buying Advice and Entry Technique

One tip matters more than anything when using a Supermatic: enter toe first, then heel, rather than the heel-toe motion of a normal binding. Slide in through the highback, hit the wheel at the back, let the heel catch, and you are locked in. Claw-stomping into it heel first is why some people think these do not work.

Releasing is just as simple. Push down the tab, step out, and it pulls up. It is easier to exit than a Flow binding, similar to the Phase, though the Phase has a slightly more performance-oriented release feel.

Overall, this is a rebranded Supermatic with a softer highback and little else changed. More licensed Supermatic technology is expected from other brands going forward, but right now Salomon and Bent Metal carry it into the 2026 season. If you accept the weight and the big dead spot, the convenience genuinely works.

Conclusion

The Salomon XA Supermatic delivers on easy entry and exit with a simple setup trick, and its softer highback sets it apart from every other Supermatic. The trade-offs are weight, bulk, the largest dead spot underfoot in this category, and added rumble when riding hard. For relaxed riders who value convenience over precision, it is a solid match. Anyone chasing a lively, responsive feel should look elsewhere.