2012-13 Scarpa AT Boot Preview
This came in a few days ago during Lou’s travels. We got it up ASAP. Scarpa’s press release follows, lightly edited for brevity and clarity. Beautiful boots…
2012-13 Scarpa Maestrale RS AT boot. Like the 80's color splash theme? Note that Scarpa went back to using rivets for fastening the buckle ladders etc, due to problems with the user removable threaded fasteners coming off. Disappointing for boot modders and those doing home repair, but probably necessary.
2012-13 Scarpa Gea RS AT boot, for the ladies.
2012-13 Scarpa Maestrale RS and Gea RS:
“The lightest 120-flex ski boots in the world, the new Maestrale RS and women’s Gea RS bridge the gap between alpine touring and freeride, and are designed for people who like to drive big skis or charge hard in the backcountry. More impressive than their weight given their stiffness, these two boots offer a walk mode with nearly 40 degrees of cuff travel, which makes them tour exceptionally well. At the top of the climb, however, switch them to ski mode and the Maestrale RS and Gea RS offer a shocking level of performance, given that they tip the scales at 3 pounds, 7 ounces per boot in a men’s 27 or 3 pounds, 2 ounces in a women’s 25. Details include SCARPA’s innovative Axial Alpine tongue design, polyamide construction, which yields the stiff flex, oversize, easy to use buckles, quick-step tech fittings and a stiff SCARPA Intuition liner. Retail $699.”
2012-13 Scarpa Pegasus AT boot. My favorite color scheme.
2012-13 Scarpa Pegasus and Skadi:
“Building on the Maestrale/Gea family, the Pegasus and women’s Skadi meld polyurethane construction with a stiff Pebax® tongue, resulting in a lightweight ski touring boot that has an exceptional range of motion in walk mode and is also is very mindful of price. Finer points include SCARPA’s innovative Axial Alpine tongue construction, an Instant Fit Flex Pro liner with Cocona® to combat odor, and an exceptional range of motion in walk mode – nearly 40 degrees. They weigh in at 3 pounds, 15 ounces per boot in men’s 27 and 3 pounds, 10 ounces per boot in women’s 25. Retail $549.”
2012-13 Scarpa F1 AT boot. Just like a fine wine, some things age well with time. New updates look great!
2012-13 Scarpa F1:
“Redesigned with a stiffer polyamide cuff, the F1 gets lighter and more versatile for Fall 2012. Whether it’s rando race day or a ski
tour where every gram counts, the redesigned F1 melds a very lightweight package with enough power to drive the ski on the descent.
What hasn’t changed is SCARPA’s pioneering design that incorporates a forefoot bellows in an alpine touring design for comfortable ski touring and climbing. Retail $699.”
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Comments
55 Responses to “2012-13 Scarpa AT Boot Preview”
mmmm looks nice the new version of Maestrale…
But I think it’s nothing compared to Vulcan…
but 699$….sounds better than 999$
I think Vulcan is a more efficient design in all aspects than Maestrale’s (Stiffer and better walkability) but Maestrale is a very comfy boot…
great! lots of new options!
Boot shopping next season is going to be a challenge, but in a good way. Wow what a difference from even just ten years ago. Really really nice!
Yeah, no kidding. I was all set on buying some new boots this year, but now with the updates from Scarpa, Dynafit, et al, maybe I’ll wait ’til I can check these out. Conundrum?
The RS and the Gea look like they are ready for a soft landing on the moon…I guess the snowboard manufacturers are influencing the rest of the industry…I love ’em…must be my Italian heritage.
Have skied these beefed maestrale for a couple of weeks. They ski like the my 130 alpine boots, and walk like a tennis shoe (plus a vibram sole that helps a lot in rocks, in the resort and in the wet pavements of the hut toilet rooms… :-). Significant improvment over the classic maestrale, for a mere 30g weight increase.
I’d venture that we’re seeing a quantum leap in backcountry skiing boot technology. That’s what happens when people are buying 180,000 pairs of AT boots a year — that makes some room and money for innovation and improvements.
Current year’s dayglow orange is still my fave colorway. And they are $100 less than next year’s offering. Dam that boot is soooo ahead of its time.
Options are impressive. Seems all makers are really ramping things up. Not sure the colors are my favorite, but that never stopped me from buying.
Good thing you like the color, d, we all know thats the important thing about ski gear. Kinda like getting a crap ski and focusing on how much you like the top sheet.
Ahead of its time? Props to Scarpa for a good boot, but this huge push towards boots that can ski downhill and still have a phenomenal range of cuff rotation for touring owes much to Dynafit.
Anyone know where the extra stiffness over the current Maestrale came from; cuff, liner, tongue? I’m wondering if the current model can be upgraded……..
crusty, I believe all the boot is made in a nylon that is different fom the pebax used for the classic maestrale.
This is my opinion, though, and I might be wrong…
Probably a combination of factors. If it’s heavier, that would indicate perhaps a stiffer tongue and/or slightly thickened areas in shell.
Z or living in New England and talking about going backcountry skiing. Your season pass at mad river glenn won’t get you much props West of the Mississippi.
wow – verbier it’s going to look like you and me puked on our feet when we’re testing boots. Props to Scarpa on holding the price line. No need to structure a CDO just to buy new gear
What about lean angle in the new Maestrale? Still no option for different (or undrilled) bars?
Now I wish they would make the new Maestrale on the Skookum last. I can’t make the Maestrale work on my right foot at all.
so no more maestrale/gea? Also, whats the flex of the Pegasus comparable to?
d: no need to hate on NE or Mad River. Perhaps a look at Wild Snow (the book) by Lou will reintroduce you to the classic and very much backcountry skiing available on this coast. Perhaps once you’ve skied all the couloirs of Katahdin and Mt Washington you can then weigh in…
And, if you do check out Wild Snow (the book) for NE history, be sure to use the paperback edition, it’s got quite a bit more material on where it all began in the US.
Is the Pegasus liner an Intuition liner?
Lou, great to see your coverage on the latest from Scarpa (and Dynafit). I’m currently using BD Factors, and the prospect of getting AT boots that would be as stiff as I’d like and as light as the new stuff from Scarpa & Dynafit has me really stoked.
I just hope that some of these new boots will fit my wider (C-D width) foot better than Scarpa (and Dynafit) stuff from the past. Part of why I’m using Factors is stiffness, but they’re also the only AT shell I’ve tried that fit really well (I did put real Booster straps and Garmont liners in ’em though).
If not, I hope that this new crop of AT boots (with their thinner shells) will handle the kind of punch-out my wider foot will need!!
pegasus = PU, which is heavier, stiffer at low temp and less elastic than nylons like pebax. The new maestrale RS, though is not in pebax, but in another nylon which (I feel) is stiffer than pebax. The pegasus liner, AFAIK, is made by scarpa and not by intuition. This also explains the lower cost of the pegasus.
Lou – regarding paper vs. hardcover editions of your book, can you elaborate? I recently bought the hardcover for my growing personal collection, but it is still in the plastic wrap. I have the paper back here from the local library and it has the same front and rear cover and looks about the same number of pages, but I can’t know for sure since my hardcover is still wrapped. Is my hardcover the same? I don’t want to unwrap it from the plastic (and hence not be able to return it) only to find out it lacks some of the stuff from the softcover edition.
Thanks!
Trees, it was a while ago so I can’t bring up specifics other than to say that the hardcover is really a first edition, and we did quite a few line edits when we did the soft cover (really a second edition), to correct errors or edit things that were incorrectly stated, both as a result of me working too fast under pressure from publisher and also from simply doing the first book of this kind and not finding all the research material that subsequent historical research has found (all history work stands on the shoulders of previous work.). In the greater scheme of things it wasn’t all that much, but of course some folks were offended. The biggest difference is simply that the NE chapter has quite a bit more content.
My advice to people is if they want a nice collector’s book they should stick with the hardcover, but if they’re the type of person who reads for detail or might even use the book for trip planning, the soft cover is better.
Both need an update. It is my fervent hope I can be the person to do that some day, but it could be another writer who creates a true new edition.
The book took about 3 years of full-time work to write. Taking even more time would have probably been good. It amazed me just how time consuming this type of writing is. Perhaps a bit faster these days, but I’ll bet it still drags on…
@ maciej
from a former bootfitter… if you’re looking to punch, then be happy for the PU version (pegasus). while pebax is lighter and stiffer, polyurethane responds much better to punching (i.e., will hold a punch shape more definitively and longer). general width stretches might not work all that well, but if you need to push out a deep pocket in your 1st or 5th met-head areas (the bunion and ‘6th toe’ spots), or like me, you need to blow out your ankle pocket to the moon, then PU is the way to go. it also responds better to grinding with a fordham bur; pebax can be ground to some degree, but often it just tends to melt slightly then gum up just beyond the grind area and create a mess that has too be scraped off the inside of the boot. getting a punch to hold well in pebax requires heating it to just slightly below molten and leaving it on the punch a looong time to cool (so find a bootfitter with a good touch or you might end up with either some stretching that doesnt hold, or a nice melted ventilation hole in the side of your brand new kicks). any boots with carbon in a trouble fit spit (such as the carbon upper cuff of some boots that are popular around here) are almost a no-go if you need some custom work. thank goodness for PU!
Bill, the new maestrale is in a nylon different from pebax. No idea whether anyone has already robust experience in punching these new nylons. I remember Federico said some very experienced people may successfully punch TLT5, which, if I remember well, are in grilamid..
Interesting that it appears the Pegasus has the exact same buckles and power strap as the Maestrale. Evrything looks the same except the color.
any word when the RS will be in the shops
Probably not till early next year Phil. Only prototypes right now in NorAM
Love the bellows on the f1 with the tech fittings. Peaks my interest.
This may be a dumb question, but I’ve yet to find a definitive answer. Will the Scarpa Maestrale’s work with my Marker Duke’s?
yes
If that’s not definitive enough, let me say that Lee is correct.
I just bought the 2011/12 Scarpa Maestrale and used it for 3 hours and one of the lower buckles fell apart. I took the boot back to the shop where I purchased and they were unable to reapair it as the buckle bolt threads had stripped. I have since learned this is a fairly common problem with this boot. I suspect a design flaw especially with Scarpa moving back to rivets with their 2012/13 model. I pointed this out to the store where I purchased and they followed up with Scarpa who deny they are going back to rivets and they asked where I obtained this information. I advised the store of the Wildsnow site so the store was going to follow up again with Scarpa. All that Scarpa has offered me is to replace the stripped bolt. I am not comfortable with this as I do not want to have to be worried about my buckles when touring. I think either the store should refund my money as they never disclosed a problem to me or Scarpa replace my boots with the new model with rivets once they are no longer in denial. Hell I only got 3 hours out of them before there was a problem and I certainly do not want to deal with ongoing buckle issues. Help!
Dennis
You are correct and the information about the Maestrale going back to rivets is correct. The fix is either to epoxy the bolt together or like you said, to get the boots with rivets. I’m not going to point fingers here but your request doesn’t sound unreasonable so I’d stick to my guns if I were you,
Note that I’m not a Scarpa employee or an employee of a shop so neither I nor wildsnow can do much more than inform consumers.
i bought a pair of f1s that seem to fit allright but i need to wear conformable custom insoles and the lack of a flat boot board seems to create some arch pain. is there a good way of gettig rid of that? like trying to build up the insole at heel and ball to accommodate? i will need a bit of extra insole anyway to take away some room.
maybe some of you have experience with this issue…
thanks in advance
Dan, two things:
1. Grind underside of custom insole to conform to the shape of the Scarpa shell under your foot.
2. Build up thickness under forefoot and perhaps a bit under heel, by any means that works.
Can take some time but you can eventually get it right. I used to have to do this to all my Scarpas.
thanks! custom insole grind hardly possible, as i am using maestrale liners with glued in conformables in all my ski boots. no much material to grind anyway.
will try the second approach, though.
Might be time to quit gluing in your insoles.
glue is double sided tape only. still, the conformables are so thin i do not think they can be ground down enough to make a difference…
Well, then perhaps time for thicker insoles that can be ground to conform to the Scarpa instep bump…
which type or brand of custom or maybe regular insoles of sufficient thickness would you suggest? i have the insoles mainly to agressively compensate for some club foot type irregularities. makes for great inside edge resonse, too.
and, what material to fill up room under ball and heel did you use in your scarpas?
Dan, i get most of that type of stuff from a bootfitter. Best to ask them as whatever custom insoles you get would be done by them, but you can used old athletic shoe insoles for shim material.
How do Maestrale RS compares to new Dynafit Green Machines?
Combiner – what new Dynafit boot you’re talking about ? Vulcan?
Anyone know when the RS will be available? Was all set to buy last year’s model but should I wait for the new ones?
Should be hitting the stores for the start of the 2012-13 season. November or perhaps earlier
Lee Lau – not the Vulcan (and yes i saw comparsion on TGR) but the Dynafit ZZero 4 Green Machine TF
Sorry Combiner. No idea
I’ve tried on the Scarpa Typhoons but won’t be able to try the Maestrale for a few weeks, but which time the sale I can take advantage of will have finished. I don’t mind waiting and missing the sale if the Maestrale is the boot for me, but the Typhoon didn’t fit my foot. Is there a good chance that the Maestrale won’t either then? I have high arches and there was too much pressure on the top of my foot near the ankle.
Mark, I’d say your chances are 50/50 unless you want to get a bootfitter to spend 8 minutes fixing that problem… Lou
Anyone have opinions about the Mastrale RS vs. Gia RS? I’ve tried both on can’t really tell the difference (if there is one) with stiffness. Both fit well, trying to decide between the two. I’m an aggressive skier, like a stiff boot. Thanks!
Emily,
All I can do is guess that they’d be about the same. The Maestrale and Gea were close to the same in stiffness (i couldn’t tell the difference between my boots and my wifes boot). I’d have to — GUESS — (note emphasis) that the RS versions will also be the same.
They’re both godawful ugly so that isn’t any different
From Sharon Bader’s review:
“Basically the women’s version of the incredibly successful Scarpa Maestrale, Gea is designed to fit people with a narrower heel, lower calf and higher instep — females of our species, in other words.”
Pink one definitely looks lower in calf area.
Mark, for what it’s worth I haven’t tried the Typhoon or the Maestrale (wait, my story gets better…) , but I own the Spirit 3, and have tried on the Maestrale (unmolded), Hurricane’s, and Skookums before. I too have very high arches, and none of the other boots I tried on had nearly as low an instep as the Maestrale. The most pressure I felt was in precisely the area you are concerned about. Again, I have NOT even tried on the Typhoons, nor have I actually skied the Maestrales, so take this with a grain of salt. However, if you don’t have a good way to return or resell the Maestrales at the sale price, or are nervous about having the boots worked on, I wouldn’t risk it.
I also have found, in general, that it is worth paying more up front and being sure of the fit. And I’m not exactly swimming in cash.
Good luck!