Boot Reviews Archives - The Backcountry Ski Touring Blog

Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 115 W Touring Boot Review

by Cindy Hirschfeld April 7, 2021

The Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 115 W Tech touring boot is a suitable option for narrow-footed women who seek a balance of downhill and uphill performance, with slightly more emphasis on the downhill.

Hope springs eternal in backcountry ski touring, for powder days, for epic runs, for snow stability—and for a boot that performs just the way you want it to on both the uphill and the down. In my ongoing quest for just such a boot, I’ve been using Atomic’s Hawx Ultra XTD 115 W Tech GW for the past three and a half months. Spoiler alert: it excels on the downhill. That means I’ve been very happy with it for at least 50 percent of the time, and often much more.

Falling between Atomic’s standard alpine boots and the brand’s lightweight, touring-specific Backland series, the Hawx Ultra XTD family aims to fill the gap by enabling solid downhill performance with enough range of motion and weight savings to competently tour. At $700, the 115 W Tech is right in line pricewise with other women’s AT boots.

When I first opened the box, my heart sank just a bit as I noticed the boot’s traditional overlap, four-buckle construction. Not only was it not what I expected for an AT boot, but up to then I’d only toured in boots with three-piece tongue construction. I feared the Hawx Ultra XTD would be heavy and cumbersome for skinning. But when I lifted one up, I realized it was about as light as the Scarpa Geas I’d skied in for the past several years, and way lighter than my alpine boots. (A pair of the Hawx Ultra XTD weighs in at 1,360 grams (size 24.5); for comparison, current-model Geas are 1,250 grams (size 25), and my older ones are a tad heavier.) Hope restored.

April 7, 2021 5 comments

Dynafit Race Review Part I — Mezzalama Ski, PDG 2 Boot

by Slator Aplin March 15, 2021

written by Slator Aplin

Left: Groomer touring at the beginning of a skimo race. Middle: A double skin rip (#doubleskinrip) executed in mediocre fashion. Right: Attack Turtle descent style performed flawlessly.

Is there a place for race gear in your backcountry quiver?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever found yourself craving the following experiences out of ski touring:

— Redlining while ski-jogging up a resort. Either racing against other people or alone while resort skiers heckle ‘You’re going the wrong way!’

— Transitioning at a blistering pace (ideally performing the legendary double-skin-rip).

— Descending in classic ‘Attack Turtle’ style, praying for the run to finish soon so you can get back to touring uphill.

— Weighing your gear on a scale and making a Gear Weight Spreadsheet (kit measured in grams obviously).

If you raised your hand to any/all of these (and maybe even if you didn’t), you should probably look into skimo racing. Skimo racing is a silly, intense niche of our beloved backcountry skiing community. If the subsets of ski touring were placed on a gradient from uphill to downhill oriented, skimo would slam against the uphill-oriented side of that spectrum. The gear is as light as possible while still managing to ski downhill (Check out ISMF’s shockingly strict and precise rules about gear). The intent behind the sport is to travel as fast as possible both up and down (or train to do so at some other time).

Spectrum of ski touring infographic. Obviously super advanced graphic design.

Jokes and cultural priming aside, this blog post is first and foremost a gear review, but also a commentary on the sport of skimo racing. I reviewed the Dynafit Mezzalama ski, the PDG 2 boot and the Low Tech Race 105 binding (LTR105). This race kit is capable of a solid finish at any North American skimo event. It’s also a quality training kit for resort fitness touring. The combo of Dynafit skis, bindings and boots is designed for the gram-counting, second-shaving, take-racing-seriously community.

But is that all this gear is capable of? Is there more that race gear can offer to the backcountry community, or is it confined to the packed powder of ski areas and flagged off race courses? How dreamy does it sound to log backcountry vert while moving at a skimo race pace…(I have dreams of big alpine enchainments like this, do you?) I reviewed the Dynafit race kit to get a better understanding of ‘skimo’ and test the limits of this uphill-most oriented touring equipment.

This review is broken into two parts: a narrative review of the Mezzalama ski and PDG 2 boot followed by a review of the LTR 105 binding and an epilogue of sorts sharing my lessons learned from taking race gear into the backcountry.

March 15, 2021 15 comments

Ski Touring Boots 2021-22 — Upgrades to Past Favs

by Slator Aplin March 1, 2021

written by Slator Aplin

The magenta Gea RS and Aqua Maestrale RS feature new more sustainable materials, the Walk XT ski/walk mechanism, and fancy exoskeleton cuffs and shells to help transfer power through the boot.

Touring boots are the keystone of the equipment necessary to move in the mountains. Without them, your feet would be freezing, vulnerable, wet, and not be able to click into touring bindings. With them, you can glide uphill, slide downhill, and walk to and from your car in the parking lot without the signature resort-boot-cowboy-gait.

We have filtered through the ski touring industry to see what’s new for the 2021 season. The general theme for the development happening this season is: conservative. There are no crazy, space-age developments set to revolutionize the touring world come Fall 2021. However, what is notable within the industry are minor improvements on already great equipment. Incremental steady change in the positive direction seems to be a great responsible decision. Nice one ski touring industry. So without further adieu, let’s get into the new boots for the 2021 season:

Redesigned Scarpa Maestrale/Gea & Ladies F1LT

The Women’s Gea and Men’s Maestrale are the quintessential mid-range touring boot. A middle ground between uphill and downhill performance. Scarpa says they are ‘the world’s best selling and highest performing backcountry ski boot.’ We’ll reserve such judgement. But I sure do see quite a few of them on the skin track each season. For 2021, they both receive incremental improvements to move a step forward in their ski boot design fame.

March 1, 2021 31 comments

Light(ish) & Robust — 2021/22 Fischer Transalp First Look

by Manasseh Franklin February 18, 2021

written by Manasseh Franklin

A crew of socially distanced media folk with matching Fischer Transalp Pros.

Here’s a testament to the contemporary age of ski touring gear: one night last week, I imagined an ideal boot. This boot would be light enough for the long tours I mostly embark on, but more robust than the 1000g boots I typically wear. It’d have enough power to drive a 100mm underfoot ski without overpowering an 85 underfoot ski. It would walk exceptionally well, be comfortable enough for big days and be capable of enough power transfer to show up on demanding descents.

The next day, I got to try out that very boot. It seems the folks at Fischer had similar ambitions in thinking up the 2021-22 Fischer Transalp. It is light-ish (1280g for 26), stiff for its class (approximately 120 flex), powerful enough to drive a larger ski, compatible with a minimal tech binding or burlier hybrid like the Shift, and easy to transition between efficient walk mode and stiff, sturdy ski mode.

I first met the Transalp at a parking lot of the west side of Eisenhower Tunnel. My legs were wobbly from 2.5 hours of white knuckled driving in blowing and sloshing snow and I was happy to finally get out of the truck. At least the 24.5 women’s Tour model of the Transalp fit well, though it took some finagling to adjust the buckles as I shuffled into position on the skin track between skiing legend Mike Hattrup and a small handful of safely distanced media folk.

It was a day of low expectations for skiing. Our guide, Rocky Mountain Guides owner Peter Krainz kept reminding the group in his playful Austrian accent that really, we were just out for a walk. The tundra we approached was wind scoured, peppered with rocks and bushes, and had enough fresh swirling snow on top to turn the rocks into unwitting core shots. The most important thing was to see how the Transalp toured, he reminded us. Right, but we all secretly hoped for at least a few decent turns.

February 18, 2021 34 comments

A Carbon Fibre Freeride Boot? — Pierre Gignoux Mountain Review

by Doug Stenclik February 1, 2021

written by Doug Stenclik

Skipping over facet pillows in Colorado is about as freeride as this skinny skier gets.

Pulling into Moe’s Bagels in Boulder, fresh off my one-way flight from the east coast as a young 22 year old, I looked around in awe at the fleet of carbon road bikes carelessly corralled against the railings. Just as I was fully kitted out in Prana organic wool for 30-foot, single-pitch, well-bolted sport climbs, so too were my spandex laden friends for their 30-mile pre-beer lunch rides. It was already then that I realized the slimming aesthetics of skin tight clothing worn confidently and definitely even if barely concealing an ever present if not inexplicably toned beer gut. I also knew from a young age that the real goal in life was to grow old doing what you love and one day be able to afford and corral a carbon steed of my own.

However, as I grew into my own early middle age and ever deeper into the outdoor gear industry, my ambitions turned to bringing the unadulterated confidence observed on the cream cheese-soaked pavement patio in Boulder to the sport of ski touring. Although spandex on the backcountry skin track is no longer unheard of, we still have a long way to go. But with the creation of the Mountain, the world’s first carbon freeride touring boot by Pierre Gignoux, at least the carbon slippers have a chance to make it onto the every-skiers feet.

Overview

Pierre Gignoux has an illustrious history of making race carbon ski shoes (calling them boots doesn’t do them justice) for the top level athletes in the world. Seven years ago I donned my first pair of Pierre Gignoux Morpho 400s in an attempt to prove that carbon really could buy happiness (if not a modicum of athletic success and at least delay the inevitable health food diet). However, the irony of a mid pack athlete unnecessarily skiing the world’s lightest boot was lost on a crowd who still thought the act of skinning was to “earn your turns” instead of a sport in and of itself. Years later, rando races in the US are still fringe, but the appetite for weight savings to gain extra precious powder laps is growing every year.

From the moment I unboxed these ski boot stilettos, the tagline “100% Pleasure” from the Pierre Gignoux website rang true. A beautifully sculpted handmade full carbon boot started up at me and I knew the Mountain was the boot to bring carbon fibre in the United States to the dozens if not the masses.

February 1, 2021 30 comments

Leaner and Softer — Modding The Hoji Pro

by Lou Dawson January 31, 2021

written by Lou Dawson

The Hoji Pro is one beefy boot. Strap in, tighten the upper buckles, and most tour skiers will never say, “This thing it too soft.”

On the other hand… there are among our vast cadre of aficionados who like the design and fit of the Pro, yet would prefer a few more degrees of cuff lean angle, or a softened forward flex. Here’s a few mods that’ll get you there. Caveats: Neither mod is reversible. The lean mod will get you at most about three degrees. The softening mod has a radical effect on both the softness and progressive flex. I recommend for smaller, less aggressive skiers who are certain the boot is too stiff. Wear an N95 mask while grinding the carbon infused plastic. This mod’s overall WildSnow difficulty rating and specialized tool needs: nine out of ten screwdrivers.

Object at hand, 2018-2019 Dynafit Hoji Pro Tour ski boot.

The surgery zone. With the liner removed, it’s easy to spot the Hoji Pro cuff lean stops. Work the lean-lock lever, and you’ll see how the Hoji-Lock functions. It’s ingenious.

Hoji-lock lean-lock engaged. The slot engages a vertical plastic tab, interface is marked with grey sharpie. The lean mod involves removing a small amount of material from the tab, so the slot can engage with the cuff farther forward. The trick is you can’t remove a lot of plastic from the tab as the slot has a locator tab that has to slide behind things. How this works is obvious when you observe things live.

January 31, 2021 7 comments

It’s Go Time — Fischer Travers CS Boot Review

by Dr Alex Lee January 26, 2021

written by Dr Alex Lee

Now you’re going to want to coordinate your jacket if you really want the Travers CS to pop... Photo by Malcolm Herstand

Now you’re going to want to coordinate your jacket if you really want the Travers CS to pop… Photo: Malcolm Herstand

One boot to rule them all, One boot to find them, One boot to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them…

I have long thought that having the right tool for the job requires a quiver of options. I have applied such logic broadly in life — acquiring a large collection of wrenches, always making sure to give both bourbon and scotch space on the shelf, opting for Neapolitan ice cream, and of course sporting a healthy range of ski widths. As far as boots go, I have rocked skimo style light-is-right boots as my everyday drivers for sometime, but have always kept some beef in the freezer too. The last couple of seasons, the La Sportiva Sytron has been my go to, with a pair of Salomon MTN Explores on the shelf for ‘big ski’ days. The Fischer Travers CS — a 1 kilo category, carbon-soled, touring machine — is making me rethink my logic.

Light as they may be, folks will find these to be a good boot for a lot of daily drivers. I’ve had a hoot in the Travers CS riding 88 underfoot skis. What has been so surprising is how they handle 114s in deep pow just fine, while also feeling chargtastic for hot laps in good snow on Peak 3 outside of Anchorage on 76s.

If I ever need to carry ski boots across Middle Earth and still have the power to charge down Mount Doom – Travers CS all the way:

-Grilamid Shell
-Carbon/Aramid plate in the sole
-Boa
-80 degrees range of motion
-104mm last (on 28.5)
-Mediumish flex
-~1150 grams (advertised at 980, more on this below)

January 26, 2021 41 comments

Ski Touring Boot-Binding Leash D-Ring Install

by Lou Dawson November 17, 2020

written by Lou Dawson

Screw rivets, i.e., chicago screws, the boot modder’s friend. The shiny ones are “Normal” chicago screws, the black are “Kydex” type.

I’ve been asked about this a million times. How to install those nice little D-ring leash attachment points some thoughtful boot makers might include on their shells, but are often in odd locations or downright missing? In the ancient and storied tradition of WildSnow dot com ski touring modposts, here we go:

The D-rings are somewhat difficult to source. I found quite a few options out of China, but they all had shipping dates in the three-week range. I found one option that shipped immediately. Here’s a link to the ‘Zon.

What about fasteners? In my strength testing, I found a threaded “chicago-screw” otherwise known as a “screw-rivet” to be plenty strong. In my opinion, it’s a better option than a compression rivet as the threaded type rivet is easily replaced if damaged in a fall (and easier to install).

But what length? In the case of Scarpa F1 LTs victimized for this blog post (they come with a D-ring, but I didn’t like the stock location on the upper part of the shell), the shell thickness where I installed the ring is 2.3 millimetres, while the shortest chicago-screw I could find has a female section of 5 mm. The D-ring tab is about 1.5 mm thick. Thus, the female barrel protruded from the shell about a millimetre. Solution: a tiny washer on the female barrel, to shorten the effective length. Here’s a link to a screw kit.

Another, likely better option than the regular chicago-screws linked above, are the Kydex type chicago-screws, used for belts, pistol holsters and the like. These appear to be stronger than the normal chicago-screw, and they’re shorter, thus more closely matching the often thinner shell dimension of ski touring boots, as opposed to alpine ski boots. They also have screw driver slots on both ends. (I ended up using the Kydex type fasteners for the install described here).

November 17, 2020 13 comments

Scarpa F1 LT Look and Fitting — Lou’s Take

by Lou Dawson October 16, 2020

written by Lou Dawson

The Scarpa-f1-LT has been called a masterpiece. I’d agree, but unlike the Pietà, my version accepted a few tweaks.

In his WildSnow review of the Scarpa F1 LT, Adam Fabrikant gave us a thorough field test and analysis. Upon seeing what he’d written, and checking the specs, I realized this boot might be the one-kilo-class shoe I’ve been seeking to replace the heavier boots necessitated by my healing ankle (took a while, good now). I don’t seek redundancy with Adam’s coverage, but instead here is my first-look, fitting, and a few mods, all from my point of view as an older guy with a few physical problems. To begin, follow along as I make these puppies work for my feet, and my mind.

(Please note, I’m beginning my evaluation and fitting with a pre-retail version of the F1 LT, as Adam did. If I like them, I’ll shift to the retail-production version when it’s available, ostensibly in a month or two. To be fair to Scarpa, let’s assume the production version will be somewhat improved. I’ll edit this review when such information comes to light.)

October 16, 2020 33 comments

Ski Touring Boots — A Few WildSnow Picks 2020

by TheEditors OfWildsnow September 22, 2020

written by TheEditors OfWildsnow

So many boots, so many options.

When piecing together your ski-touring setup, there is no link more important than the plastic slippers on your feet. Below we have compiled a tried and true list of our recent favorites covering the full spectrum of ski-touring applications. Whether you’re looking to audition for the next TGR film, or you just want to bust out fitness laps at your local hill, there is something in here for everyone. Be advised though that no matter how great a boot is on paper, if it doesn’t feel good on your feet, you’re going to have a bad time. Here’s our quick and dirty analysis, with linked search results for more in depth information.

This list is by no means extensive but it captures a few key touring boot ingredients and boots that exemplify them. For all of our boot reviews, click here. And for more tips on boots, check out our Ski Touring Boot Buying Guide Part I and Part II from last season.

Best Freeride Ski Touring Boots: ‘Resort’ Boots That Will Also Tour

Scarpa Maestrale XT
Scarpa’s Maestrale and Maestrale RS boots have long been a staple in the ski-touring market and have been known to make appearances on resort slopes across the west. However, even the die hard fans will tell you that they leave something to be desired when pushing top speeds in variable conditions. Enter the Maestrale XT. With a few simple yet extremely effective tweaks this boot performs like a legitimate resort boot, while maintaining impressive uphill capabilities.

September 22, 2020 22 comments

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