The cry rings out over the ski industry. Freeride baby, it’s where the money is!
Enough! I say…
Quite refreshing to visit our Austrian friends at Bergsteigen.com and check out an in-the-flesh pair of the new Backland Carbon SKI TOURING boot. Essentially, Atomic took the best from their competitors, added some spice, and look what happened.
We think this shoe is super nice, though we’ll of course need to do some major testing before we give it the total nod. Meanwhile, here are some photos. Oh, the size 25.5 at the Bergsteigen office weighs 1058 grams per boot, 984 without the removable tongue. Last is officially a “98 mm” but we think they look a bit wider than that. Word from Bergsteigen is they could be a bit warmer and easier fitting in the forefoot area than some of the other low volume touring boots on the market.
Atomic Backland Carbon ski touring boot without removable tongue. The color is right, the weight is right, the last looks a bit wider in the forefoot, the removable tongue got some frowns; are there not enough boot tongues scattered about the Alps already? Interesting to consider that Salomon and Atomic are essentially the same company and the boots are made in the same factory by the same people. Expect to see this boot with a Salomon logo?
Lean lock is the kind we like. External. Simple. Works. Period.
Another view of lean lock. We suspect that forward cuff lean can be easily modified. Note the Backland’s carbon backbone.
Check out what appear to be user removable serviceable cuff pivots!
Yeah, they went for the removable tongue concept. Difference is that under the tongue you’ll just find a fabric layer. Not sure if they’ll ski at all well without the tongue but you never know till you try.
Tongue removed. Note the fabric cover for the front opening.
Liner, reinforced tongue, optional lacing, thermoform. Shows this is still a somewhat low volume boot.
Another view, just to make sure.
In about a week I’m headed to the Atomic factory near Vienna for an up close meeting of the minds. I’m not sure what they have planned since the boots are made in Italy, but I’m sure I can find something interesting to blog about. Visiting ski factories is always fun.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
