We got over to Scarpa and checked out the new boots they’ve added to their line. Louie was in the Skookum a few days ago and liked it. Check ’em out.
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| Dave Simpson gets us up to speed. These boots really round out the Scarpa line with a bit more in the beef department. |
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| Skookum on the left, with Typhoon and Domina to right. All these boots are built with Pebax plastic, so they’re still lighter than polyurethane battleships. The idea is they’re beefy like the Scarpa Hurricane, but tour better. For example, Skookum has an upper cuff similar to Hurricane, and the lower is more like the Spirit 4 (and it comes stock with the “Booster” heavy duty power strap). All come with the choice of flexible touring tongue or the stiff black performance tongue that’s already a favorite among boot modders for swapping into Garmonts, Dynafits and such. Skookum is Dynafit compatible, with the cool front Dynafit sockets set 4 mm aft of other boots so they’re more ergonomic (one does indeed wonder why Dynafit doesn’t do this in their own boots…).
Typhoon and Domina are the same boot in men’s and women’s versions, respectively. They’ve got a more alpine-like sole than the Skookum, which is said to be the only DIN standard rubberized sole on the market that can be skied in alpine or AT bindings. It lacks most of the rocker you’d find in a normal touring boot, so is probably a pain for long walks sans skis. But some skiers will no doubt enjoy being able to clip this boot in their Fritschi or Naxo bindings one day, and their alpine bindings the next. |
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| Lastly, how about what might have to get the WildSnow prize for Dynafit innovation? As many of you know, when you run boots with bellows in the Dynafit, you need a shim under the forefoot to keep the boot from sagging. Installing such shims is an added pain in the neck when you’re trying to get a pair of Dynafits mounted and out the door. Enter the Scarpa “Dynashim, or slide adapter” which simply clips into the crampon holder of the Dynafit and off you go. What’s really cool about this is that you can quickly remove the shim if you want to use crampons — and of course a crampon such as those from B&D Ski Gear can be configured with shims so they’ll work perfectly with a bellows boot such as Scarpa’s F1 or F3. Downside? Dynashims are a bit heavy. Oh well… |
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.
