Women’s Ski Touring Boots — Outdoor Retailer 2017

by Julia Dubinina
written by Julia Dubinina

2017 was my first year at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market. I was super stoked to attend the show and learn about upcoming technologies. I felt like a kid in a candy store…only the candy wasn’t edible, instead it was shiny, new and exciting! Trade shows can be overwhelming in many ways so I kept my focus narrow: backcountry ski touring boots for women. My quest: stick my foot into as many as I could find.

I wanted to figure out two things: new innovations and fit. Keep in mind that since I didn’t get to ski in any of these boots, this post is an overview of my initial take.

Two notes before I start:

My foot, with usual pressure points circled in red.

My foot, with usual pressure points circled in red.

  • I have complicated feet. They are the worst. No out-of-the-box ski boot has ever felt good. My ski touring boot size is 25 — 25.5; my street shoe size is US women’s 8.5 — 9. My feet have a wide forefoot (4 inches or 10.2 cm across), a small bunion on the side, a sixth toe bump on the other and a semi-high arch. THE worst.
  • Things usually addressed when designing a “women’s specific” ski boot: (1) On average, women are lighter than men, (2) have smaller, thinner feet with more taper from forefoot to heel (3) calves are more pronounced and lower (due to a shorter tibia). If you find that a women’s specific boot is not a fit for you – try “unisex” (same boot designed in a broader range of sizes).

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    Test Skiing with SCARPA and G3 — Part 1: New Maestrale Boots

    by Louie Dawson
    written by Louie Dawson

    G3 and SCARPA invited me to try their new skis and boots during a day of snowcat skiing on natural snow near Park City, Utah. The area has been getting pounded by precip this year — we enjoyed marvelous conditions.

    I tested SCARPA Maestrale RS boots and G3 SENDr skis. We used the same kit all day; I thus got a good feel for the skis and boots. That being said, it’s tough to thoroughly evaluate anything in only one day. So we’ll be doing a long term test of both skis and boots throughout this winter. For this post I’ll focus on the new boots from SCARPA. Tomorrow I’ll cover the G3 skis.

    Kim Miller, CEO of SCARPA North America, drops into beautiful powder in the Uinta mountains.

    Kim Miller, CEO of SCARPA North America, drops into beautiful powder in the Uinta mountains.

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    La Sportiva Ski Boots – Model Iterations and Clever Solutions

    by Louis Dawson
    written by Louis Dawson
    New Synchro and Shadow 1.5 kilo class freeride touring boots from Sportiva.

    New Synchro and Shadow 1.5 kilo class freeride touring boots from Sportiva.

    Report from Outdoor Retailer: La Sportiva will boast new or substantially versioned boot models beginning fall 2017. Synchro is a stiffer “125 flex” iteration of venerable Spectre (will continue), with the intriguing 2 piece tongue release system pictured below. Women’s version is the Shadow. On the lightweight ski touring side, their new Sideral 2.1 (women’s Starlet 2.1), Raceborg and Sytron continue the evolution of Sportiva’s flagship 2-buckle offerings. Improved buckles and various changes in shell thickness are said to make all their boots ski better while giving you uphill performance.

    Snynchro claimed weight in 27.5 is 1550 grams. Excellent for the freeride touring category. (We see no reason why with modern materials and engineering there really need be any ski touring boot heavier than about one kilo per foot, and we expect to see the freeride offerings continue to lose mass as carbon and other composite wizardry is used ever more wisely).

    Another newish is an upgraded Spitfire model, their “crossover” boot that works for ski mountaineering racing or general uber-light touring. An external one-motion lean lock mode changer continues as the Spitfire claim to fame, along with Trab TR2 binding compatibility. Nice boot. We’d like to see _all_ Sportiva boots use external lean locks. 2019?

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    New Scott S1 Ski Touring Boot Delivers Innovation

    by Louis Dawson
    written by Louis Dawson
    Scott S1 Carbon Pro knocks it out of the park in terms of innovation.

    Scott S1 Carbon Pro knocks it out of the park in terms of innovation. Can you spot the radical features flip-flop?

    Loving it here at WildSnow Utah HQ when ski boot companies actually innovate rather than building stuff based on thirty year old designs. Witness, the new Scott S1 candidates.

    Backstory: In my opinion _the_ grail of tongue type ski boot shell design is solving the problem of providing a stiff tongue for the downhill, while getting it out of the way when you’re striding uphill. Basic method is to simply unbuckle and hope for the best. Another method is the removable tongue. Still others have tried funky plastic zippers, mechanical latches and probably other non-solutions best forgotten.

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    Dynafit Spiffs Skis, Adds New Ski Touring Bindings

    by Louis Dawson
    written by Louis Dawson
    Speedfit boot is based on the TLT-6.

    Speedfit boot is based on the TLT-6.

    The Snow Leopard always keeps you guessing. What will they do next? Revamp the ski line? New bindings? Respond to the greater “ski touring” market trends?

    All of the above.

    As I think I mentioned in a few prior blog posts, we’re delighted that Dynafit is addressing a new category they’re calling “Speedfit” or “Speed Fitness.” Idea being to provide gear such as boots and bindings oriented to uphilling at resorts mixed with the occasional moderate ski tour. Lower price points and simplicity for new users being the philosophy.

    (Don’t worry, Wildsnow will not become “THE Resort Skinning Website.” We simply like this category because it’s part of the whole human powered ski touring picture. A viable sport needs entry points for newcomers, and this is a good one.)

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    Salomon X-Alp Ski Touring Boot, Skis, MTN Binding — 2017-2018

    by Louis Dawson
    written by Louis Dawson

    For binding specifications and more details, please check our Salomon-Atomic binding FAQ.

    Your friendly blogger testing Salomon X-Alp boot, binding and ski near Opus Hut, Colorado.

    Your friendly blogger testing Salomon X-Alp boot, binding and ski near Opus Hut, Colorado.

    Mouth breathing gear bloggers unite! Always funny to put all this energy into checking out new gear — kit that won’t be available for about a year. But hey, it’s a job, and I know some of you enjoy seeing what’s speeding (or crawling) down the road to retail.

    Objects at hand: Salomon announces their new “X-Alp” ski touring lineup, comprising a skinny yet sweet skiing 80 mm plank, efficient boot, and impressive tech binding. Everything is high tech and low weight, with the X-Alp ski coming in as a true 1-kilo wonder, boot just over a kilo, and the MTN binding holding its own with any other lightweight tech offering (300 grams without available brake, one binding, note this is the same binding as Atomic Backland, different color and branding). The brake is probably the news, it operates independent of the heel unit, by manually flipping a lever that stows the brake arms for touring. Brake will be available in 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 mm widths.

    I love it when companies touting their backcountry skiing gear actually host their press events in the backcountry.

    I love it when companies touting their backcountry skiing gear actually host their press events in the backcountry. In this case, our crew of Salomon associated folks and scribble hacks like me was hosted by the premium full-service Opus hut. Super. I won’t get into Opus details here — we need another blog post for that — but suffice it to say that European style hut touring is here in the Rocky Mountains, and we highly recommend.

    The boot is of course quite similar to the Arcteryx Procline so you can refer to those reviews as deep background. Binding is similar to the Atomic Backland we extensively tested and reviewed last season, with a a nicely engineered optional brake and innovative heel unit.

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