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Dynafit PDG, A Good Boot for the Grand Teton

by Guest Blogger November 14, 2013
written by Guest Blogger

Steve Dilk

Dynafit PDG

Dynafit PDG alpine touring boot, on the quest.

Alarmingly, the snow was heavy and violent. Walls of white crashed down in front of us like froth of large breaking ocean waves — the type I always turtle under. This was not the weather we expected with June just around the corner.

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Guest Blogger

Beyond our regular guest bloggers who have their own profiles, some of our one-timers end up being categorized under this generic profile. Once they do a few posts, we build a category. In any case, we sure appreciate ALL the WildSnow guest bloggers!

wildsnow.com
November 14, 2013 41 comments
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Fitting & Skiing La Sportiva Spectre – Part One

by Lou Dawson November 11, 2013
written by Lou Dawson

It is a hard life, reviewing ski boots.

Perhaps you’re blessed with feet matching the gnomes of Montebelluna upon who’s archtypical foot shape most modern ski boot molds are based. But I doubt it. And that’s certainly not me. Unless I size my boots like a claw-foot bathtub filled with foam packing peanuts, they usually hurt in stock form.

You can’t “test” something that makes your feet feel like they’re caught in the door of your pickup truck. And skiing with bathtubs on our feet is not exactly conducive to an honest opinion. So the first step with boot testing here at WildSnow is to pound, heat, press, grind and otherwise abuse our shoes until we can spend more than a few hours in them without creating foot problems so severe they actually become part of the family genome and pass up through the generations (perhaps that’s what happened in Montebelluna?).

Follow the fit tricks we used on La Sportiva Spectre.

The beautifully thick, heat mold liner of the Spectre ski boot probably takes care of  most fit issues.

The beautifully thick, heat mold liner of the Spectre ski boot will take care of most fit issues for most people. But the shell is unusually low over the instep and has a smaller 'throat' opening than normal. I've got high and sensitive insteps so I found the shoe not only hard to enter but somewhat painful in stock form. Luckily, an instep 'lift' is one of the easier ski boot fitting shell mods. Oh, and yes I did remove the lower fourth buckle, as I do with most 4-buckle boots. More about that when we get into ski performance. (Click images to enlarge)

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Lou Dawson

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.

www.loudawson.com
November 11, 2013 38 comments
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Women’s Dynafit One – WildSnow Girl Boot Review

by Lisa Dawson October 31, 2013
written by Lisa Dawson
First course in the Dolomites

The dish of the day. Women's Dynafit ONE ready to picnic in the Dolomites.

Editor’s note: Since the word ‘One’ as a boot name can be confusing, we are writing it all caps in this review. We don’t intend to be shouting in your ear. We’re just trying to make our writing easier to read.

“Having been a ski mountaineer for over 30 years, it’s all about the way my ski touring boots fit, tour & ski. You can pretty much enjoy any ski nowadays, but boots have to be right on the money with comfort and performance. The Dynafit ONE fully blew me away with both,” says WildSnow Girl Julie Kennedy who travels miles up and down backcountry snow slopes each year.

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Lisa Dawson

WildSnow Girl, Lisa Dawson, is the luckiest girl in the world. Also known as Mrs. WildSnow.com, she tests whatever gear she wants. She gives the WildSnow family of websites the feminine voice.

wildsnow.com
October 31, 2013 34 comments
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Dynafit Seal of Approval — Scarpa Gets It

by Lou Dawson October 16, 2013
written by Lou Dawson

At the risk of fanboy accusations due to previous post being Dynafit as well, I needed to get this Dynafit post up sooner than later as reader service. So here you go.

Last winter Dynafit alluded to some kind of “certification” system for tech inserts. They implemented a program that uses a red plastic “seal” clipped to the toe inserts of other manufacturers boots that use Dynafit sourced inserts. So far, that’s only Scarpa (with rumors of one other who’ll use Dynafit made inserts.) At any rate, with regards to all the tech insert trash I’ve seen over past decades, kudos to Dynafit and Scarpa for doing something to help the consumer know they’re getting what they pay for. Only disappointment to this is that the Seal will only go with inserts _made_ by Dynafit. If another manufacturer makes good, functional inserts, they won’t be able to get the seal. Thus, it’ll still be up to shop employees and expert consumers to know how to evaluate tech fitting performance. But overall, I regard this as a positive. Check it out:

The boots (in this case Scarpa Freedom) come with a red plastic clip attached to the front tech inserts.

The boots (in this case Scarpa Freedom) come with a red plastic clip attached to the front tech inserts. The top of the clip says 'Dynafit Certified Insert.' The word 'SEAL' is printed on the front.

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Lou Dawson

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.

www.loudawson.com
October 16, 2013 25 comments
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Scott (Formerly Garmont) Cosmos Ski Boot — UPDATED!

by Lou Dawson October 11, 2013
written by Lou Dawson
20131024 Scott Cosmos alpine touring boot is now a contender.

20131024 Scott Cosmos alpine touring boot is now a contender. Note we only tested one pair, but we're assured by the folks at Scott that they've gone to great lengths to be sure all their tech fittings work correctly.

Allright folks, it has been a saga. We liked the Garmont Cosmos boot when we got our review samples way back in May of 2012 (when we first published this review) only to eventually discover the tech fittings in the toe were somewhat “grabby” and possibly compromised safety release. During that time Scott bought the Garmont ski boot business. They inherited a truly nice boot design in the Cosmos, but needed to fix the problem with the fittings. All conspired to make one wonder exactly how would it all turn out?

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Lou Dawson

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.

www.loudawson.com
October 11, 2013 143 comments
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La Sportiva Spectre Backcountry Skiing Boot — Shipping

by Lou Dawson October 7, 2013
written by Lou Dawson

La Sportiva Spectre just might be the coolest ski boot ever made in the more beefy persuasion. They call it the “lightest 4 buckle.” This unboxed retail pair of 2013/14 version weighs 1,439 grams (50.7 ounces) per size 27 boot — 6 grams less than the catalog weight! Amazing considering that one of the top 3-buckle boots on the market weighs in at 1,300 grams, and another brand’s top 4-buckle offering comes in at more than 1,500 grams. Check out some photos. We’ll be testing these boots and filing a true review after we’ve had them on snow for awhile.

The object at hand. Lots of Grilamid plastic, carbon reinforced, super stiff.

The object at hand. Lots of Grilamid plastic, carbon reinforced, super stiff. Beef aside, we particularly like the elegant buckles. They're light and fold in a way that'll prevent catching on terrain features or your other boot.

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Lou Dawson

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.

www.loudawson.com
October 7, 2013 59 comments
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