Most of the money and plastic in the AT boot industry goes for war material in the battle of the beef boot. Sometimes cast concrete is appropriate for your feet, but I’ll come out and say it: Helmet cams and TGR fantasies aside, most of the backcountry skiing done around the world requires nothing more than a good quality lightweight-class AT ski boot. If you need otherwise, you know who you are. In that case just laugh at my bias (or groan). Otherwise, read on — Sportiva Spitfire might be a boot option for you.

My Spitfire testers. Small appendage on lower tongue is my add-on attachment for safety strap done by drilling a hole through tongue. Ignore.

(First, rather than publishing a bunch of redundant photos, please see our first-look for photos of Spitfire features. Then read on.)

Thing is, while backcountry capable ski boots have become the George Foreman Grill of the snow sports industry, look for a one-motion mode change boot at around 1,200 grams each and you’ll only find a few offerings out there. Indeed, that’s part of the reason you see one brand/model of ski boot dominating the market in places where folks put a premium on comfort, distance, and vertical.