Wow, another player in the beef boot arena! K2 announces a full run of alpine boots, as well as a tech compatible freeride shoe that is indeed a head turner.

K2 Pinnacle freeride backcountry skiing boot.

Louis Dawson

WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder 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. He published his memoir, Avalanche Dreams: A Memoir of Skiing, Climbing, and Life in 2024.

www.loudawson.com

UPDATE – OCTOBER 2013: “GARMONT POWERLITE” SKI BOOTS ARE NOW MADE BY SCOTT AS THEIR “SKI MOUNTAINEERING” LINE. AS OF OCTOBER 2013 ALL PROBLEMS WITH TECH FITTINGS AS DESCRIBED BELOW APPEAR TO BE ELIMINATED. WE THUS RECOMMEND ALL 2013-2014 AND LATER SCOTT BRANDED SKI TOURING BOOTS WITH TECH FITTINGS. 2013-2014 Scott boots with functional tech fittings can be easily identified by the toe fittings being coated with a black coloring as opposed to the common semi-shiny steel look of most tech fittings.

Official Garmont Response to our WildSnow video demonstration and take. Any typos are Lou’s due to having to extract text from an image PDF. Also, due to the hassle of keyboarding them we left the little “R” characters off the brand names such as “Dynafit.” Other than those incidentals and my note about the PDF signature, the text is as received. What you’ll see here is somewhat irrelavent at this point (fall/winter 2013) since eventually Scott DID change their fittings. As indicated by their missive below, apparently their first method of designing and testing the fittings was not quite up to the task and gave them a false idea of what was the “norm.” What is more, they make a bit of a deal out of me demonstrating the release without the boot heel locked down. I actually tested with the heel locked, and do it without in the video for an easier demonstration. I probably should have made video both ways. Moot now, as again, they’ve reworked the fittings and they test out nicely.:
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To: Lou Dawson Wild Snow The Backcountry Skiing Blog
Volpago del Montello (TV), November 20th 2012

Dear Lou,
During the development of our GARMONT TECH INSERTS we carried out extensive tests of all models of GARMONT boots as well as important boot models from other manufacturers to identify and maintain consistent release values. Because there is no “norm” for reference, we relied on comparative testing with important boot models from other manufacturers. It is our experience with these tests that there is a significant variance in release values in all brands, one that depends not just on the type of insert, but primarily on the size of the “cutout” of the heel fitting, and the material of the boot— Pebax, PU, or Grilamid. During our development of the GARMONT TECH INSERTS, the heel cutout and boot material played as important a role in the release values as the TECH INSERTS themselves.

It is also very important that boot tests for downhill release and safety are made in downhill mode, with both the toe and heel attached to the boot. We have found in our testing that it is irrelevant to test boots for lateral release with only the toe attached, for several reasons: 1) as stated, the system is not in downhill mode which makes the test irrelevant to safety release 2) when the heel is raised it changes release values, and 3) it is well-known and recommended by Dynafit to lock the toe when walking because it is easy to lose the ski.

When testing our boots in walk mode, our inserts have a higher value when the boot is above 45° from the ski. This is due to added material on the top part of the cone, and is desirable to prevent pre-release, a common problem with this binding system. In downhill ski mode, however, the release values are comparable measured in kg., depending on the heel cutout, not the insert. We have proven this fact consistently with Dynamometer tests, as well as testing at the TUV. ln testing our newest models of boots at the TUV in Munich, we saw the same results, with the variance dependent on the genre of the heel cutouts and not the TECH INSERTS.

Again, our release tests are all in downhill ski mode, heels attached, with the binding toe in the free position, not partially locked using the first “click” position, or fully locked using the second click, as many athletes choose for better retention.

Also, although we like the Dynafit binding system for its easy walking, light weight, and skiability, it is our philosophy that all—round boots should be compatible with different binding systems, and accommodate the ISO Touring Norm 9523. For this reason, we chose not to use the Dynafit Quick-Step inserts as they are out of the ISO Norm 9523 because of the little tabs that extend beyond the sides of the boot. This norm requires a flush surface.

In addition to extensive testing both internally and at the TUV yielding comparable release values, we have been utilizing GARMONT TECH INSERTS in production since the beginning of 2011 and have not had any issues with failures or accidents ascribable to the same.

Best regards,
Achille Morlin (PDF has signature)
President, GARMONT Sri

Original November 15 2012 WildSnow blog post follows ********************************************

Louis Dawson

WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder 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. He published his memoir, Avalanche Dreams: A Memoir of Skiing, Climbing, and Life in 2024.

www.loudawson.com

The object at hand. Sportiva is of course known for alpine footwear but they're relatively new to the ski boot arena.

We trade show reported on the La Sportiva Spitfire a while ago, but waited for a production version to give a hard look. The size 28, BSL 307, pair we have here at HQ might be slightly large for me, but I’ll mold the liners today and report back. I’m frequently between sizes in backcountry skiing boots. Correct length (about 28) is often too wide in the heel and lower leg areas, while the next BSL down is almost always too short for me without some punching. The Spitfire lower shell and cuff are both made from the excellent Grilamid plastic so they’re not easy to customize, but it can be done. We’ll see what size I and other testers end up with in the field. Meanwhile, here are the nuts and bolts.

Louis Dawson

WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder 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. He published his memoir, Avalanche Dreams: A Memoir of Skiing, Climbing, and Life in 2024.

www.loudawson.com