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New 2012-13 Garmont PowerLite AT Boot Series

by Scott Nelson January 8, 2012
written by Scott Nelson

Shop for Garmont ski boots here.
Garmont’s new backcountry skiing boots continue the industry wide trend of downhill performing shoes with less mass and more uphill comfort. It’ll be interesting to play around with these! Following is their press release, lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Garmont Cosmos AT boot is positioned as a lighter weight but still performing 4 buckle option. We have to say, they really do look nice.

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Scott Nelson

Scott lives near Carbondale, CO with his wife Jenny. He often meditates on finding that perfect career while pushing his heart rate to places it probably shouldn’t be.

wildsnow.com
January 8, 2012 39 comments
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The Aliens Have Landed — Scarpa First Look

by Lou Dawson January 3, 2012
written by Lou Dawson

Shop for Alien backcountry skiing boots.

Backcountry ski boots are about compromise. Weight vs performance, warmth vs performance fit. And so on. Sometimes the compromises sort of cancel each other out, resulting in a boot that does a lot of stuff fairly well. Other times it all seems to work together in one direction that causes smiles when used appropriately. Scarpa Alien is an example of the latter category. This is a full-on “ski running” shoe that makes no bones about total ankle freedom, a super fast mode change system, and stunning lack of mass. To accomplish that, the non-carbon version we have here for this first-look does sacrifice beef in downhill mode. But that’s not the point. This is a boot you literally fly up the hill in, then fly down in whatever style works — all in good fun. Check ’em out.

Scarpa Alien backcountry skiing boot.

Scarpa Alien backcountry skiing boot, non-carbon version. Stunning lack of weight at 30.8 ounces (872 grams) per boot, size 28. In carpet testing it's obvious the carbon version (Alien 1.0) will offer quite a bit more side-to-side (lateral) stability in downhill mode, but we we're surprised how supportive this non-carbon version is considering the lack of plastic. You're not going to be driving gigantic skis with these, but that's not the point. The idea is freedom to fly.

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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
January 3, 2012 32 comments
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Dynafit TLT 5 Flex Lockout Mod

by Guest Blogger December 1, 2011
written by Guest Blogger

Ben Pritchett

Shop for TLT series Dynafit boots.

Like some readers here, I’m not a huge fan of the forefoot hinge in the TLT 5 backcountry skiing boots. A couple of steel pop rivets solved the annoyance.

Take out the liner, make sure you’ve identified a location where the white lower shell, the black hinge cover, and the yellow extra tongue holder overlap. Drill through and insert a pop rivet. I put in two for redundancy and to share the load.

TLT 5 hinge rivet mod, Dynafit ski touring gear changes.

TLT 5 hinge rivet mod, Dynafit ski touring gear changes.

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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
December 1, 2011 74 comments
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TLT 5 Lean Lock Adjustment – Latest

by Lou Dawson November 21, 2011
written by Lou Dawson

Ask and ye shall receive the beta. Or rather, ask me to ask and we might get it. Or something like that anyway.

November 21 Update: This just in from Dynafit. A lean-lock angle adjustment option will be available for winter 2012/2013. According to Dynafit, they’ve been working on this sort of thing and filed patents, but due to the development and manufacturing process a retail release is delayed. Because of their patents, we doubt we’ll see much in the way of aftermarket options, other than user mods we suggest here. So modders, fire up your power tools and get to work!

Original August 6 Blog Post: Word from on high is that the TLT 5 and TLT5 P boots from Dynafit will at some point next winter receive a “running change” that enables a two-setting forward lean adjustment. The new mechanism is said to work by providing two different slots to accept the lean lock tang that’s part of the upper cuff buckle.

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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 21, 2011 15 comments
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La Sportiva Cascade GTX Trek Boots

by Lou Dawson October 13, 2011
written by Lou Dawson

Seems like I’m always messing around with hiking boots. Many of today’s are too much the runner and not much the slogger. More, most fit me strangely. Years ago I found one boot last I liked, but it got discontinued. I was spending quite a bit of time on the boot stretching machine till I discovered La Sportiva. They’re using a more “relaxed” last that’s just plain comfy. Of course everyone’s feet are different and you have to find “your brand,” but if you’re searching for hikers, don’t miss these guys for a try-on.

La Sportiva Cascade GTX

La Sportiva Cascade GTX

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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 13, 2011 6 comments
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Montebelluna Boot Museum, Italy

by Lou Dawson September 22, 2011
written by Lou Dawson

Winter’s are grey and the landscape dreary, but the industrial areas of northern Italy still have spirit and a craft business history reaching back to the 14th century. The food is pretty good too. I covered my Montebelluna and Asolo boot manufacturing tourism in a few WildSnow posts last winter, but I never got around to giving you the goods from the famous Museo Dello Scarpone (Museum of the Boot). So here goes the story in pictures.

First production Tecnica Moon Boot. Got a pair?

First production Tecnica Moon Boot, 1970. Got a pair? Approved by Michael Jackson. Click image 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
September 22, 2011 14 comments
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