We’ve got a few more reports from last week’s Outdoor Retailer trade show. Here’s another one.

Dynafit started the lightweight 4-buckle category with their ZZero boots, and though I still think most skiers really don’t need a 4th buckle on their boots, the magic buckle looks stylish and sells well, so let the vagaries of business take boot design where it will. After all, removing buckles is easy enough, and especially so with Scarpa as they still construct their boots with mostly threaded fasteners instead of rivets (a top feature, in my world.)

So, enter the Scarpa Maestrale and women’s version Gea, weighing in at 52 ounces per boot (size 27). Same size ZZero CF TF comes in at around 56 ounces (depending on power strap choice, etc.) so Scarpa might now be the weight winner in this category.

Shop for the Scarpa Maestrale and Gea here.

Maestrale, left, and Gea, right.

Shop for Garmont ski boots here.
I’m a bit wasted with jet lag and have a bunch of fun EU trip reports to file, but I’m here at the OR show so a bit of the ol’ gear talk has to happen. So here’s a smidge before the land of nod becomes home, with more tomorrow from the temple of toys.

A few years ago, you didn’t have to be the Great Karnak to predict that big heavy AT boots would enjoy a brief burst of PR fueled buzz, then, for a lot of people, become nothing more than a good way of burning more calories.

After all, massive AT boots have actually been around for years, and with a bit of work could be made to ski quite well. More, during those same years, boots that saved weight never lost their appeal. In fact, worldwide, most backcountry skiers use shoes on the minimalist side of the equation.

So it didn’t surprise me to see Dynafit’s sleek new TLT-5 a week ago, nor Black Diamond’s debutant Efficient series boots just before that. And when briefly stopping by Scarpa’s booth today, something interesting caught my eye that’ll be worthy of another boot blog tomorrow.