Dynafit’s New ZZeus Boot — A Beefy Kick to Start the AT Boot Wars

by Lou Dawson
written by Lou Dawson

If you’ve been waiting for beefy Dynafit compatible ski boots, your wait is over. Garmont is giving us the Axon, Black Diamond has a new line that’s got people I know panting like dogs (we’ve got a review in the works), Scarpa offers the 4-buckle Spirit — and Dynafit is debuting one of the most beautifully designed heavy-duty rando boots I think I’ve ever seen.

Shop for Dynafit here.

It’s called the ZZeus. Instead of stuttering, just pronounce it “Zeus,” as in the the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus and of the Greek Pantheon of gods. Is it worthy of the name? Not sure, but perhaps close. Check it out:

Dynafit backcountry skiing.
Basically, this is an overlap cuff boot with an innovative closure under the lower buckles that slides to the side so it tends to snug the shell better, rather than crushing down on the top of your foot. The boot includes a cuff cant rivet, walking mode with excellent for/aft cuff articulation, and a truly nice liner that’s as strong and high-tech as any alpine boot. The interchangeable soles click on with the precision of a Lego brick, and are secured with screws. One set for standard alpine bindings, and one set for touring, (touring sole has Dynafit binding fittings, of course).

Dynafit backcountry skiing.
Check out this cutaway of the lower shell. Thick plastic that can take a beating and is easily punched by a boot fitter. A nice flat boot-board (not pictured) covers up the inside bottom.

Dynafit backcountry skiing.
Detail of a sole piece. It attaches with standard screws.

Dynafit backcountry skiing.
ZZeus in all its glory. I skied them on ice and hardpack. Not since my days of resort skiing with heavy, overlap cuff boots had I felt the kind of progressive flex and support these things have. If you’re in the market for a one-rig boot or just a heavy duty touring shoe you can take my word, these are worth a look.

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For the record, here is the Dynafit press release, lightly condensed and edited:

Winter 2008/09: Dynafit is launching their ZZeus ski boot with “Triple Binding Sole” (TBS) system, providing the Alpine Touring FreeRide skier with one boot, compatible with all binding systems: Dynafit, ISO Touring and ISO Alpine. The revolutionary NEW Dynafit Zzeus offers ski mountaineers, FreeRide-Tourers and more conventional alpine skiers the most aggressive off-piste skiing performance possible combining it with lightness and agility for touring. For those who climb what they aim to ski, choose to take a lift to the top, or simply head out-of-bounds, the ZZeus will deliver.

The success of Dynafit’s New Ski-Touring / Free-Touring Boots in 2007/08, with it’s debut of the Zzero line, and highly successful Zzero 4C (carbon 4 buckle boot), has set the stage for the ZZeus’s entry in the growing “Alpine Cross-Over” market. The Dynafit footwear team has an unrivaled alpine and touring ski boot design background. They combined forces to produce state-of-the-art technologies, resulting in the lightest ski mountaineering boots with the best ski performance and fit.

The Zzeus sets new standards in touring boot technology. The patented Triple Binding Sole is an innovative 3 part sole system. It enables the wearer to use all bindings by easily replacing the toe and heel section. The rubber alpine touring sole is compatible with Dynafit’s Patented Quick-Step-In system and all touring bindings within the ISO norm. The plastic alpine sole is also fully compatible with all ISO norm alpine bindings. You can change the sole very easily by using a screwdriver and simply sliding the integrated toe and heel sections off.

Another key design feature is the “alpine overlap” on the ZZeus. This construction offers more downhill support than ever before. The Alpine Overlap area allows for touring comfort and ease of entry but buckles down with an alpine-like feel. The “heel booster” reinforces the heel area and adds more torsion stiffness and skiing stability without needing a heavy boot shell. The mircometrically adjustable Magnesium buckles are designed specifically for optimum performance uphill and downhill lock-down power.

The Zzeus arrives on the market with the new TF-X liner. This new Thermoformable liner is a beefed-up alpine performance ski boot liner, ideally suited to the Zzues’s adventures. This loden-lined luxury liner comes preformed on a very anatomical last and can be used by most skiers without being thermoformed.

With the launch of ZZeus FreeRide-Touring Boots, Dynafit is setting the bar even higher for the 2008/09 season. This design and performance breakthrough arises from a year-round commitment to ski mountaineering and a close cooperation and feedback loop with our passionate ski mountaineering athletes and community

Zzeus TF-X / Zzeus MF

Shell/cuffs: — Polyurethane
Heel reinforcements: — Rilsan
Buckles: — 4 Magnesium buckles + Power Strap
Sizes: — 25 to 30.5 (including half sizes)

Shop for Dynafit here.

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New Dynafit ZZero 4-Buckle Women’s Boots — Nice!

by Lou Dawson
written by Lou Dawson

Back from EU last night. Did one of those epic 24 hour travel stints that ended with driving slick snowy Colorado roads over “The Hill” at 1:00 in the morning. Night drives as adventure travel? Let’s just say that ice driving over Vail Pass is as real as bird watching in the Galapagos, only with significantly more demand on the adrenals.

We’ve got more trip reports to file, and tons of interesting gear tidbits; not only from Dynafit, but coming from others as well so stay tuned. Today, more Dynafit for your perusal.

I’m going to do that dastardly male deed and write a first-look for a women’s product. As redemption, I promise we’ll get Lisa in these new Dynafit boots and have a real WildSnow test take. Meanwhile:

Dynafit backcountry skiing.
Yep, the new Dynafit ZZero Women’s (“W”) 4-buckle is a stunning looking shoe. And from my experience with the Zzero men’s 4-buckle, I can say they’ll give a performance/weight ratio that has to be experienced to be believed.

Make no mistake, this is a beefy boot. The shell is the stiffer Polyurethane of the Zzero4U (the red Dynafit boots available starting last season), hence, the boot is stiff even without a carbon stringer — and the price will be slightly less stratospheric.

What makes these women’s boots ? For starters, the ZZeroW lower shell is based on the Zzero last. According to Dynafit, boots such as their Zzero 4C saw excellent sales as a unisex boot in 2007 due to this last’s anatomically shaped fit, which combines a deep heel pocket, performance retention in the instep, lock down power from the tongue stiffener (atop the tongue, holds the foot down tightly onto the footbed without pressure on the foot-top bones) and a toe box that’s said to be much more comfortable for many foot shapes. (Though WildSnow still recommends boot fitting by a professional if you want the most from a Ferrari shoe such as this.)

But beyond “unisex,” in terms of women’s fit the ZZeroW cuff and spoiler area is shaped to better accommodate women’s lower calf muscles. I know gals that really have a problem with this. It’s frequently a tougher fit issue than simply molding a liner to compensate, so good!

Feature and spec list from Dynafit:

– ZzeroW 4-buckles available with thermo liner only.

– Sizes 23 through 27 (whole size thermo custom fit liners easily mold to half sizes).

– Dynafit USA says: “The idea with this shoe is to respond to women from Jackson to Denver, Carhart to Prana, who all want a boot that’s as “burly as the men’s.”

– Upper Shell Cuff and rear spoiler are designed with feedback from women; with a woman specific calf shape in mind. Along with that, the thermo liner has a lower scalloped out area to match shell/cuff design.

– Dynafit Quick-Step-In inserts in the toe. These can not be over emphasized. Especially for guys who might be teaching a female companion how to get into their Dynafit bindings on that first tour! Nothing like success with Dynafit for success on that first ski date? (Indeed, why do you think Lisa and I are still married?)

– New patented “Touring” buckle teeth are incut and designed to keep even loose “flopper” buckles in place — said by Dynafit to be an industry first. (This feature also said by Dynafit to obviate geeks like Lou who remove the lower buckles from a perfectly engineered boot, ostensibly because they’re “always flopping around and getting caught on stuff.”) More, an extended touring catch on the upper two buckles allows dramatic articulation in tour mode while still keeping the cuff closed.

– Yep, color is an easier on the eyes sage green.

And guys, about those lower buckles, will next year’s be snowmobile running board compatible (grin)?

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Stunning New BD Boot Line Could Upset the Industry

by Lou Dawson
written by Lou Dawson

Had a nice ski tour in Austria today, but before talking about that and more Dynafit stuff I have to slip in some info about the new Black Diamond boot line that just went public.

Pictured below are a few of BD’s new AT boots. Interestingly, each AT boot (more than those pictured) has the option for AT rockered sole blocks with “tech” inserts that accept Dynafit bindings (these are attached with a sliding, four-screw system) or alpine blocks with no-slip soles, which are alpine DIN.

What is wild about all this is that I just got a look at the new Dynafit freeride boot, and it too has a nicely engineered removable sole system, of which one configuration provides the Dynafit fittings. Great minds think alike?

Also interesting is that the older style (without lead-in notch) Dynafit boot fittings went out of patent, so now BD can have their own fittings made and installed, so long as they call them “tech.”

We’ll of course be interested if these non OEM Dynafit fittings work as well as the OEM from Dynafit. An engineer friend tells me there is no good reason they won’t, but the analysis of metal hardness and dimensions has to be taken to a good level to have that happen.

In the end, we see the new BD boot line as an incredibly positive development for consumers. We hope that by having boots made in the far east instead of Europe, BD will have prices that are less stratospheric than the type of Euro exchange rate boot MSRPs we’ve been seeing. More, it can’t hurt for boot makers to get into a feature war. All that said, I’ll be surprised if any of the BD boots have the performance/weight ratio of the Dynafit Green Machine. But I’d say that’s something to watch for.

Black Diamond Verdict backcountry ski

Black Diamond Verdict backcountry ski

BD sent me a PDF of the new boots, but it’s too huge for web publication.

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Can’t Get Out of your Dynafits? Here is the fix…

by Lou Dawson
written by Lou Dawson

You get your Dynafit bindings mounted. With excited anticipation you latch the boot heel down for your final adjustments. Then you press the exit tab at the front of the binding — and nothing happens. Your boot seems to be stuck in there like a rusty bolt. You realize you can get the boot out by twisting the rear unit of the binding to the side, but you don’t want to do that at every transition while you’re on a ski tour. Here be the fix.

Black Diamond Verdict backcountry ski
What happens in this situation is that the “trigger” on the Dynafit binding toe unit doesn’t have enough room under the boot sole to move up and allow the binding wings to open. Problem is, if the trigger has too much room you won’t be able to step into the binding and have it close. Thus, it’s a fine line between too much rubber in this area, and too little. So, what you do is mark the trigger area on the boot sole with a transfer marker such as a sticky paint pen (as shown above). You then latch the boot in the binding and press down the exit lever, which in turn will cause the trigger to leave a mark on the boot sole. In this case we’re working with a pair of very cool and efficient looking Scarpa F3, mounted on a pair of light and lively Trab Duo Freerando Piumas that Santa dropped by. Yum.

Backcountry skiing Dynafit bindings.
Boot sole shown above has white mark transferred from the binding trigger. You can see how Scarpa tried to machine a divot in the sole that’s perhaps intended to remedy this situation, but it’s slightly out of position. In my opinion understandable, when you consider the fact that Scarpa is making boots that have to have a precise fit in another company’s bindings. Perhaps there is even a bit of culture clash? I don’t know, but my imagination pictures a guy in the Scarpa factory, running some kind of machine to make divots for Dynafit bindings, and thinking to himself “what the heck?” as he sips espresso.

Whoops, sorry, my imagination is getting away from me, as are my typing fingers…

Backcountry skiing Dynafit bindings.
The tricky part is grinding out more divot as shown above. The way I do it is use a disk grinder with a sander/flap disk that’s been used enough to have a nicely curved outside edge. I then take perhaps a millimeter off at a time in the general area of the mark. After each pass with the grinder, I test and make sure the boot will still close the toe wings during step-in. I then latch down the heel to alpine mode and try to exit the binding by pressing down the exit lever/tab in front of the toe unit. After just a few hits with the grinder, you’ll find that a firm press of the exit tab will pop the wings open. Don’t remove any more rubber after that, or you run the risk of the binding not closing when you step in. That’s it, all done, now have some espresso then go for a tour and enjoy easy step-in step-out.

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Scarpa Spirit 4 Ski Boot — Close Look

by Lou Dawson
written by Lou Dawson

In the world of beefy Dynafit compatible AT boots, Scarpa Spirit 4 takes the prize for their feature set. We recently got a pair for the WildSnow boot-scope. Check ’em out.

Spirit 4 backcountry skiing boots
Constructed with a “Dual Density” molding process, Spirit 4 ends up with a skeletal effect in the shell not unlike what other boot brands are providing. This type of construction saves weight, thankfully, as these shoes still come in at 67.5 oz (single size 28), placing them slightly lighter than Garmont’s Axon but heavier than many other rando boots.

Spirit 4 backcountry skiing boots
Let’s start with the liner. Spirit 4 comes with a lasted, dual density wrap-around Intuition thermo liner that’s easily matches top alpine boots in quality and beef. Height of liner is adequate, though we’d like to see a centimeter or so more rise in the back for better transition to the adjustable spoiler that Velcros to the rear of the liner. This “Liner Support,” (object shown in photo above) is a clever gadget. Very easy to adjust and a snap to remove. We suspect it’ll also ease calf-bite as it moves with the liner rather than being part of the boot back.

Spirit 4 backcountry skiing boots
And features. Clockwise from lower left corner:

1. Any real ski boot should have a cuff alignment (cant) system. Not everyone needs this, but the adjustable cuff pivot adds only grams of weight and is incredibly important for skiers with alignment problems.

2. Forward cuff angle tune is less critical but nonetheless appreciated, and is integrated with the lean lock in ingenious fashion.

3. Some skiers like having a boot buckle over their ankle bend rather than their instep. Scarpa calls this no-brainer their “Heel Retention System.” We suppose (or at least hope) other boot brands have good excuses for not locating their buckle in this way. Kudos to Scarpa for doing so.

4. So density and strength of shell plastic is less an issue, Scarpa attaches the lower buckles with this nicely engineered yoke arrangement. What’s more, all buckles, the lower buckle anchors AND THE CUFF PIVOTS are removable with hand tools. This is huge. I can’t tell you how many times in boot fitting I’ve had to grind out cuff rivets then replace — all for want of something with threads on it. Downside is that threads can loosen, but I’m pretty sure that’s why they make a product called thread locker. A++ on this feature!

5. Last arrow points to the dual density plastic, which Scarpa uses in significant enough quantities for it to be more than cosmetic.

We should also mention that inside the cuff you’ll find flex limiters (stops), as you will with most other stiffer AT boots these days. These are another nice customization feature as they can be ground off for an easier flex.

Spirit 4 backcountry skiing boots
For its coup de grâce, Spirit 4 comes with two tongues. The regular version (on right) is articulated and provides little more forward support than that provided by the boot buckles and cuff. Nonetheless it skis fine for many and does contribute to a comfortable walk mode. If you want more beef, swap in the appropriately colored black tongue that’s as stiff as a steel shovel blade (same tongue as used with the beefy Hurricane model). As one of the originators of this concept for enhancing Scarpa AT boot performance with tongue swapping (see historical Frankenboot), we applaud Scarpa for providing this option as a commercial feature rather than assuming we’ll all continue to burrow through ski shop trash for old boot tongues (though a bit of dumpster diving can always lighten up the day.)

What else? As always, our gripe with Scarpa boots is the high arch and lack of a flat boot-board under the foot. To help with that, Scarpa AT boots ship with a heel block in the shell you can swap for a 4 mm shim that slips into the heel area and runs the length of the boot. You can use this shim simply to take up volume, or a boot fitter could remove material over the arch area to create a flatter boot-board (or add material for even more radical fit adjustment). For Spirit 4 the shim is available as an aftermarket accessory.

In all, we’re highly impressed by Spirit 4 and have to hand it the prize as the most versatile and fit customizable heavy duty AT boot we’ve seen yet. Just the removable fasteners alone won an instant place in our hearts, and the other features are sweet icing.

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Guest Blog — Dave Tests the Axon

by Dave Downing
written by Dave Downing

Shop for Garmont ski boots here.

Garmont Axon boots.
Axon on snow, yesterday.

For the subset of Dynafit compatible backcountry skiing boots we’re most interested in, we’re doing a sort of running reveiw series. Our main focus is on the Dynafit Green Machine, Garmont Axon, Scarpa F3 & Spirit (soon to come). For today’s installment, we got web designer and lifelong skier Dave Downing out on the Axons to do some fitness uphilling (essential for web designers) and a bit of downhill. His take:

I need new boots. That was my first thought after finishing skiing my first run with the new Garmot Axon. Now I need to replace my one season old Lowa Struktura Pros. And my two year old Salomon XWave 9s. Yes, I think I like the Axon better than BOTH my alpine and AT boots.

These are AT boots, and therefore went uphill just fine (though Lou did point out the Axon is a bit heavy, as he strolled on ahead in his eye burning featherweight green Dynafits). They have a rockered sole and the requisite walk/ski switch, and thus hiked better than any alpine boot with a flat sole. Givens. The real performance is in the downhill.

The Ride
At speed, the Axon easily held an edge and gave me plenty of control to quick maneuver through rough or inconsistent terrain. The boot’s flex is solid and progressive, not bouncy and harsh as some AT boots can end up being after you buckle them up and lock the walk/ski switch.

As many other AT boots do, the Axon has the option of a second, more extreme forward flex position. This reduces your ability to stand upright and can be fatiguing if you’re doing a descent that requires things like stopping and waiting (a guy can hope). But as soon as I was skiing, I was sold. For me, this was a more natural position for aggressive skiing. It made skiing the funky lower angled snow at the bottom of the mountain nicer by eliminating the feeling of “falling back” on less stiff boots.

Best of all, the beef of this boot along with my choosing the more extreme forward angle gave me the ability to get more leverage on the ski for the best tail ollies I’ve done all year. And with better tail ollies comes smoother transitions to switch skiing. WHAT!?! I know, I know, mountaineers don’t ski switch. But we aren’t all mountaineers. Some of us want to ski the mountain the same whether we are in the resort, in the BC and anywhere in-between. And with this boot, for the first time, I didn’t feel compromise on any level. What’s more, with this boot I could even try out some of those funny looking bindings many people seem to be using.

Pray for Snow.

Dave Downing

(Afternoon update and full disclosure from der blogmeister: While I was able to show Dave the efficacy of the Green Machine on the uphill, he did put some ground on me skiing back down, backwards.)

For more info about Axon please step back through the posts in our Boot Review Category.

Shop for Garmont ski boots here.

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