The Trinity 95 surprised testers with how much fun it was to ski once they tuned into its unique flexion mojo and they pushed it into gold medal status in the All-Mountain Walk category.
It's worth mentioning that the new Pinnacle 100 was one of the softest flexing boots we tested in this category and the only 100 flex to make the cut in a group dominated by 130 and 120 flex boots. This isn't to say that it is stiffer-than-billed, it's soft, but it does exactly what it sets out to do perfectly, and testers appreciated that.
The snuggish 102 mm fit nudges up against the medium fit category, so this fit will appeal to a lot of skiers who are looking for a functional blend of wiggle room and real performance—testers said this ain't no bucket. The cuff rides a bit low, and it's soft, so average to shorter and lighter testers loved that—bigger guys might need to use a light touch or consider stepping up to the Pinnacle 110 HV (high volume) version.
Testers liked that the forward flex was long-travel and smooth, but also that rearward support was solid and reliable, and both were teamed with a laterally strong construction that made for stable and well-balanced skiing everywhere they drove the Pinnacle 100.
The Pinnacle 100 comes with all the K2 freeride class goodies found on the 130, minus the lever-action Powerbuckle up top. In fact, the 100 has pretty much everything the 110 's packin' too except for 10-clicks of stiff and tech fittings that most skiers don't need, at $100 less. The CushFit Tour liner on the 100 is slightly softer than others in the line but still has the articulated hinge points for maximizing its cuff release range of motion.
First things first—if you discounted this boot last year because of how it looked, shame on you for being so superficial. Second, consider that problem (and it was one) solved—the Venture 130 is back, as strong and comfortable as ever, but in a proper and respectable cosmetic cloak that everyone can love. And they should, because this boot has everything going for it.
Though the Venture 130 was not one of the narrower 98 mm boots we tested, it fits snugger than it looks—a testament to the dense and fully moldable Perfect Fit liner that fills the gaps here. More Audi Q5 than sleek R8, the Venture 130's secret weapon is the fact that you'll ski it all day in comfort and warmth and expend less energy devastating the whole mountain than the rest of your crew. The Venture 130 is a balanced and strong all-mountain machine, built to hammer the off-piste with a well-padded shin fit and a cushioned bootboard for sucking up flat landings like a Shop Vac, but an easy one to operate, testers said.
Testers liked its damp, dependable demeanor—citing race boot level power on edge and bombproof stability at speed. They complained of a little turbo-lag, especially those testing within the Head family who'd just come off a Raptor, but for most the micro-second delay was a fair trade for the high comfort level and forgiving off-piste suspension that's characteristic of the Venture 130.
Testers love the Challenger for the fact that it isn't much of a challenge to get it on, or buckle it up, or ski it well! Essentially it poses no real challenge to liking the boot all the way around—unless a skier were to mistake it for some sort of backcountry boot because it has a hike mode. That would be a challenge. The Challenger 120 is a ski boot in the classic sense—it's for skiing, not doodling around in fruit boots on wimpy sticks. The Challenger is for challenging yourself to see how many hard charging runs you can do and how many beers you can pound. It's a parking lot partying skier's sort of boot!
Testers like how smooth this version skis while maintaining a combination of stability and softness. The flex is on the soft, cushiony side of 120, testers said. Yet it is rigid laterally and torsionally to a fault—stability and edge control are its strong suit, even when testers accidentally skied it in its walk mode. That's a testament both to the strong character of the boot and to the limited range of motion enabled with the cuff release—not much, essentially.
Hedged over to the wider side of the medium-width group, the Perfect Fit liner allows for additional shape matching to the foot by a cook job inside the shell, so that the warmth in the shell and all the way through the liner allows for a better match between shell and liner as well as liner to foot.
This year's test team was fired up over the Seth Morrison Pro Model. The upgrade to the new, stiffer #10 tongue bumped up the fore-aft stability for a more stable ride off-piste that our taller and heavier testers appreciated. The classic, even Full Tilt flex feel is still in effect here, just firmer with a better defined stopping point and powerful delivery to the ski than in the past.
The Intuition Pro liner is the densest construction of the three that Full Tilt offers, and this more rigid spiral-wrapping construction combines well with the stiffness upgrade to amplify the power transmission to the ski while maintaining a light feel underfoot. The Seth Morrison is one of the lightest boots in the category, and it also buried testers' gauges for ease of entry and exit as well as for perceived warmth levels. The newer FTS (Full Tilt Soul) shell shape is more open in the toebox but still close fitting through the heel, ankle and lower leg, which the pre-molded liner contours around nicely. Full heat molding only enhanced testers' fit scores, allowing the foot to seat more deeply and gain a bit more toe room—the fit runs short, testers agreed.
No, the Seth does not have a hike mode—nobody said you have to have one of them things to be in the All-Mountain Adventure category anyway. The shock absorbing bootboard and grippy, replaceable toe and heel plates give this a more off-piste oriented suspension and sure traction for the boot-pack. It's light, it's got a nice flex feel—loosen up the buckles and start putting one foot in front of the other, that's the original hike mode. This is Seth's boot for Chrisake—where else would we put it?
Note that we tested the Ranger 12 Vacuum last year, utilizing a set group of custom testers who underwent the Vacuum process. This year we tested the boot straight off the rack. Results and tester commentary was almost exactly the same as previously with the exception of more comments that the stance felt slightly under-edged and upright. We experienced both of those critiques being diminished after custom molding. With that said, the review body that follows is adapted from last year's. The tester comments below are from this year's test.
The top shelf hike-enabled, medium-width Ranger 12 Vacuum is outfitted with the full rig for all-mountain exploration, from the ground up. Vibram soles and a grippy mid arch makes the boot pack cake, even when it's glazed over and pairs with the shock-absorbing bootboard to provide a damp, bump-flattening ride. The Hike Ride Lock cuff release can be fully disengaged for smooth rearward rotation for hiking and skinning, fully locked for pinned-cuff performance or operated with a free-forward-flexing position for a slightly softer feel. Testers generally ran in either the wide open or fully locked down. Testers noticed that the cuff rotation to the rear was exceptionally smooth-gliding and comfortable, then later spied the unique liner construction that allows the upper plastic liner cuff reinforcement to pivot at axle-like attachment points—the plastic cuff isn't bonded to the liner itself but floats along its exterior surface. We think that's pretty cool.
Testers found that the stance of the Ranger is flat in bootboard ramp and fairly upright in cuff angle, and so a few of them employed the stealth but functional (if strangely named) On/Off Piste Mode spoiler, which snaps into a higher, more forward position with a firm tug on the available pull loop. Though we're not sure how our piste preference would affect our use of this gizmo, it was simple and effective for getting our testers where they wanted to be. Regarding gizmology, there is a heater battery mount, but we're too tough to put heaters in our boots—we did, however, discover that it opens a beer bottle perfectly!
We skied the boot after about 18 hours after molding and then again after an additional 24 hours—the boot was noticeably stiffer (a true 120 flex feel) and stronger on edge after the full cure time. Fischer says this full cure takes 24 hours. After that we conducted an additional fit test by fully thermomolding the new Ultralon liner. This material is in the ankle, heel and instep area as well as in a fully moldable toebox, and after giving it the real deal molding mission, all fit areas were improved substantially. One tester was hoping for improvement to a bulky feel to the tongue at the top of the shin and he got some, but was left wanting more. The lace-up liner option allowed for some custom tweaking to the fit of the upper part of the liner.
At this year's boot test the ST2 was submitted for testing with one of its two different liner options. We tested the split-tongue, lace-up "Performance Liner," though this year the DEL 141 Thermoflex Liner (an EVA, spiral-wrapping style) is also to be available through First Degree dealers. The original ST1 liner is no longer available. While testers had some issues with the original liner—primarily grievances with how thick the tongue fit over the mid-foot, they were unsatisfied with the new ST2 Performance Liner, across the board. Testers unanimously found it too thin along the shin which made for an uncomfortable, unsupportive flex feel, they disliked the poorly shaped heel pocket and they struggled with the laces upon entry and exit. While we weren't able to test the spiral-wrapping EVA liner version we are confident that this (with proper molding) could provide many improvements over this year's split-tongue option as well as over the original liner. We will update this review with additional information as new models become available for testing.
With that said, the review below has been adapted from last year's to reflect what we know are the boot's best elements, which could really come to light with the right liner. The tester comments below are from this year's test.
Testers liked this year's shell construction improvements to the Stormtrooper line-up and felt that the ST2 in particular had stepped-up its on-snow performance game. Testers said the flex feel is still long and progressive (though a tad shy of the reported 130 flex) but the stability and power to the edge is dramatically increased this year. Little brother ST1 had a similar stiffness feel as the ST2 to testers but was noticeably less aggressive laterally and torsionally, and therefore may be a good deal for lighter or less demanding skiers at $599. The boot's short boot sole length seems to allow for a nice feel underfoot, though testers who didn't have demo bindings made note that without a binding re-mount they'd be a little too forward on their skis.
According to testers the ST2's best feature is also its most challenging to figure out. The five position forward lean adjustment on the boot's rear spine can be set in one of two different skiing positions—either a more fixed-rigid flex or long forward travel flex setting—and in one of five different forward lean settings. Additionally, the mechanism offers a full-release position that lets the boot function in hike mode—and testers agreed the range of motion is long and natural-feeling both fore and aft. As a fore-aft balance note, most of our testers preferred the middle setting (#3) of the five available, but depending on a skier's binding set-up he might like more forward #2 or more upright #4. The jury was out on who in the world might utilize the most-forward or most-upright setting, but you just never know on a person's particular stance preference anymore.
Over the past few seasons we have tested the VFF Pro in different ways—in fully custom tests with assigned testers who had the boots built just for them and also as more "universal" builds that all testers could try, which was our test method this year. While the full-custom tests obviously yield better personal fit scores (duh!), the test results for on-snow performance, entry and exit, stance balance and closure remain very similar.
The VFF Pro teams an accurate and comfortable lower boot fit with a long, soft flex range that can be managed via the boot's signature flex adjustment mechanism. The smooth flex feel is a VFF Pro hallmark, based on previous tests, and testers like the adjustability of the spring-loaded cable system which restrains the boot's forward range of motion when locked but leaves the cuff free in both directions when disengaged—a hike mode design from before hike modes were so cool. The VFF Pro's on-snow attitude is best characterized as sensitive and agile—this is not a grunt for the front lines but rather a foot feel tactician best suited to skiers with a lighter, more nimble touch on their skis
Testers liked the direct connect feel of foot to ski enabled by the boot's three-quarter boot board which puts the forefoot directly on the floor of the boot. This further lightens and already featherweight set-up that owes some of that lack of heft to its Intuition liner. The spiral-wrapping liner's real starring role is the way it splits open over the top of the foot to ease entry and exit while simultaneously padding the plastic edges of the lower boot's cabrio entryway. There is no easier boot on and off on the planet. Really. No, we're serious.
Though the strap configuration is unique and wire bales a bit old school, the closure is quite good once testers wrassled the buckle octopus into submission. The newly re-designed toe dam "spat" made for a better seal and zero accidental "pop off" events.
The VFF Pro last starts at a plug-narrow 92mm (in the reference size 26) and so could be classified as an ultra-narrow up through super wide—the boot can be last-modified at the factory in long-duration pressure-steam cookers to a jaw-dropping 110 mm. The already adjustable stiffness can be further modified with a precisely placed T-nut to bump the flex to a true 120.
Yeah, we get it, two R's in Panterra, pan terra, like all terrain. But this boot skis hard and fast enough that you could easily bring exotic cars and metal bands into the branding mix too. This year's Panterra 120 returns with a revised liner construction that breathed new life into this model for testers who gave it a double-thumbs-up for its solid blend of comfort and power. Tester takeaway in three words? No speed limit.
The three-piece shell construction here borrows much from the powerful, time-tested KR 2 performance framework, utilizing the anatomical Contour 4 shape that matches the foot at common prominences like ankles, navicular bone and forefoot, and integrating the well-wrapped upper and stout external tongue for leg-gripping translation of movement.
But the Panterra shape is ample at a 102mm last, with a tall fit over the top of the foot and through the instep—a bonus for thick-footed guys tired of the numb feet associated with performance boots. The Variable Volume Fit first buckle can be set to reduce the circumference of the forefoot, turning the lower boot into more of a medium fit. Once set to the desired forefoot and toebox volume, the VVF buckle can be left alone, as entry and exit can be easily accomplished without releasing it.
Testers called the Lupo 110 the best three-piece boot in the house, and that's saying something. As the step-down version of the stiffer Lupo SP, there wasn't much stepping down—this 110 packed more power than the digits would lead one to believe, and testers were widely impressed with how it handled all speeds in all snow conditions.
Like many of Dalbello's three-piece constructions, the Lupo got stiffer and stronger the tighter it was buckled, as the three pieces of the shell wrap more tightly together. The closure and rapid fire connection to the ski made the Lupo a perfect match for testers with slender lower legs, as the grip there was very close, especially at the base of the leg and into the ankle pockets, allowing confident lateral moves in tricky spots. Testers noted that the forefoot and toebox were quite roomy by comparison to the rearfoot hold, but for the wide-spreading foot or skiers looking for additional warmth and wiggle room this is a great combination.
The flex feel of the Lupo was especially well-liked by testers, who called it fluid and progressive—and definitely loading more punch than the 110 rating suggested. The tongue rides a little higher than average against the shin which testers liked for how it distributed pressure during off-piste charging but some of our shorter testers got pushed into the backseat a bit.
Lupo's hike mode is simple and industrial-looking. Testers liked how strongly it linked upper to lower, and while rearward range of motion was limited, they liked how the three-piece shell allowed for additional forward travel with the buckles loosened. The set-up here is great for hiking back uphill to hit something again, but probably not the long-tour option for most.
Having a chance to test the Factor MX in the All-Mountain Adventure category with its Alpine DIN sole set up against more on-area style hike mode boots made for interesting comparisons. It became apparent to testers that the Factor's through-bolted foundation made it one of the strongest boots in the group. For as light as this boot is (it and the Scarpa Freedom are the lightest of the category) the Factor MX impressed the test team with how well it drives a ski. Hard snow, variable junk—it didn't matter, the Factor resisted twisting off or deflecting no matter what testers threw at it.
The key to its lateral stability is the fact that the modular soles are bolted through the shell and directly into the rigid internal bootboard, solidifying the interface with the ski bindings and providing a more positive and immediate link to skiing movements. Testers called it surprisingly quick and powerful on edge.
The boot's simple, traditional appearances are misleading as the core features are sophisticated and highly functional. The hike mode is solidly engaged for skiing, but when released, the cuff is wide-ranging both backward and forward due to a uniquely engineered internal shell cutaway that allows for softer forward movement in hike mode. This, in concert with a low-friction and unobstructed glide path, makes the Factor MX one of very few boots that can claim a tour mode which operates on the same high level as its skiing performance.
Testers backed up last year's consensus on the Waymaker Carbon 130 as a solid, driving all-mountain crusher with extra room in the lower and a snug, firm feel in the cuff. With heel and ankle hold reminiscent of the Redster Pro, the Waymaker Carbon 130 also showed some family resemblance in how incredibly strong the boot's lateral set up was, testers said, meaning it has a bit of inside edge bias that made for strong carving angles.
This hike-mode boot did not ski like cuff release boots of old, putting narrow and wide skis on a rail and holding them there at mach speeds and through the hard and soft stuff alike. The combination of the injected carbon throughout the rear control center of the boot and Atomic's revised Free/Lock cuff release mechanism made the boot cuff stable in all directions and did so without any gappy turbo-lag in the connection between upper and lower boot.
But the Waymaker isn't all burliness and badass—it has a softer side, literally. The lateral forefoot has a stealth (you hardly notice it by looking) Live Fit panel that allows the widest part of the forefoot to bulge outward if necessary, an accommodation that lets the foot sit flat to the floor of the boot, finding a balanced feel edge to edge (and saves a trip to the bootfitter). The boot also pairs a fairly relaxed width feel with a tall fit across the top of the foot and through the instep, transitioning into a snug upper. This bodes well for the thick-footed skier with higher volume feet who have no chance of packing themselves into a narrow hiker.
The VFF is DaleBoot's softest option and a good one for lighter weight skiers and those looking for an easy-going cruiser, coupled with a fully-custom-built shape. Testers put the flex of our test model at about an 80, but gave it skiability scores that would exceed most other boots with that soft a flex.
Over the past few seasons we have tested the VFF in different ways—in fully customized tests with assigned testers who had the boots built just for them and also as more "universal" builds that all testers could try, which was our test method this year. While the full-custom tests obviously yield better personal fit scores, the test results for on-snow performance, entry and exit, stance balance and closure remain very similar.
The VFF is essentially a softer version of the VFF Pro and teams an accurate and comfortable lower boot fit with a long, soft flex range. The smooth flex feel is a VFF trait, based on these and previous tests, and testers liked the the spring-loaded cable system which restrains the boot's forward range of motion when locked but leaves the cuff free in both directions when disengaged—a convenience feature for those who might not be on the slopes all day long. Though the forward flex is long-travel and soft, testers cited the lateral strength of the boot was surprisingly stout, keeping skis on edge for all-terrain skiing so long as they weren't too stiff or wide.
The VFF last starts at a plug-narrow 92mm (in the reference size 26) and so could be classified as an ultra-narrow up through super wide—the boot can be last-modified at the factory in long-duration pressure-steam cookers to a jaw-dropping 110 mm.
