The Gist
The highest scoring men's boot of our entire test. In any category. Our testers are a diverse lot: all-mountain skiers, ex-racers, park rats, instructors and coaches. And yet they all love this boot. Why? It makes you a better skier the very first time you tip it over. Assuming you're already a pretty good skier. It’s not for learners or pretenders.
Fit
This is a 96 mm last but don't be scared off by that. Yeah, it's tight, but just right, the way a race-bred, athletes-only sorta boot should be. The Raptor 140 RS is anatomically shaped and surprisingly comfortable out of the box, but you need a heck of a narrow, normal-shaped foot to not need a visit or two to the bootfitter to get it all-day comfortable.
Performance
Astoundingly strong, accurate, agile and just plain all-around awesome. This is the bell-ringer, the justice-server, the prize-winner. Really, it skis that well. You should buy a pair just to know the feeling. And if you can't hack it, then sell it on Craigslist and you still won't have lost much, other than your pride. This is a boot that will sell at retail price. You want to haggle? Go settle for less. It’s virtually flawless. Its stance angles are perfect, its energy transmission absolute, its rear spine supportive. The one nit to pick: it’s white…very white. And it will spank you if you don’t maintain the hand to command it.
Cool Features
No frills but it does have some features that count. The dual-cuff adjuster allows the upper cuff to be removed in the event you need to soften the flex, which you might. You might also chose to pin the boot to a stiffer 150 setting (not necessary unless you are a huge dude).
The Double Power Booster strap is initially a perplexing maze of webbing until you figure it out (it’s not hard!) but it provides an exceptionally stout final lock-down. The Spine Flex buckles are a wiggly, cable-based fish skeleton design (that works much better than the fixed arc Spine Tech look-alikes Head uses on its lesser models). Some testers love the surety and wrap they provide; others find them difficult to latch.
Kudos
Caveats