Dalbello Panterra 120

The Gist

The new 2018 Dalbello Panterra 120 hit the gym in the off-season to return to our boot test stripped and ripped with a new look, new soles, new buckles, a little less baggage but the same wide ride fit that testers have come to love—and it still skis strong.

The Fit

Dalbello calls this a 100-102 for its set-and-forget, backward latching VVF (Variable Volume Fit) bottom buckle that will close the lower boot from a 102 to a 100 mm via a crafty expansion slot which the buckle can tighten up like a, well, like a buckle. It's cool because once that buckle is set the way the skier likes, he doesn't mess with it anymore, and just gets in and out with it closed—lock it up and throw away the key. But the real point to this is that this boot really fits like a 102 mm. It's a wide ride. It has a tall fit over the instep and a big wide tube of a forefoot and toebox, so big thick feet (and legs) do well in the Panterra—it's one of our testers' particular favorites for a high volume instep fit.

Performance

Dalbello stripped out the unneeded heel inclinator bootboard (it went up and down like an Impala low-rider's rear end), gave it some new grippy soles, tractiony mid-arch cladding and a scuff resistant shell exterior—all useful changes that also shaved excess weight. The switch to an Irfran (polyolefin) shell and cuff material similarly shed some poundage, but testers say it didn't drastically change the performance character of the Panterra 120. The lighter weight quickened up the pace of turns, they said—an improvement over the previous Panterra's sometimes ponderous transitions, but the lighter package didn't seem to undercut classic Panterra power to the edge, which testers said remains solid and bankable.

Cool Features

The cuff release is simple and effective for gaining some stride with the top and Dynalink buckles undone and testers report that the soft versus hard flex setting adjustment works well, though too soft for most in the soft mode. There are options available to upgrade to an Intuition (I.D.) liner and to swap on rockered GripWalk soles for use with GripWalk compatible bindings.