The Gist
DaleBoot 2020-21 Update: New shell and liner designs are in the works for 2021 and DaleBoot also intends to retire their unique snap-on alpine soles for a better traction screw-on style that will transmit skier inputs more directly to the ski, and they’ll still offer canted options.
The DaleBoot VFF (women's) is DaleBoot's softest model and intended for lighter and less aggressive skiers. Testers rewarded the VFF with a perfect score for convenience, warmth and features and high marks for its custom fit, all largely based on the luxuriant feel and fit of the highly insulative and lightweight DaleBoot/Intuition spiral wrap liner that eases entry and exit into the VFF's three-piece shell like no other boot on the market.
The Fit
The VFF (women's) shell shape was built at DaleBoot's Salt Lake City factory based off of measurements and tracings of the testers' feet and legs. A variety of different cuffs and lower "clogs," or shells, can be combined and pre-molded to suit the skier's shape. At the boot test the Intuition liners were custom fitted—as they would be by a DaleBoot dealer—and their fore-aft and lateral stances were checked prior to testers skiing the boots. Unanimously our test team found the initial fit spot-on after going through the fitting process.
Performance
The VFF's softer flex is able to be adjusted within a 20 point range using the Variable Forward Flex spring-and-cable system which restrains the three-piece shell's forward flexion without fixing the upper cuff to the lower, maintaining a true three-piece shell's flex feel—long in travel and with a progressive resistance against the leg. Testers loved the rangy feel of their flexing movements while skiing, but cautioned bigger, more aggressive gals to consider stepping up to the stiffer VFF Pro. Testers found the same classic, close-to-snow feel on the VFF as with the other DaleBoot models, enabled by a three-quarter length bootboard which puts the forefoot directly on the floor of the boot.
Cool Features
An array of different Intuition liner options can be implemented to achieve an ideal fit, the boot's ramp angle is adjustable with the turn of a screw on the three-quarter length internal bootboard and final stance fine tuning is accomplished with DaleBoot's exclusive, snap-on, canted soles.
