The testers who put the Atomic Hawx Prime 115 W through its paces comprised a mix of boot retailers, boot fitters, instructors and hard core local skiers--so that's a good blend of folks to see what shook out as common threads both good (mostly) and bad (minimal). The boot sellers and fitters may have been slightly biased going in, as the Hawx Prime women's boot is one of the go-to medium widths for shops that carry the brand--these testers mention that it provides a "universal" kind of fit that appeals to many skiers and as such is usually in the try-on mix with other mediums and often the one remaining on the customer's feet at the end of the trial.
The common fit thread that came through in tester commentary is an ideal blend of fit tension, or squeeze factor, in the lower boot from heel and ankle (rearfoot) to the forefoot and toebox--tighter in the rear, looser in the front. This is not good balance for a race car, but great for a medium width performance ski boot. The newly revised Mimic liner impressed the team for the open and smooth-feeling toebox construction. Testers also unanimously agreed that the vase-like flare at the boot top was well-matched to the athletic (or just thick) calf, and the combined feature set of the Adaptive Fit System Cuff and heat moldable Memory Fit shell make it possible for the calf-fit-challenged to keep a true medium width foot fit while gaining wide-last-territory calf room. This calf-loving fit map should have many skiers putting the Hawx Prime W on their short list.
Another cool feature of the Hawx line is the fore-aft stance adjustment offered by the Power Shift rear cuff anchoring mechanism--this allows the cuff to be made slightly more upright or more forward, but few testers ever mention wanted to employ this tool as the stance angles seem to work for virtually everyone right out of the box. Testers say no big frills on board the Prime but also no problems or unnecessary features--a common refrain from testers was praise for an unencumbered ski experience with plenty of fun and the absence of gear-related hassles. Most shops will carry the 105 flexing Hawx Prime W, which offers enough horsepower for most good skiers, but our test team liked the 115 for its ability to stand up to harder terrain hits and taller, more aggressive skiers mashing on the throttle without collapsing the flex.
Kudos
Caveats