For the expert skier with a low volume foot who is looking for a legit, go-everywhere boot that won't disappoint on either the uphill or the down, well, there are few boots that really fit the bill. Testers say that the new Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 115 BOA W GW is one of those all-mountain freeride unicorns--but they caution that, just like the challenge of capturing a unicorn with a rainbow lasso and getting it saddled up to ride, the entry into the Hawx Ultra XTD required some cowgirl-powered wrangling.
Once you're in, it's an amazing boot--snug, snug, snug! One tester wrote, and most others echoed this sentiment. Yes, getting it on was a bit of a struggle, so less-than-enthusiastic experts who know what they're looking for might settle for the 95-flex version of this ripper. But testers said that skiers looking for high-performance in a truly low-volume package will take the barrier to entry in stride. Tight and light was right, they said, claiming it's one of the tightest heel pockets of the test wrapped by a light-on-the-foot shell and minimal-but-perfect liner. They loved the BOA for its micro-fine-tuning, a click at a time, on the lower boot--they noted that their favorite executions of the BOA system on alpine boots has been in situations where the boot fit closely by virtue of shell shape and liner construction, where the BOA closure could put the three-dimensional icing on the fit cake. Here, it does just that, they said.
The boot's fit impressions average scoring supports testers' commentary--note that our narrowest score of a 1 is geared toward World Cup plug boot tightness and a 5 would be rental boot loose. A narrow last fit target should be a 2 but it's rare that current narrows hit that mark. The Hawx Ultra XTD 115 BOA W's numbers tell a very snug story: toebox (2.17), forefoot (2.00), lateral column (2.17), navicular (2.17), instep (2.00), ankle (2.00), heel (1.50), calf (2.17).
Testers appreciated the long list of fit and performance features and said they were all functional, no fluff. A couple testers played with changing the customizable tongue's Velcro attachment position and found improvements for their personal instep fit issues. Others commented that utilizing a Memory Fit shell mold cook job might be in the cards for a slight relaxation of fit tension in some overly snug spots. The Mimic liner was a hit with testers for how it fit out of the box, though one tester wanted to fully heat mold it to mellow-out an overly tight ankle pocket fit. All these comments should be making the narrow heel and generally low-volume fit-challenged skier salivate--easy to open up the fit here, but awesome that it starts out so close, they said.
The test team agreed that the edge control and stability at speed was commendable, but they said that the boot's quickness and accuracy of steering inputs set it apart from others in the Freeride category. Agile and precise, they called it, and praised its reliability turn to turn--quick but not twitchy or nervous, they said. Surprisingly, testers matched the high-score for Quickness and Steering with their score for the Hawx Ultra XTD 115 BOA's Convenience, Warmth and Convenience scores which suggests that the quality fit and features overcame initial entry concerns for our test team. Not surprisingly, that same high-score was given to the boot's Dynamic Balance criterion, which backs up what testers had to say about the boot's stance--dialed in all directions.
Testers said that its uphill game offered no flaws, citing a long and smooth range of motion when the cuff was released, both forward and backward. They had no issue actuating the cuff release mechanism and loved how little play existed in the cuff when it was locked down for the descent.
Other value-added bits and pieces like a revised Free/Lock 4.5 cuff release, liner pull loops and GripWalk soles paired with grippy mid-arch cladding impressed our testers. The cam locking power strap, on the other hand, received a miss rather than a hit for its lack of full closure at its max. Oh well, nothing's perfect, but this one came close for our crew.
Kudos
Caveats