The All-Mountain Access category is about taking a go-everywhere boot and adding some extra element that makes skiing just a little bit more appealing and more convenient for skiers to help get them on the hill. Here, in the Fischer Ranger 95 HV, its sneaky, hidden (just beneath the upper cuff buckle) walk mode switch makes it easy to one-finger-flip the cuff into released and rangy stroll-about mode. GripWalk soles pair with our favorite hike mode actuator and the Ranger 95's better-than-most cuff rotation to produce a very walkable all-mountain wide-ride for those who might work in their boots 100-days a season or maybe get worked as a hands-full mom who’s always dragging little rippers to lessons or race training.
The wide-ride element itself here is also unique to this 95-flex Ranger because while there are lots of wide-lasted loafers with convenience walk (aka, apres) modes, very few of them trend above an 80-flex for women and those that do often don’t ski well. Not so with the Ranger 95 HV, according to our test team who were very impressed with the control this softer flexing unit exerted over the ski, claiming that it skied much more adeptly than its softer flex hinted at. A massively wide toebox and forefoot tapers back to a comfortably snug heel and ankle pockets which made for sure-footed edge changes and precision steering asks that took testers confidently through all types of terrain and snow. One tester felt that the heel might be a little too snug for the width target, but the majority viewpoint was that it anchored the foot for good skiing moves while the rest of the foot luxuriated in warmth and maximum piggie wiggle room.
The Ranger 95 HV is descended from the unisex wide Rangers HV 130 DYN and 120 DYN. The DYN business indicates Dynafit tech inserts are employed in the design, which elevates a boot into All-Mountain Freeride territory. The so-called freeride boot is typically built with lighter weight plastic in the upper cuff and is geared a little higher, ski-performance-wise, than the boots in the more-chillaxed Access group since the freerider is all about stepping into a lightweight touring (and spendy) "tech binding" for the sake of reaching unmolested, out-of-bounds adventure snow. But, you might notice, the Ranger 95 HV doesn’t have those little tech fitting buggars.
Given this, there are two ways for women to react to Fischer's wide-last, hinged-cuff family tree. One is to say, WTF Fischer, women with wide feet don't get tech fittings? You think we're just chained to our ski-schooled children so that our male counterparts get to go explore the skin track with their bros? Valid, sure. The other tack would be to embrace the positives of freeride-inspired light weight, better walk mode range of motion and higher-level ski performance that have all been tied up in a way more affordable package, sans tech fittings (and really, how often do any of us really want to go sweat, uphill, for what will probably end up being breakable crust?). We think the latter is a more glass-half-full way to approach this fantastic sleeper of a boot.
Speaking of value, in an era of 1000-dollar ski boots it's good to see a reasonable price tag still attached to a solid product. When it begins to seem that the post-Covid consumer has lost his or her mind with regard to what's considered acceptable pricing and brands are increasingly happy to take advantage of this new out-of-their-minds buyers' paradigm (the mere existence of a Tesla Cybertruck lends credence, no?) the Fischer Ranger 95 HV reels it back in with a lot of fit, performance and features bang-for-buck. And better yet, all this keepin it real happens without any reels (queue applause from four-buckle purists).
Kudos