Rossignol has gone all-in with the new Vizion boot concept--available for men and women both, in narrow, medium and wide lasts and in a multitude of stiffnesses across the range. The Vizion line-up doesn't replace an existing batch of boots--rather it exists as its own, unique animal in the Rossi menagerie, and like a rainbow-sparkle unicorn this one is special (and we're convinced will be highly sought after). What's so special about it? It's the easiest boot to get on that actually fits and skis like a real boot. Period. We think that's a big deal.
We could end this review right there and be satisfied that we've done our job. We tested it. It was absolutely one of the easiest boots to put on and take off. It fits as well as any of the best boots we tested in narrow, medium and wide categories. And yes, it skis as well as 95% of the fixed-cuff All-Mountain Traditional boots we test. So, there, we're done. To put a finer point on it, the type of skier who has experienced enough struggle with entry and exit that it has affected her enjoyment of the sport is probably already making notes and scheduling a visit to her shop to try on one of these Vizion boots. Testers on our team who are also specialty ski retailers already have waiting lists for customers who want one of these. It won't take much more effort on our part to promote this new boot--we're pretty sure it'll sell itself.
But here we are, so what the heck. Our testers unanimously approved of the women's Vizion Pro 100 W MV GW, in spite of the fact that it's all white with peach accents. Our testers usually creep up toward white boots on tip toes like the boots might give them a nasty rash, but in this case testers instead got giggly goosebumps when they slid their dainty, sweet-smelling tester feet (yeah right) into these fuzzy ski slippers. Okay, so they had to fiddle about with the special cuff-releasing double-buckle hiding beneath the actual buckle--that lower one on the cuff. However, once they figured out how to lever that special-color release buckle into rearwardly-gaping-maw-mode they just stuffed their hoof into it no-handed, like feeding their foot to a gigantic baby bird or a big, cuddly Venus fly trap.
And then the boot gets buckled up like any four-buckle overlap boot, which is what makes the Vizion unicorn-unique. There are lots of boots that are easy to put on. Many soft-flexing wide lasts are easy. Cabrio-throated three-piece designs with spiral-wrapping liners are super easy. There are retro-style rear entry models that are supremely easy. And yet none of these are four-buckle overlap designs, nor are they offered in every width option in flexes all the way to expert level stiffness. And that's the beauty of Vizion—it offers the easy get-on of the rear entry or the too-soft wide-load but without the fit and performance compromises that invariably come with those.
But do they really fit right and ski properly? That was our question going into this year's boot test, too. And testers not only reported back that yes, they are the real deal, but one of our veteran testers plans to make a Vizion boot her own daily-driver for the upcoming season (and this is someone who's a great skier used to 130-flex plug boots or the stiffest narrow women's models available to her).
On top of the fit and performance benefits offered by Vizion, there's the not-looking-weird benefit. Yeah, it's kinda lame that it matters, but bootfitters will back us up here--there are a lot of skiers who would benefit from (and downright love) some boots that offer non-traditional entry and closure, whether it's a rear entry or an exoskeletal chassis-style boot, but these skiers just won't do it. They can hardly be convinced to even try them on--probably because they're afraid they might like them, buy them and end up with them on their feet, like a stigmatized badge of superkookdom. But the Vizion? It's easy to get a skier to try them on--they look great (well, once you're okay with white and peach) but perhaps more to the point, they look normal.
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