A boot brand’s marketing department likes to tell a story to sell their products. The Lange Shadow boot really has two—one, that in practice gets the boot sold, and another that guarantees it won’t get returned!
This first story is all about the liner and it’s a short story—one word, in fact. Auxetic. That’s the term for the hexagonally-shaped etching into the exterior fabric of the Shadow liner which allows it to bend around the foot’s bony prominences without simply distorting fabric. Testers say it’s an interesting feel upon the foot’s first entry into the boot. Initially the foot slides in easily. Then it feels much like slipping on a brand new wetsuit bootie—stretchy, padded and snug. Though the primary difference between the Auxetic liner and a wetsuit bootie (aside from the fact that most of us won’t ruin them by peeing in our ski suit) is that this stretchy, bendy, evenly snug fit experience seems to happen every time the boot goes on, over its entire lifespan. This, according to testers who have done long-term testing on this model over the course of 100+-day seasons.
While the silken, anatomical first fit of the Shadow’s liner gets the boot out the ski shop door, it’s likely the Shadow’s performance story that tells the tale of why skiers (and testers) fall in love with this boot. Testers said again, after this year’s testing, that they really do ski more accurately and powerfully with less effort expended in the Shadow. They assure that this story is not fiction, and they point to the Shadow’s unique attachment of cuff to lower shell via four anchor points and a rear gliding tongue-in-groove structure as the key to how it transfers more energy to the ski with less skier effort. Testers cite a shorter range of flexion but say the boot’s flex doesn’t feel abrupt, just more effective—a little goes a long way, essentially. This do more with less performance platform, coupled with the warmth and cushioned feel of the Auxetic liner placed the Shadow MV 130 into testers’ top slot for all-day, all-mountain crushing (in comfort).
Though sometimes a luxuriant fit fails to translate into rapid-fire edge changes and a strong connection to the carve, testers gave the Shadow’s Quickness & Steering score a perfect 10.0 and its Edge Power score a 9.83, cementing its boot unicorn status for our test team.
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