The headline SKI magazine (our boot review content partner) chose to run for this boot is: The Best Entry-Level AT Boot. While it’s a lead derived from our source review material, we still feel a need to explain it. The Best Entry-Level AT Boot doesn’t mean that it’s for less-skilled or less-savvy skiers—the Maestrale RS has been many a backcountry enthusiasts’ go-to for many years. What we mean is that for a skier who may be diving into a new gear commitment and seeking a dedicated touring set-up, they won’t go wrong with this boot. It just works.
Testers have called it the reliable, comfortable and ready-to-rock BC workhorse of the test, year after year. Many of our testers are also bootfitters and when you ask them which BC boots they hate to work on and repair, it ain’t the Maestrale family of boots that comes to mind for them—the Maestrale isn’t one that loses bolts and screws through normal use, and while its plastic is thin-walled stuff, the Maestrale design is pretty user-friendly for making common fit modifications.
The Maestrale has always been (and still is) and bankable medium-width fit for the average foot and leg—testers say the shell’s shape has curves in all the right places, the cuff stance and height suits both cyclist calves and chicken legs, and the liner is properly padded and pre-molded enough to go hike and ski straight out of the box.
Now, wait a minute, Scarpa calls it a 102mm last—that’s generally wide boot territory, at least in alpine-boot-speak, but realize that backcountry brands may play a bit fast and loose with both the width and flex metrics. It’s a medium, trust us, testers say.
The Grilamid Bio lower shell and Pebax Rnew cuff pair to ski stronger than expected for plant-based plastics due to a carbon fiber internal structure integrated into both the lower and upper that provides the additional torsional rigidity required to manage bigger, wider skis in demanding terrain. Testers said the Maestrale RS didn’t ski quite as strongly as its freeriding half-brother 4-Quattro Pro, but they said it handled itself just fine everywhere and made up for any downhill deficiency with a lighter build and longer, smoother-feeling touring stride on the ascent.
While we are big fans of supporting brick-and-mortar ski boot retailers, if there was a BC boot you could buy online, the odds are in the skier’s favor with the Maestrale RS for its avoidance of fit and performance deal-breakers. Keep in mind that Scarpa’s sizing differs from most other brands in that the whole size (i.e., 28.0) shares the same shell as the smaller half-size (i.e., 27.5). Confused? Go find a retailer who sells it so you can try it and buy it right there and then.
Kudos
Caveats