It's the ski boot world’s open dirty little secret: there's a recognized trend toward wimpification in ski boots. We hear it all the time: “This is definitely not a 130 flex.” No way that’s a 98mm width.”
Well friends, welcome to your flex index and last width re-education session at Camp Scorpion. It's stiff, it's tight, and the Scorpion DRS 130 is designed and built to do two things: 1) ski faster and stronger on harder surfaces than you probably like. 2) Remind you that you're not quite as good a skier as you thought. Now this isn't to say that the Scorpion isn’t capable of raising one's skiing to a higher level—it is—but it requires a full-throttle attitude and a ski to match.
Testers cited the Scorpion as the burliest of our frontside batch. It feels thick underfoot. The offset binding rail that aligns the foot along the inside edge positively hammers the ski into whatever diamond plate it's driven over. This is a boot that pins the speed meter. It taps a ski’s performance reserves and forces it to mind the driver’s commands. A mismatch between Scorpion and a too-soft ski is immediately evident, as tip and tail begin to flap in protest. Own a ski that you thought was too long or too stiff? Perfect. Yank it out of the closet and dust it off.
We've tested the Scorpion before. This version is much easier to tug on and off. The new, softer, bi-injected, overlapping plastic at the boot throat takes the tears out of the chore. And yet, a few of our pastiest testers still cried a bit.
But the real story is the improved liner. It makes for a whole new Scorpion experience. It’s firm but comfortable and better matches the anatomic curves of the foot. It works in concert with the shell's Contour 4 shaping that bumps out the plastic at typical bony spots like the navicular and “6th toe” area alongside the pinky toe. Testers noted that the flex feel, though stout as could be, was evenly distributed and cushioned enough to keep shin happy.
That doesn’t mean this is an easy-going all-mountain driver. The rigid transmission remains geared mainly for smooth surfaces. This boot requires a specific skier (a good one) and a specific venue (hard and fast pistes), but it generates awesome dynamics when both come together.
The fit is a little shorter than average and a bit tighter in the forefoot than others in the category. But there is welcome room over the top of the foot and through the instep—a nice greeting for those high arched boney feet that often find frontsiders like this a squeeze there.
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