If you’re a skier on Colorado’s Front Range, then you or someone you know has heard of Larry the boot fitter.
He’s a one-named legend that can make ski toes sing like Elvis made young women cry.
Tens of thousands of skiers have come to Larry to bare their soles. The most important thing to know when buying ski boots, says Larry, is the shape of your foot.
Today, the top ski boot companies are building boots that fit a larger swath of foot shapes, and that’s very good news for skiers. Now we have more boot styles to choose from; better, warmer technology; and all at very competitive prices.
If you’re looking to put some hip-shaking swing back into your skiing, here’s a look at the year’s hottest ski boots for men and women.
Tecnica
Right now, several boot companies are honing in on boot technologies that provide a custom-like fit right out of the box. Tecnica’s Mach 1 line features Custom Adaptive Shape (CAS) thermo-customizable liner, which means you can heat it up and shape it to your feet. Next year, Tecnica is making CAS technology available in more boot models.
For Larry-wannabe’s, the Mach 1 shell features special material around the midfoot and ankles that you can easily grind away and the Tecnica Fit-Kit includes tailored patches that glue to the liner to reduce volume in critical areas. Shop Technica.
Atomic
Atomic is the first ski company to offer one-stop shopping for skis, boots, bindings, and poles. Last year Atomic introduced its already successful Hawk line with Memory Fit, a technology that lets you heat up the shell for five minutes and then form the boot around your foot for two minutes.
Put a cooling pack on the boot for another five minutes and, voilà, you have a customized shell. This year Atomic induced a wider version of Hawk. Shop Atomic.
Head
Lindsey Vonn was wearing Head ski boots when she smashed what many experts thought was an unbeatable World Cup winning record. So there’s that.
Another awesome advancement in ski boots is the flex index that assigns a number to indicate the flexibility of the boot. Racers and hardcore experts generally prefer stiffer boots (140), while flexible boots are more forgiving and comfortable for beginners (80). Head’s Raptor 140 RS shares some of the features as Lindsey’s boots, including spine flex buckles and a mack-daddy Booster strap. Shop Head.
Rossignol
Ok, so some of my skier girl friends still ski in men’s boot. Don’t argue with them, that’s just the way these mountain women are going to have it. Period.
For women who do ski in women’s boot, the Rossignol’s AllTrack line fuses alpine boots performance with Alpine Touring (AT) functionality including a walk mode and rocker soles for hiking. The OptiSensor 3D Thinsulate Platinum liners make these some of the warmest boots on the market. Shop Rossignol.
Roxa
No ski boot has ever had a cult following like the Raichle Flex Comp, a boot favored by freestylers and built at Roxa’s Italian factory until the 1990s. Pro skier Seth Morrison later led an effort to reintroduce a likeness of the boot under the Full Tilt brand.
Roxa is now part of 4Frnt, a freestyler-owned ski company that’s stomped several milestones including the first ski made specifically for half pipes. Roxa’s FreeByrd is a traditional three-piece boot that resembles the Raichle Flex Comp, and the PowerWrap Intuition liner gives it a custom fit and look. Shop Roxa.
Lange
Bob Lange introduced the world's first plastic ski boots in 1962 and years later pioneered the front-entry design found on most of the boots we see on the slopes today.
The new RX110 was built with an improved tongue that wraps around the top of the foot while the cuff is specially designed to comfortably wrap around a women’s calves and the Max Warm Inside Thinsulate liners provides warm insulation. The RX110 comes in both low- and high-volumes models. Shop Lange.
Scott
Paul Parker, a boot specialist for Scott boots, has been breaking trail on backcountry skiing and boot technology for more than three decades. He made Couloir Magazine’s Hall of Fame for his contributions to backcountry skiing, and was a lead designer of the uber-popular Garmont boots, a company bought by Scott in 2012.
The G1 130 Powerfit WTR is Scott’s signature freeskiing boot with anatomical upper shell and integrated walk system. Shop Scott.
Zay Boots
Folks continue to pioneer new ideas in ski boots, and this year Zay Boots is coming to market with radial closure technology that’s said to give a better 360-degree fit around the foot. In the design, two aircraft-quality stainless steel cables wrap around the lower portion of the boot, eliminating buckles. One buckle on the back of the boot snaps the cables snug.
It’s an interesting concept that might be hugely appealing for kids who struggle with all the buckles, but the exposed cables are a little unsightly. Rex Deitesfeld, Zay owner and boot engineer, says he has more ideas up his sleeve. Check out Zay on Facebook.
