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First Look: Atomic Backland XTD 120 

By

Gavin Hess

The Atomic Backland XTD is a solid middle ground between lightweight and hard-driving.

The Atomic Backland XTD is a solid middle ground between lightweight and hard-driving.

  Atomic Backland XTD 120 Big changes are afoot in the Atomic touring boot range. Previously, the 1kg(+) Backland and the 4 buckle Hawx XTD were categorical choices— beefy freeride boot or lightweight touring. For 2023/2024, the Hawx XTD gets a category bump into 50/50 territory with ~1800g weights and a full PU construction. Meanwhile,…

Responses

  1. Slim

    I am super happy to see this category. After all, most of the time spent touring is skinning and walking, making that part less pleasant really makes the whole outing less enjoyable.
    At the same time, weight in and of itself, does not have nearly as great an effect as people often make it sound like. I suspect this is because, until recently, heavy boots walked poorly and light boots skied poorly, and there was little in the middle.

    So, this newish category of boots that focus on uphill and downhill performance, while giving up a bit of weight, seems like it would have the biggest demand of all:

    Fast n light folks who want a boot in addition to their Aliens for their ‘big skis’? Check
    Gnarly freeirde folks who want something in addition to their big 4 buckle boots for those big spring missions? Check
    The big group of regular old troping folk, who want one boot, and need it to help them out in bad snow but also on big days when they regret swapping training sessions for Netflix sessions (asking for a friend)? Double check

  2. Christian Strachan

    Nice 1st look writeup! Just curious what the breakdown is of the shell and liner separately.

    1. Christian Strachan

      Apologies, I didn’t read the specs carefully enough!

  3. Whit

    Really interested in how they ski on mid-fat skis like a 105. Also curious how these compare in flex to other 1500g boots like the Maestrale RS that are/were light 3 buckle boots but don’t walk as well. Is it a 120 wall or somewhat progressive?

  4. Will Tabor

    I echo alot of sentiment here. When considering new boots, my priority was ROM. As a 190lb guy I tend to gravitate towards heavier boots, but they often fall very short on my desired ROM. The light two buckle boots have excellent ROM, but I tend to fold them in half or struggle with the heavier skis i enjoy. I think there’s a very good market for “burlier” boots that have excellent walking characteristics, and it seems many companies are working to get a product that fits that.

  5. Alexander Rose-Innes

    Interesting boot, but I don’t see the justification in not using my Dynafit Radical Pros for 80g of weight saving and a bit more ROM. I’m much more excited about the new Dynafit Ridge Pro.

    1. Gavin Hess

      Its worth noting that in a 27.5, the Backland XTD is 115g lighter than the Radical Pro (according to Skimo.co). I would bet that fit would be the main deciding factor for XTD vs Radical – the Radical is unworkably roomy for me, while the XTD is roomy but with thick footbeds and a shim, useable. Also, the ROM on the XTD is a step above, its really, really good.

      Echo your sentiments/excitement about the Ridge Pro – we should be receiving a test pair soon!

      1. Alexander Rose-Innes

        Cool, didn’t realise the delta was quite so much. Dynafit really seems to work with my weird feel/calf combo. Hoping the Ridge Pro is as good as it looks. At the moment I’m cramming my feet into the (too short for my mondopoint) Tecnica Peak Carbons. Tecnica did some weird things with the fit on those. I had a pair of the Zero G Pro Tours that needed work to fit, but length was never a problem. It is the exact opposite with the Peaks.

      2. Slim

        I just bought a pair of these for my oldest child. The main reason was fit, these fit their feet better than anything else, and they tried on 10 boots.
        So I’d say, a new boot doesn’t have to do “better” than the existing ones from other brands, as long as it isn’t much worse, it’s already great to just have another fit option. For example, the Radical mentioned above didn’t fit my kid at all.

        Second, the walk mode of the shell is really good. It is actually better than that of my Backland Carbon. When you pull the liners and look at the shell, the lower shell doesn’t come up as high in the back as the “regular” Backlands, and it has a noticeably more resistance free range forward as well, and that’s comparing to one of the better walking boots out there.

        For those concerned about the weight, the liner is one the heavier side. We pulled out a slightly softer, fully closed cell foam liner from their Hagan boot (can’t remember if it’s Palau or Intuition) and that was noticed lighter in the hand. I didn’t weight the liners, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you could shave off another ~100g with a lighter liner. But, the stock liner is nicely made, with large anti scuff patches at the instep/ankle to prevent the shell from wearing holes in there. And also good stiffeners around the cuff.
        So, I think the weight of the liner is put to good use.

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