Barry Wicks optimizing his boot and ski pairing.
Our Gear Editor Gavin Hess has some thoughts on pairing touring skis and boots…all prompted by some excellent questions from a reader.
Just deciding what boot works best for you can be a can of worms. Add in skis, and the pairing dance becomes a more complicated yet finely choreographed affair.
Slim’s questions begin with a query about boot pairings and ski widths and extend into the variable of ski length. And, of course, there’s skier ability, conditions, preferred ski style, and so on. Gavin breaks it down on the podcast; hopefully, we provide some insight.
If you have specific questions regarding the information (and opinions) presented in the podcast, you can comment on the website or email us on The High Route’s contact page (editor@the-high-route.com).
Thanks for listening.
The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you’ve spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, “Beautiful Alien” is a good tune to begin with.
First off: Wow! Thanks for the speedy and thorough discussion of my questions. I hope it is interesting or useful for others as well.
The consideration of mount point/ski shape is interesting. It makes sense but I had never really thought about it, except briefly when reading the descriptions of the Heritage Labs skis, where Marshall explicitly names some shapes (NOT widths) as suited to a centered stance and lighter boot.
Indeed, I am 6’5” and over 180 lbs, so definitely on the bigger size of the bell curve and therefor use the longer lengths of skis. But, I figure there are even more people using the smaller lengths for whom this is equally relevant.
In that vein, I think Gavin’s comment about him and Morgan taking the same size skis on a trip, but with different boots, was very interesting.
Thank you for pointing out the importance of progressive flex. This was something I had not considered, but the way you explain it Gavin, it makes a lot of sense.
Where the limitations of my ski-boot-skill pairing became obvious was last March, in Switzerland.
I was using the Backland Carbon and Wayback 98s in 186cm. The snow was highly variable on many days, and often on the wetter, heavier side, with some crusts too.
Was it just lack of skill to ski in difficult snow? Certainly a factor, but the terrain was mellow, and I feel like I would have been ok on my resort gear. I did find out later that the cuff pivots had developed play, and the liner was getting packed out, so the boots had lost some of their original performance.
Before you folks started mentioning it, I had never really considered a 2 boot quiver. But, thinking about it, I still think I will stick with just one pair.
Even on my Backland 85 UL’s I figure I like a bit more support and control, since those are maybe skied in more consequential terrain, and in spring on big verticals, where you will hit slush and mank on the lower exits.
And for my mid-width, do-it-all skis I definitely like a bit more boot, since those might be used on multi day trips where you have a big pack and don’t know the conditions. At the same time, I just can’t stomach skinning and booting in a 4 buckle boot like the Zero G Tour for a long trip. (I tried them for a season). So, middle ground boots it is for me.
The Skorpius II seem to be exactly the small improvement in ski performance I was looking for, and indeed, the shell is about 100 grams heavier than the Backlands. I do wish they had a Z cable instead of a Boa on the forefoot. Walking is really only restricted at the far forward end of range of motion, where you feel the tongue. People with less ankle range of motion than me might not even notice.
The other, and even taller boot, I was looking at was the Head Crux Pro, but it never came in stock at our supplier.
Thanks again,
Slim
great discussion indeed