Category: Boots

Boots for skiing and snowboarding

Review: La Sportiva Spitfire 2.0 skimo boot

During my stint in Tahoe a lot of fellow turn earners wondered why the resorts wouldn’t allow uphill skinning. Now that I’m in Colorado, it is more obvious why rando races flourish here, and with it the opportunity for fitness skinning at resorts, but they’re rare in the Sierra. In California, especially around Lake Tahoe, …

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Inserts: Weak link of the 2-Pin Tech System

  What started out as a simple test of the Meidjo, a telemark binding with a 2-pin toe and NTN clamp, turned into an investigation of tech toe inserts and what makes them good or bad. Tech systems are an interaction of components on a petite scale, so small variations can have big consequences. While …

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Tele Gear for Newbies

  There’s a really good chance you’ll think of my advice on picking gear for telemarking as just another died in the wool leatherneck recommending old-fashioned values just because that’s the way he did it. You’d be right, except that everyone I’ve ever seen who could tele well, all of ’em, had to go through …

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Review: Fischer’s TransAlp AT boots

Fischer is going all in with the two-pin tech system for Winter 2016. Starting this year Fischer retailers will be selling Dynafit bindings, albiet with the Fischer logo on them, and they have beefed up the TransAlp boot series with taller cuffs and an economy version that offers better downhill performance. Trans Alp w/Vacu-plast Returning …

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The Case for NTN Grows

  As recently as 2013, the reasons to drop the duckbill for a duckbutt were significant, but mostly based on a personal requirement for releaseability. Not all pinheads agree that safety release is paramount, but neither are many of them claiming they might never want release. Few of the non-release advocates have actually lost ligaments …

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Scarpa recalls F1-Evo

  For those who see the merit in Scarpa’s F1 Evo, a lightweight AT boot with an automatic walk mode, you’re on your own to believe whether that’s a true benefit or not. Regardless, Scarpa is officially recalling the F1 Evo. If you have a pair, Scarpa strongly encourages you to return the boots for …

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Amer Group goes deep into the BC

  The belief that interest in backcountry skiing will continue to grow is evident in many booths at the Winter Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City last week. As ever there are a ton of new skis, boots and bindings on display providing a tangible peek at next season’s toys.

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