BOOT REVIEWS: NEW TECHNOLOGY COMFORTDolomite | Head | Nordica | Rossignol | Salomon | Tecnica Attention rear entry boot users! The time has come to replace your deteriorating comfort slippers. These New Tech Comfort boots are just as cozy and will help improve your skiing. We promise. And for those of you with friends and family who have tried skiing and quit because their boots were too cumbersome and hurt their feet, please invite them back and make sure they get into one of these pleasure machines. These boots are designed for skiers who place comfort and convenience on par with performance and are great for skiers who like the new and different. Dolomite isn’t shy about admitting it went to school on hiking and snowboard boots when it began designing its new, textile-based DC collection. Most notable is the speed lacing system on the innerboot, which cradles the shin, instep and forefoot firmly with a single tug on the leather-like tab. The step-down DC 70 uses more plastic components than the textile centric DC 100 and was favored by our testers. The 70’s reinforced, textile tongue layers over an innovative, low-rise shell with the throat cut open right down to the toe box. That makes it easy to get in and out and for the three ratchet strap buckles to securely wrap the foot. The cuff is riveted to the lower in two spots on each side for strong lateral response. A couple of simple personalization features—inserts that slip into the sidewalls of the lower cuff for flex control and a removable rear spoiler—help fine tune fit and performance. Here’s another boot that will provide a smooth path out of the rear entry dark ages. It’s a bit of a hassle to get in because of all the layers but the handling and ride are reliable. You won’t lower your NASTAR handicap but you will cruise all day with a smile on your face. Higher volume fit great for meaty feet, not so good for slim dogs. EASE OF ENTRY/EXIT: Open throat allows for easy penetration but there’s lots of stuff to move aside to find the mouth. Head E.C.T. 9 SuperHeat 3 [ $425 ] What to do, what to do? Rossignol’s Soft was a runaway surprise hit last winter and other companies were rushing to fill the vacuum with textile-based offerings. Head, however, had no such thing in its pipeline. Sure its new E.C.T. technology slices away much of the non-structural heavy plastic from the shell and replaces it with a malleable skin, but that’s solving the entry/exit/comfort puzzle with, gulp, old school plastic. So Head decided to paper over the problem—literally. The company slapped some fabric over parts of the shell to create a textile illusion but this is really a 100% hard-shell plastic boot with a clever chassis. Visual trickery aside, it skis excellent. The E.C.T. may not be “soft,”—and it was judged All Ugly by our testers—but it was the top rated boot in our New Tech Comfort category. It has no functional adjustment features and uses only three buckles but they pull on five plastic bands for optimal retention. The micro-adjustable cuff and the instep buckles both feature Head’s award-winning Double Power design that dramatically eases closure. They also macro-adjust with the press of a button. The unique shell has an integrated tongue that hinges forward for easy entry/exit. The liner has a layer of heat-moldable foam in the ankle and heel area for a custom fit.
Don’t let the wallpaper fool you. This is a bear-strong boot wrapped with sheepskin. It promotes an athletic stance and steers strongly. Our testers consistently tell us that a stout spine is vital for performance skiing and the ECT was tops among the New Tech Comfort entries. The combination of ease of entry/exit, a slick buckle system and superb skiability makes this a winner. It even provided a nice damp ride of the teeth-rattling a.m. groomed corduroy. EASE OF ENTRY/EXIT: In/out with no hands. Very impressive. Don Adams would love this boot. It neatly mimics the lifeblood of both Inspector Gadget and Maxwell Smart. Oh, there’s no telephone in the sole and helicopter rotors don’t spring from the cuff but the SmarTech 8 still retains enough of the gee-whiz that courses through the more expensive SmarTech 12 that topped the New Tech performance group. The shell geometry remain similar with cutaway throat that exposes the innerboot below, but cuff closure is via a standard-issue micro-macro buckle. The Total Fit System cable snakes the same path but it snugs with a ratchet tooth T-lever that doesn’t have anywhere near the same sex appeal as the retractable pull cord on the 12. In fact, it seems to rather awkwardly stick up the spine like a wayward tree branch when engaged. (It does, however, work effectively and may prove to be the more durable of the two systems.) The 8 also trades the rigid Anti-torsion Alu Bridge for a plastic version and has neither the elasticized power strap with Booster technology nor a cuff cant. The rather significant stripping makes this a more demur boot but our testers were still high on the concept and scored the 8 second best in class. Different, bizarre, avant garde. We ran for our thesaurus to judge this one. But don’t laugh and don’t underestimate its abilities. It’s a stick-out in comfort (it topped the category) but its also capable of turning with ease and confidence at moderate speeds. Take care not to exceed the governor; it lacked traction when speed increased. A technology note. Several testers mused about system failure. “What happens if the cable or snugging mechanisms give out?” said one. “When a buckle breaks you’ve still got three others latching you in.” Rest easy. Or at least easier. We’ve yet to hear of any problems with the numerous pre-production models that were on the hill last winter and Nordica is confident of the mechanism’s reliability. The company warranties SmarTech models for life and ski town Nordica dealers have been alerted to assist in repairs and replacements if the need arises. EASE OF ENTRY/EXIT: Fittingly, the open throat easily swallows the foot. You’ve got to look hard to spot the differences between the Soft 3 and its more expensive cousin, the Soft 1 in our New Tech Performance category. It’s sort of like those puzzle drawings on kid’s diner placemats. They both have the signature three-layer construction that starts with the open throat shell and lots of exposed textiles. And they both have the Strapper, the Velcro cuff wrap that’s buckle-activated. What you won’t find on the 3 is the cuff cant (which doesn’t have much adjustment range anyway), the thermo moldable tongue, the rear spoiler or the power plate on the cuff. You also get plastic instead of metal buckles and synthetic leather. Big deal. If you’re just out to have a good time romping the groomed hill and you’re sold on Soft, save yourself $100 bucks and drop to the 3. Interestingly, our testers noted the easier flex of the 3 but didn’t find it dramatically affected performance on the hill. Perhaps it’s because the boot inherently takes its cues from lateral inputs and the exo-skeletal structure is still pretty strong. Oh, and sorry, ladies. The cosmetic choices on the women’s 3 is limited to demur earthtones instead of the wild choices of the 1. Again, the easiest boot in category to get in and out of. Feed it a steady diet of blue groomers and you’ll find it very reliable transportation. You can be energetic in all turn shapes but gnarly territory makes it skittish. So comfortable walking/sitting/standing around it eliminates the need to change footwear for apres ski. When churning downhill, however, several testers experienced instep discomfort. EASE OF ENTRY/EXIT: Foot slides in like mercury on a glass plate. Trust Salomon to march to a different beat. Heck, to make their own kind of drum. As the only market leader manufacturer in all the hardgoods categories (skis/boots/bindings), the company seeks and usually finds proprietary technology that sets it apart. Salomon is also big enough to target a slim niche and still sell a large number of units. The Verse is emblematic of that corporate strategy. It sharply focuses on beginner-low intermediate skiers stressing convenience, comfort and ease of use. It has fit options that are usually found on only on boots targeted to more accomplished skiers including a heat-moldable custom fit liner, a brawny power strap and Salomon’s award-winning 3D buckle that adapts for instep angle. Uniquely, it latches up with just two easy-to-shut micro-adjustable alu/plastic buckles and a not-so-easy-to-pull speed lacing raceway whose handle snaps to the cuff for storage. It also goes for a high tech cosmetic look with a translucent blue shell. This one meets all the comfort specs. Our testers found it inordinately easy to get in and out of and gave it good marks in the handling characteristics columns. Just be aware it sharply seals the performance envelope. Tip it side-to-side on the groomers at moderate speeds and it will turn with grandfather clock precision. Push it and it will crumble like a crouton. Salomon touts its radical closure system as easier to deal with than buckles but most of our testers didn’t think so and the Verse CF earned its lowest marks in that category. The boot was exceptionally well received by our female testers, less so our men. Our citizen testers were the most enthused about it. That’s a good sign since it’s aimed at casual skiers like them. EASE OF ENTRY/EXIT: Like slipping between silk sheets. Soft? Not from Tecnica. Theirs is a manly company where performance is never compromised for comfort. We wouldn’t expect less from a group that also sells Volkl skis. That’s why Tecnica found another path to the easy entry/exit grail that has become mandatory in this category. It put a swinging gate on the cuff and call it Rapid Access. It’s cool and innovative without being gimmicky. It also improves performance as the two cuff pieces better taper to the lower leg for more effective wrapping. The Entryx 9 also has all the techy features you could want. A soft/hard flex adjuster that actually works, smooth macro/micro-setting buckles of rugged aluminum and Tecnica’s signature vibration absorption system in the sole. Again you pay a premium for Tecnica in this category but you do get what you pay for. The workmanship is flawless and the hill life of their products are generally long. You’ll certainly get in and out with ease but it doesn’t offer the cloud-like float of others in this category. It feels like a hard boot and rewards good skiing skills with precision turns. If you want to meander to the bottom you can but it has the spirit of a roaming tiger at heart. Watch the sizing. Tecnica’s tend to run a bit big. EASE OF ENTRY/EXIT: The only thing the Rapid Access gate lacks in ease is a butler to swing it open. |
ON THE HILL
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