The Gist
Fully custom-built in every way possible to each owner’s personal foot and leg dimensions. Local dealers take measurements and send them to DaleBoot’s Salt Lake City factory where shell components are tailored in tricky fit areas. It’s fine-tuned with a full thermo-molded Intuition liner. Stance is adjustable with DaleBoot's unique and effective snap-on canting soles. Like DaleBoot’s more popular VFF Pro, the ST utilizes a thin shell wall construction that puts the foot in direct connection with the ski, but it has a much stiffer cuff lay-up for carving man-size trenches.
Fit
We tested the ST built as a wide but it can be made plug-boot narrow or cataclysmically large. Dealer partners take foot measurements and tracings and the factory delivers each boot customized for the individual skier. Dealers do final fitting and make other modifications as needed upon delivery. All that personal attention is included in the price.
Our testers tried a variety of different DaleBoot liner styles. ST liners are available in spiral wrap and traditional tongue designs as well as in different densities and volumes. Testers liked the ability to make those personalized choices. Testers new to DaleBoot's signature three-piece closure system, old-school buckle bales and reverse throw levers always struggle a bit at first, but the learning curve is swift.
Performance
The ST's on-snow character is a unique synergy of its brutishly powerful upper cuff and its thin-walled high density polyether lower shell. The combination yields ridiculously strong edging in a lightweight package with highly sensitive feel for the snow. Most testers thought the flex was 130-plus and with more time might have softened the flex a bit during our custom tests. So there’s plenty up top.
Cool Features
DaleBoot’s three-quarter length bootboard puts the forefoot directly on top of the shell’s thin plastic floor for a hyper-aware foot feel you don't find in other boots. The bootboard is also adjustable for ramp angle and rearfoot varus or valgus via threaded posts.
Kudos
Caveats