Black Diamond Custom Telemark Ski Boot - Men's - 2008 BCS

I have about 25 days on these boots, about 50/50 as far as resort/touring days. I have been skiing the Scarpa T-race for years before this boot came out. In contrast to the T-race I think the Custom is slightly stiffer in the bellows. One big advantage over the current T-race is the Custom has a tour mode and a great one at that. The Custom when in tour mode has a ton of freedom of movement. Compared to similarly big and stiff boots the Custom is lightyears ahead as far as ability to tour. As far fit goes, I was a 28 in Scarpa and I am also a 28 in the BD Custom (I have a 10.5 street shoe). The Custom's heel cup is large and comfortable. There is no need to even snug these boots up for the hike up, I leave all the buckles on the loosest setting for hiking. The boa lacing system in the liner and big heel cup keep my foot right in place. One of my first days touring with this boot we skinned 7,000' and no blisters or even hot spots! So far my only major complaint is with one of the buckles. I buckle my boots TIGHT and sometimes have problems unbuckling the higher of the two lower buckles, especially with gloves on. My solution is to tie on a very small scrap of 3mm cord to the end of each buckle so I can grab that with a gloved hand.

Thisbecame my favorite boot right before I switched over to NTN. This is definitely the stiffest boot available for 75 mm in my opinion. This boot allows you to tranfer power to your skis and remain in powerful control at high speeds in less than ideal conditions. They tour great and ski even better. The liner rocks especially with the platic reinforced cuff and the heel locking pads. My only complaint on these boots is the toe box being too narrow for my feet, but these are wider than Crispis.

performance wise, these boots are amazing, 4.5 stars, however, I have literally stripped every buckle, ( I know that if you over tighten or loosen them they will strip) this is just from regular use. worn through 2 bellow guards and mangled the rubber soles. Also, the area on top of the forefoot has torn and now is less warm and it gets lots of moisture in through there. Durability gets a 3, I'm going to try scarpa's new t-race this fall because the customs aren't gonna last another season. I use them but I havn't bused them, I've tried to take care of them as best I could

Yes these boots do perform on big skis, stronger skiers and technically sound skill. These boots to an awesome job of transfering power to both edges on wider skis. I have average width feet and like a wider toebox. These boots fit great except I found the toe box to be too small for me (which seems important with tele boots). The heel fit was great, the heel never rose. These boots are stiff, heavy and have a high cuff so they might not be great if you do most of your skiing out of bounds or want to rock climb with them, but this is really all preference. I used them for a full season of touring and lifts and they never broke or showed any signs of breaking anytime soon.

When you want to drive the ski with your legs (anytime the snow is soft and you want to go fast), this boot gets it done.

Driving with your legs means delivering energy to the ski in a more upright position, which in turn means less work. When combined with burly bindings (Hammerhead, BD 01), it can also mean a rodeo ride. Like in the case when you're skiing icy bumps in New England.

But those conditions aside, I just skied these boots for 3 days at Silverton (in 4' of bottomless) and I wouldn't want to be in anything else.

Great fit. Sweet Boa liner. Awesome walk mode. All-day comfort.

The factory footbeds are fine, but you can max the comfort and control with some A-Lines.

(The rest of my setup: Hammerhead 01s on BD Justices. SWEET!)

I skied these boots and loved the stiffness and control (almost too much for my 150 pounds). The two middle buckles, however, caught on one another, which is a huge pain. I have a 27.5 mondo.

Since there aren't many reviews here, I'll write one, but please note that my experience with these boots at this point are limited. I'll retract my review when more people start to write in. (Experience so far: two resort days). I'm an ex-alpine ski racer, started to tele ~15yrs ago. This is relevant because I'm used to stiff alpine boots. These boots are buttery compared to alpine race boots, so I was a skeptic when I heard how "stiff" they were. I still concur there; they're not as "extreme" in the stiffness range as people will have you believe. Also, in the store (BD in SLC) I tried the Customs & the Pushes on back and forth a bunch of times and didn't see a ton of flex difference (note: hard to really tell without being locked into a tele binding, and boots were at room temperature).
Existing setup: old T1's (like 3rd gen), G3 bindings, tried multiple pairs of skis.
Skiing: What I did notice right away was that this boot is far more laterally stiff than my old boot. That apparently makes a huge difference, as I was in far more control over the ski edge than I ever have been on teles before. It felt awesome to be able to carve so easily, where it was such a difficult rarity with my old setup.
The bad-news/good-news for me: getting these boots was like mixing single malt with Sunny D, or putting catchup on a prime fillet. They make you quickly realize that you need a much stiffer binding (like the BD 01 or the Hammerhead) to get the benefit out of them. With my G3's, I can lift the heel maybe 2" before I notice the binding providing any resistance. So reader beware, these expensive boots will make you want (or you could say, they require) new bindings and of course some new stiff skis to really reap their benefit.
I'm in line to follow through with the above plan, so when I do (and when I have enough on/off-piste days under my belt), I'll let you know more.

I am 5' 5" 150lbs and have been telemark skiing for 3 years(60+ times a year). I ski in the Midwest. The bellow on the Customs are seriously stiff. Personally not sure why anyone would want the bellows that stiff. On the other hand I am a small guy and prefer softer bellows. Bigger guys may like more resistance. My first run on these I could not drop a knee. After a few runs I was able to drop a knee, but had to give it my all. I skied them on 7tm power bindings and 179 Karhu Jak skis. The Jak's are pretty beefy skis, and I did like that the Customs gave me more control over them, but I had to work too hard for that control.

So I have two days on the Customs so far, paired with O1 bindings (RidStiff). I am coming from the black and silver T1's, and I chose these over the Push & new T1's because there is pretty minimal weight difference. I'm 6'1",180 lbs and I ski about 80% in the backcountry, including long tours.
First day was a 30" pow day (pre-heat mold). These boots performed incredibly well once I realized I can't screw around in them- they do demand aggressive action. The skiing was phenomenal but my feet hurt at the end of the day. So, I heat molded the liners and skied the second day in manky wind crust/heavy snow conditions. These boots rocked and my feet were very comfortable after molding. My initial reaction is very positive and I'm looking forward to beating the crap out of these boots like all the rest.
P.S. - I agree with Andy about the one buckle that is a pain in the ass to release. I'll have to rig up something, too.

I picked up these things a few weeks ago and have about 15 days, half touring half resort in them. The sole is nice and rigid. I'm not sure why you need as stiff of a flex pattern as the boot upper has, but it doesn't really bother me, it just seems like overkill. On the whole they seem well made and rugged.

Someone asked below if you could ski them with G3 bindings, and the responses all seemed to indicate that BD would be a better choice. I will throw out there that the few times I've tried BD bindings they didn't feel natural to me, so I've stuck with my trusty G3s for the natural flex pattern. The BD boots with G3 strike a nice balance for me, as the rigid sole of the boot transfers power well, with a nice natural/neutral feel from the binding. This is all subjective, of course, but BD boots do not mean you need BD bindings by any means.

My two gripes with them, which are minor: (1) the 'cant' adjustment seems to go from mildly bowlegged to severely bowlegged, so the stiff cuff of the liner has been bruising the inside of my calf muscle. I've beat on it a bit to accelerate the break-in, but it seems like if the boot was aligned differently it wouldn't be an issue. (2) While the liner is fairly comfortable, the whole 'BOA' thing is a pain in the arse. I'm not sure that it adds anything to the boot, except for another step while putting them on and taking them off.

FITMENT: I have fairly narrow feet with high arches so my feet are kind of 'tall.' On the scarpas I've always worn, I could never even close the buckle over my insole (ultimately I just cut them off because they got in the way), and that area of the boot still hurt my foot, but the 'higher volume' garmonts added that volume with width, not height, so my foot could move side-to-side in them. These seem to have more volume than the scarpas but are not as wide as the garmonts, and fit me well.

Heard great things, but have toe problems that have me out for the season. Let me know if you're interested $450 - brand new size 28.0 (10.5 US size). e-mail: alexhase@comcast.net.

These boots provide great control. I ski the G3 Reverend with Hammerhead bindings. Last year I had Garmont Syner-Gs; I could control the ski, but I had to do more foot steering than I like and thought it was almost more ski than the boot could handle. The Custom drives the ski really easily. The boot has excellent lateral stiffness, and transfers power to the ski beautifully. I was a little concerned that it would be too stiff for me (I'm 5'10", 155lb), but once on the snow, I found the flex to be smooth and easy. This boot is a huge performance upgrade from the Syner-G. The Boa lacing system is easy to use and provides a snug and comfortable fit. The walk mode does a good job relaxing the cuff of the boot, and the ski mode provides aggressive forward lean. I have not yet toured in them, but they are very comfortable at the resort. If you are an aggressive skier looking for a powerful boot, you will be very happy with the Custom.

I'm 6'2", 165 lbs. I was looking for a burlier, stiffer boot than my Crispi CXRs, and this one is the ticket. The stiffness of the shell demands and aggressive stance and style (it'll make you a better skier), and the bellows are very stiff, forcing you to weight your dropped ski a little more. However, the stiff bellows provide a nice, progressive flex that tames big powder boards and provides carving stability in a variety of snow conditions. The fit in the heel of the boot is better than any I've skied before, no slippage, and the Boa system on the liner make the boot feel very snug and solid. You might want another pair of shoes to put on at the bar after skiing, but it's a small price to pay for the performance.

I ordered these boots thinking they'd be great for me paired with the rid stiff O2 bindings since I'm a big guy...but I have a wide foot, these boots KILLED me. I wore them one day this season and I was too scared to put them back on, even to walk around the house. I can't write an accurate gear review on these boots but just a warning for guys with wide feet, be aware of the narrow, non-forgiving Customs. Any suggestions for a super wide boot would be much appreciated!