Dalbello Sports

Lupo SP I.D. Ski Boot - Men's

The Dalbello Lupo SP I.D. Men's Ski Boot is, quite simply, a monster, with a 130 flex and a ski/hike mode that make it easier to get to the top of backcountry lines and shred them to smithereens. It's not designed for long tours where the approach is a priority, but for short skins outside the resort boundary and in-bounds approaches where you're focused on making the way down look good and the way up a little easier. It also has a rubber-clad arch and replaceable Hy-Grip rubber toe and heel lugs for plenty of grip on gnarly ridges and exposed rocks.

Ignore the ski/hike mode, though, and the Lupo is pretty damn similar to Dalbello's world-crushing Krypton. It has the same three-piece Cabrio architecture, which employs a stiff polyurethane cuff and shell for powerful lateral stiffness and power transmission and a progressively flexing Kinetic Response polyamide tongue for stiffness when you're descending and flexibility on the uphill. The Contour 4 shell is also mapped to accommodate your ankle and foot bones, reducing the amount of punching and grinding you'll have to do, and has a heat-moldable I.D. Thermo Max liner for comfort and serious performance.

The Lupo also has the same Dynalink rearfoot retention system as Dalbello's freeride boots. Attaching to the shell, rather than the cuff, it pulls your heel snugly into the heel pocket without interfering with the boot's flex. The toe buckle is located on top of the boot, which pulls your foot down into bootboard rather than squeezing the shell around it, and also helps prevent breaking and bending in a crash (not that you'd ever do that). The Lupo also has a center-balanced stance that's designed to drive fat, rockered skis comfortably, too, so you won't have to mess around with lean angles and stances—just get the Lupo on your feet and get after it.