Lange 130 Ski Boot - Men's - 2007 BCS

When a guy like Jeremy Nobis slays first descents in places like Alaska's Tordrillo Range, the boots you make for him had better be burly. Lange cranked its Freeride boot up a notch this season from 120 to 130 making it stiffer throughout. The tight 98mm last fits better out of the box this year, and the race plug shell is designed to easily be altered by a skilled bootfitter. Freeride specific features include Velcro closures on the liner tongue to keep things together when hiking with open buckles, and a dampening foot board to soften hard landings. Your shins will appreciate the thick elastic power strap.

Incredible performance at high speeds, rock solid in pow or hardpack. For those familiar with the older Comp 120, these are much lighter and seem to have more forward lean.

Lange doesn't change their boots much, and this model is identical in almost every respect to my 6 year old Lange Banshee 110s. They are very old school Lange in a freeride, new school way. The foot bed really does a nice job of absorbing the shocks, and the flex is perfect, like the stiff suspension in a sportscar: they expect you to ride fast and furious and the flex helps keep your body stable at high speeds in choppy snow. I use them to power my Atomic M-ex skis all over Whistler. They do double duty as race boots on my supercross skis on icy nights too. The lateral response is immediate, they give perfect support for an aggressive stance, and the fit is snug in a cozy way, tight enough for responsiveness, but I never have to release the buckles to stop the dogs barkin until my legs are done skiing. My banshees have lasted 6 years without any wear and tear, just a tiny bit of rust on the buckle attachments. The liners have held up and so have the bases. They ski as well today as they did just after I broke them in. I moved straight from a crappy $300 recreational boot to my banshees without finding myself overpowered by high-end Langes: if these boots are the same, they'll put you in the right stance for solid skiing, and keep you riding all day for years to come. Doesn't hurt that they look sweet either. I can't recommend these boots more if you are moving your skills from the blues to the blacks, or the blacks to double blacks, and want to ski all over the mountain all day.