Scarpa Spirit 4 Alpine Touring Boot - 2007 BCS

These boots are great. Even without the extra stiff tongue they are as powerful as most alpine boots. They are much more fun to ski than the Garmont Adrenalines, but since they don't have an alpine sole option they don't fill the one boot for all needs role they really could. If Scarpa added an interchangeable sole option I would buy them in a heartbeat.

I've skied on the same pair of Denali XTs (blue shell) for the last 2 seasons. I'm a large, aggressive ex-racer (6'2" 225). The Denalis are so good, I got rid of my alpine gear in 2005 and have skied only on Randonee stuff since then (Scarpa boots + Diamir Fritschi bindungen).

My Denalis are still perfectly adequate, but I needed a 2nd pair of boots for work, so I bought these. They are very slightly (3 oz) heavier than my Denalis, but have several nice updates: the forward lean adjustment bolt, a better strap on the 2nd buckle, a more solid walk/ski switch, Dynafit compatibility, and the dual tongues. The styling is a little sexier, but big whoop.

I agree with the previous post about "great for wide feet". My feet are like latke (potato pancakes), so Scarpas fit me way better than Garmonts. Probably not worth the cost to upgrade from the Denali to Spirit 4 for the newer, extra gee-gaws, but I'm 100% satisfied with both boots. Warm, too.

WARNING : Try these and your alpine gear will be up for sale the following week.

Skied two long days on early season piste and found these to be a great all round boot. I forgot I was not skiing on downhill boots. Great for walking too. Not cheap but you get what you pay for..

Skied on these boots for the fist time and loved them. This is a great boot for guys with wide feet. I'm a big guy (5 11'',215 lbs)and the regular green tongue is more than enough to drive a big guy and fat ski.

The shell is impressively stiff and very light. The stiffer black tongue can wait until the corn comes in spring! With the rubber soles, these things almost look and hike like a mountaineering boot.

But the standout feature is the Intuition liner. The fit that I got for my narrow, flat feet beats the crap out of the heat fit Salomon liners that I ride inbounds.

They come out of the box with a very upright stance. I've been gradually leaning them forward (easily adjustable with hex bolts on the cuff) and have found my happy place after a couple tours. The walk mode is perfect -- I no longer hold up the party by tightening and messing with buckles. One flip of the switch and down you go.