Scarpa Typhoon Alpine Touring Boot

I got these boots mainly as a resort and kite skiing boot and love them for those uses. You could tour with them, but there are probably better touring boots out there (Spirit 4 comes to mind). But, as a boot that can handle a day of hard skiing at the resort, then with a flip of the switch allow you to tour out of the resort and into the backcountry, the Typhoon is great.

The soles have no rocker, so they walk like an alpine boot - a bit clunky. But, they do have a Vibram sole, so if you are booting, you'll have good traction. These boots also work well with crampons like the BD Sabertooth.

I had the liners fitted and molded at a shop and have had no blisters or hot spots with them. They are comfy and warm, yet when clamped down, you can get a lot of performance out of them.

The Typhoons don't come with Tech fittings, so if you are going to tour with them, you can't use a Dynafit binding. This doesn't matter all that much as they are more of a Marker Duke or Fritschi type of boot.

They only time I am ever annoyed by these boots is when I am getting into them as the buckles, tongue and shells all seem to conspire against going together in the right order and it can be tricky to get all the parts lined up. I've found that rotating the buckles out of the way helps with this quite a bit.

Overall, I'd say these are a 85% resort boot and 15% touring, but if that is what you are looking for (I am), they are perfect. You can hammer the resorts day after day in them, then skin back from a trip to the sidecountry if needed.

Another big plus is the fine Italian craftsmanship on these babies - they are a work of art that you can take out and play with.

I should first preface that this is my first AT boot so I can't compare the Scarpa Typhoon to others. But I've put on 6 long days on them this year and have been very pleased so far. I don't normally like a stiff boot, and my alpine boot (Technica Vento 10) is rated at a 95 flex. The flex of the Typhoon is so similar and the fit is super comfortable that I will end up wearing this everyday this year regardless if it's at a resort or in the backcountry. I was pretty surprised at the weight as well (for reference, mine are a size 27.5 and weigh 8lbs, 4.4 oz for the pair or 3757 grams for you metric freaks). Although there are other lighter options, only a handful can combine lightweight and high performance in the AT market; the Typhoon is one of them. I've had no trouble piloting skis with waists of 96mm, 112, and 136 while wearing these boots. Even at high speeds in choppy snow, they provided enough stiffness to make me feel stable. Walk mode is great and I use it whenever possible since it makes hiking that much easier. I've done two tours with the Typhoon that were 2,000 feet each: one with the stiff tongue and one with the touring tongue. After experiencing both, I highly recommend using the touring tongue on the way up and then switch out at the end of your climb. Swapping out takes all of 15 seconds and your feet will be a lot happier. I haven't done any mountaineering or have used the rally sole yet, so I can't comment on either but I hope to be able to provide more input on this later in the year. Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase and would recommend the Typhoon to someone looking for an AT boot with middle-of-the-road weight but better than average downhill performance.

I purchased these boots in February 2010, I weigh 175 and am 5' 10"...an average size person. I've answered some questions below in the past if you look at all the posts.

I like the light weight of the boot compared to others I have owned, mostly race oriented boots. The grip from the soles is okay but there are better options. I really like the Intuition liners which are super warm and provide a comfortable fit...a pleasing experience.

If you mainly intend to use this as a front side boot inbounds (80%+ resort) do yourself a favor and don’t unless you’re a beginner to intermediate skier. Advanced to experts on big skis won’t be happy. If you are skiing wimpy front side skis (skis that are masquerading as all-mountain skis that are 175cm and say less than 75 under foot) these might be pretty good. Keep reading and you’ll understand why.

Now for the important part use while skiing, I WOULD NOT recommend for skis much over 80mm under foot or heavier ski and binding combos. I have skied these with several pairs of race skis (SL's and cheater GS) and they are a bit soft but are able to put the ski on edge without a lot of trouble but are still too soft for hard charging. However, once I step into the 90+mm under foot ski (Mantra or Prophets) they just don't have the power to put that ski on edge on firm snow and icy snow. Now stepping into skis like the Katana 183 with Duke bindings and ski anything other than soft snow or powder forget it, these boots are no match for skis that size and weight. Imagine skiing some sweet pow and then hitting some steeps, wind packed snow, hard snow in a chute, steep bowl or coulior and whoa!! You'll need to put the big ski on edge and you will not be able to easily you'll have to get really low but the boot just doesn't have the power you'll want. Not good.

I purchased these mainly to stand around during races as an official so I can keep my feet warm and they certainly work well for that.

I'm going with two stars now after an entire year with the boots to give an honest opinion rather than the new owner that is so happy they really won't give you the right information.

The build quality is decent the buckles are good but the heals of the boot are really getting chewed up by the bindings the material seems a bit soft and I don't think they will last for several seasons.

I think I'll look into the Tecnica Agent 120, Tecnica Agent BC or Black Diamond Factor as I want good walking grip for walking on rock and wind blown snow while hiking, they need to be warm but most of all they need the power to drive some big skis. If you need these three features look elsewhere as the Typhoon just can't perform on bigger skis. I don’t think these are even close to the 110 flex as advertised, I ski a 130 Nordica when I race and these aren’t even close (unless my 130’s are really more like 150 and they aren’t.) I’m not happy and am about to hemorrhage more cash to get the right boot.

This boot is great for AT and a great all arounder for most. I'm used to relatively stiff dh boots, and this is definitely a compromise in performance from my 120flex nordicas. However, the weight savings is phenomal over a dh boot. The front/rear flex is a little soft, but should be fine for all but the hardest chargers. I'm about 230 lbs with a pack, and lighter people should find this boot is plenty stiff. These boots drive the big skis just fine (Goliaths, XXL). The only things I'd change are the tongue is kinda a pain to get back under all the buckles and the front buckle is really difficult to unbuckle. Overall, a good AT or intermediate/advanced inbounds boot.

I ski all over the place(rockies, S. america, europe, asia). I do alpine touring ski mountaineering and lift served. I like AT boots because of the lightness;not just for touring but for air travel also. These boots are great for me. They have all the drive necassary for any task, they are warm and comfortable. I love the the new Alpine/AT sole. I use mine in alpine bindings and Fritchi's. This is a fairly high volume boot. I would say the flex is medium to firmish. In touring mode it is very comfy with or without changing the tongue. They are a bit of a pain to put on and off but that not really important. These would be great boots for a guide, patroller or anyone with a very high instep.
Be careful with the beautiful intuition liners . They abrade easily and there will be rubs from the shell to protect from.
Cons: The color is putrid, who cares (subjective)

I am 6'5 210 and have destroyed this boot on three occasions. The boot is sweet except I wouldn't call it that aggressive. If you are going big in the backcountry I would beware. Scarpa is great about there return/replace policy, but this is not the boot for bigger guys that are hucking cliffs out back, more geared for touring and ripping in the bc.