I used to be a park rat, so I did not mind my mushy 5-year-old Burton Ions. Then I moved to Mt. Baker, where the terrain demands a boot that fits solidly and has a stiff flex. I sent back a pair of K2 Darkos and DC Parks before I finally found these. They fit right out of the box, and there wasn't any break-in time. The articulated cuff gives power to your turns without creating pressure points. I had problems with my foot slipping around in the Darkos and being cramped in the Parks, but the Prime's Level4P liner molds perfectly to your foot after a couple days of hard-riding and the Power Wrap System allows you to customize how snug you want your foot in the boot. Furthermore, the boot is still flexible enough to throw down decent tweaks and presses. Since every turn you make is initiated with your foot/boot, these simple, solid boots are definitely worth the steep price tag.

After bootpacking at Mt. Baker for most of the season, I finally broke down and bought these snowshoes for backcountry snowboarding. For that, they are perfect! The bindings/deck accommodate my relatively bulky snowboard boots (men's size 7.5), and when I'm strapped in I can barely feel the extra weight on my feet. Furthermore, the flexible bindings make the Denali Ascents extremely packable, fitting snugly in the vertical board carry on my Heli-Pro. With these, I was able to cut my ascent time considerably, the Saber Teeth gripped the slippery spring Cascade snow well and the Televators made trekking up the steeps like walking up stairs. Finally, even without the tails I have yet to experience and flotation problems, but then again I'm a tiny guy (125 lbs).

Bootpacking at Mt. Baker all season takes a toll on your lower back. Once I bought my MSR Denali Ascents, I decided that I need a couple of trekking poles as well. I snowboard, so all I needed were ascent poles that were strong, lightweight, and could strap down on my Heli-Pro without being too awkward. These babies fit the bill and were at a great price to boot!

When I put my order down on these Darko's I was stoked. A stiff, all-mountain boot, with quality features like intuition liners and Vibram soles for under 190?! After trying them on in a local shop I bought them on Dogfunk. Although they felt perfect in the shop, I found that, when riding, the toe box was much too large, even after heat molding. My heel would stay firmly in the heelcup, but the front of my foot would slop from side to side in the boot causing some pretty ugly foot pain. The other reviewer's were not lying when they said you should have chicken legs/feet to rock these. Although I am stoked on the materials/technology in this boot, I definitely wouldn't recommend them to anyone who can't accommodate this unusually large toe box.

For 200 dollars, you can definitely a much better boot. When I placed my order for these, I thought they would be perfect for me: a freestyle boot that is stiff enough (DC says 6/10 on their stiffness scale) to carry me through the steeps. I couldn't be more disappointed. Right out of the box, I could fold up the boot with my hands. Definitely not 6/10, probably more along the lines of 4/10. I decided to test ride them in the park anyway and found that because the boot is so soft and does not have an articulated cuff you get mad pressure points on the top of your feet. Furthermore, although the Delta liner is marketed as the "bare essentials" liner, I thought the liner was too thin and lacked the necessary cushion to be considered comfortable. Also the lack of any way to secure the liner above the ankle gave the entire boot a very loose feel. 200 dollars should be able to buy you a stiffer boot with articulated cuffs and heat moldable liners. Even if you wanted a really jibby boot, there are better options out there for cheaper.