A compromise but still very good.

By Brian G. Sweeney Ranked #385 - Alpine Touring Boots March 18, 2010

As with all gear there will always be trade-offs. You can't have your cake and eat it too, i suppose. However these boots get you pretty darn close. The key is to know what you're planning to do with them and not expect them to serve you outside of that role. If you have it in your head that you're going to put a 5 degree edge bevel on your race skis and carve up the race course then you should just get alpine boots. If you are planning on steering a big powder/backcountry/all-mountain ski down challenging slopes with some surface other than bulletproof ice then this is your boot. I've tried these boots with my GS skis and they're totally ski-able in bounds on groomers but i don't think they would give me the support I'd want in a race course. I've also skied this boots with my AT setup. They give me just enough responsiveness to make hard turns on steeps and they are hands down the most comfortable boot I've ever skied bumps in. As others have said the BOA system and walk switch are great for skinning. The walk system probably hinders the overall stiffness of the boot but i find that the whole thing stiffens up pretty well if you really crank down the boa, buckles and power straps. Then of course you loosen it all up again for the skin, hike or lift ride back up.

In theory the best boot would be one which weighs nothing, has a comfy walk/skin mode, and provides all the stiffness you can handle. This seems pretty impossible to achieve but these boots get you pretty close to it, while making compromise in areas that I personally find agreeable.

UPDATE:
I had planned to ski Tuckerman Ravine over the weekend, however conditions were dangerously icy and avalanche prone so we skied inbounds at Wildcat instead. Snow was firm. I had a pair of GS skis but was too lazy to bring 2 pairs of boots so i rode the factors all day. Once or twice i could swear my knee nearly touched the top of my ski. These are a sweet boot for trees, soft bumps, and backcountry, but not for hard fast groomers - you'll outski them.

View Details: Black Diamond Factor Alpine Touring Boot - Men's

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