Tecnica

Cochise Pro Light Alpine Touring Boot - Women's

While some people fall asleep to visions of sugar plums, those of us who are a little smarter tend to drift off to dreamland imaging big lines, untouched snow, and easy skinning. That's a vision shared by the Tecnica Cochise Pro Light Women's Alpine Touring Boot, which is a highly skiable and aggressive boot that combines Tecnica's alpine heritage with a killer ski/hike mode, so you can enjoy serious downhill chops alongside surprisingly good climbing performance. While the Cochise has a lot in common with Tecnica's in-bounds boots—a flexible Quick Instep panel, power strap, and middle-of-the-road 100mm last, for example—it's made of lightweight and stiff Triax 2.0 plastic to provide a solid 105 flex with less weight than a traditional shell. Accordingly, you can drive the Cochise pretty hard without flexing through it, and don't have to lug heavy plastic up to the top of your favorite backcountry bowl.

Of course, the Cochise's touring capabilities are predicated on the Mobility Cuff ski/hike mode. A quick pull of a lever unlocks the shell from the cuff to give you 23 degrees of smooth rotation, and another tug locks the boot back down into bomber ski mode. Three micro adjustable buckles cinch down the shell and cuff around your foot and ankle, and the UltraFit heat-moldable liner can be customized to fit the contours of your calves and ankles for increased warmth and comfort, along with a better fit. Tecnica also made sure the Cochise is compatible with both tech and AT bindings, and offers an interchangeable alpine DIN sole kit (sold separately), if you love your boots so much that you want to use them in bounds as well as out.