Scott

Orbit Alpine Touring Boot - 2020

Scott designed the Orbit Men's Alpine Touring Boot exceptionally well, except for one major flaw: if you hit the skin track too fast, there's chance you might actually launch off the top of the ridge and end up stuck in outer space. If you can look past this potential drawback, the Orbit's an awesome boot with a 115 flex Powerlite and Pebax construction, which is strengthened with reinforcements, and 60 degrees of cuff rotation to keep you charging on the way up.

The Orbit is slightly softer than Scott's top offering, the Cosmos, but weighs a few ounces less and has a two-buckle design to save time during transitions. Apart from the flex and weight, the two are pretty much identical, with redesigned low-friction, high-retention tech fittings, micro-adjustable Ergal buckles, and full-length Vibram soles that make walking on slick rocks as easy as sliding down powdery bowls.

As is today's norm, the Orbit has a fully heat-moldable liner, which is also seamless and made with a Gore-Tex membrane for waterproof, breathable protection. It sits inside a comfortable 103.5 last that can accommodate wide feet, and Scott also included shock-dampening footbed inserts to keep your dogs from barking even on long, rugged tours. The Orbit switches into walk mode with the flick of a switch, and Scott even strengthened the locking rear bar to help you avoid broken boots, which is seriously no bueno.