I could easily drive my fat 110+ skis through early season pow and chunder. Given that the Flex Rating is only 100 I was expecting a less than solid ride but it was super stiff and provided great support. Skiing down is where the Skorpius CR really surprised me. While I was able to hike with the Skorpius CR fully buckled up there was some additional range of motion to be had when the top power strap buckle was opened, although not required for a comfortable stride on the skin track. In walk mode I struggled to bottom out the Skorpius CR in either the front or back direction, the 68° of flex is more than enough and it’s a firm yet fluid motion unlike some other AT boots I've tested. Nothing complicated, easy to use and very few moving parts so there is less to ice up and/or break. As the name suggests you simply rotating or 'swing' the mechanism down to lock into ski mode and up to enter walk mode. This Swing-Lock Closure System is both simplistic and genius all in one. The feature I am most impressed with has to be the design of the ski/walk mechanism. Also, something to note, this Spider Buckle only has two settings and no micro-adjustment so hopefully one of the two options works for you. Opening up that front Spider Buckle in the two steps described above is a must in order to help with this and while not a show stopper this is something that takes time to get used to. However, I found that the Skorpius CR Boots were still tight to put on given that my heel would hit the back of the shell and I’d have to really force it to get it inside the heel pocket. This buckle is fixed but can be opened in two steps, first the metal buckle itself and then the plastic portion of the buckle which provides much more volume to facilitate entry/exit of the boots. I found the toe box to be very spacious and there is also considerable room in the forefoot but the front Spider buckle takes care of this and provides a great foothold when secured. No other modification was needed but I did end up getting them thermo-moulded, which only improved things more. The fit right out of the box was impressive for the Skorpius CR Boots, while my foot is not that unusual, I was happy to simply replace the stock footbeds with my custom ones and hit the skin track. I wasn’t, however, able to test the Skorpius CR’s on a really cold ski day (talking -15☌ and lower) so I can't vouch for how warm they would keep your feet when things get really cold, I'm guessing not as well as thicker liners. La Sportiva did use a much lighter liner in the Skorpius CR Boots in order to trim some fat and while not as comfy as those found in the Spectre 2.0 boots, they are still acceptable. This is where other brands will save on vast amounts of weight, by shortening the cuff height-as well as skimping on the liners. Luckily this was not the case with the Skorpius CR Boots.įor starters, since it's a super-light AT boot the cuff height on the Skorpius CR Boots is generous and higher than most which lead to added support and power. This is because as alpine touring boots get lighter they also generally become less powerful and responsive on the ski. For example, we’ve got one well known brand here that weighs in at 41 ounces for their 4-buckle cabrio shell in the same size as our evaluation Sportivas.Although I am a huge fan of the La Sportiva Spectre original and 2.0 versions I was excited to give the much lighter Skorpius CR Boots a try, I have to be honest though, I was expecting it to be better at the uphill than down. Where does that stand in the backcountry boot spectrum? We would not call Spectre THE lightest 4 buckle boot out there, but it’s in the exalted pantheon of several lightest. Old is 41.4 ounces per boot, new is 42.7, a difference of 1.3 ounces, 37 grams. Weight is virtually the same, the liners are pretty much identical so for a more telling comparison I weighed without liners. Overall, WildSnow kudos to Sportiva for well executed incremental improvements. Cuff alignment rivet is gone not an issue for most skiers and perhaps one less thing to fail, but some folks truly need cuff alignment. We don’t mind the color scheme, but prefered the less garish motif of the original dark version. Most importantly in my view, a bit more vertical toe volume is important, and the low shell above the arch of the foot has been fixed. In our view, what’s said to be a “5 percent” increase in stiffness is real, though not something every skier needs to be concerned about.Ī few other Spectre 2 changes and improvements are of interest as well, but nothing apocalyptic. La Sportiva’s freshman “light beef” Spectra 4-buckle “1.0” ski touring boot was a solid performer from the start, what with a few fit glitches and since resolved first-run bugs. Qubbles aside, they served a lot of backcountry skiers. Low shell over the arch and a modicum of bulging during flex were downsides.
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