It was late June, and I used to be nonetheless snowboarding. Credit score a lifelong obsession with the two-planked exercise, and an enormous winter in California’s Lake Tahoe space. Greater than 720 inches of winter snow had fallen, making my odd summer season ski session potential. However that wasn’t the one curiosity that day. On my toes: a pair of Salomon S/PRO SUPRA BOA® ski boots, a brand new sort of ski boot design. I examined the boots whereas snowboarding at Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort towards the tip of the world’s legendary season. I’ll get to my suggestions on the SUPRA BOA boots in a second. However first, a little bit backstory.
The Yr of BOA Ski Boots
Ski boot know-how has remained comparatively unchanged for years. Why repair one thing that’s not damaged, proper? However this winter, put together to see new improvements on the boot wall of your ski store. This has been referred to as the yr of BOA, and for good motive. 4 boot manufacturers (Salomon, K2, Atomic and Fischer) have teamed up with BOA—maker of the distinctive match system with its telltale dial that you simply’ve seen on bike sneakers, helmets or snowboard boots—to debut a brand new, better-fitting ski boot.
The know-how as utilized to ski boots could also be recent to customers however hardly untested. K2 has used BOA techniques in its snowboard boots for years and, extra not too long ago, in ski boot liners. Salomon has had BOA in different iterations like snowboard boots. However the corporations are actually placing the BOA Match system into ski boot shells.
Ski boots with the brand new BOA rigidity system vary from alpine touring boots to downhill ski boots. They swimsuit all kinds of foot shapes and skill ranges. They usually’re instantly recognizable as a result of they dispense with the normal backside two buckles in your boot’s decrease shell. Changing them is a spherical knob, the center and management middle of the BOA H+i1 system. Flip that knob and it pulls a 1.7 mm-thick metallic cable by means of a set of plastic pulleys. Because the cable tensions, it cinches the boot’s two-piece overlapping shell across the backside of the foot, for a match that’s extra even and safe than buckles can ship.
Many boots will be personalized or heat-molded to create an ideal customized. The concept behind this BOA know-how is that it provides you a greater match proper out of the field. Whereas customary ski boot buckles are likely to have a couple of notches that allow you to modify how tight or roomy you need your boots to be, the BOA dial enables you to make micro-adjustments.
Testing the Salomon S/PRO SUPRA BOA Ski Boots
- Execs: Uniform wrapping of the decrease foot; a cushty, safe really feel; micro-adjustability.
- Cons: A bit heavier and dearer.
- Greatest for: Skiers of all sorts who wrestle to get an ideal match of their boots; these with fickle toes who prioritize precision and luxury.
- Value: $599–$799
Really feel and Efficiency
Now again to that June ski day. Image sunshine and goggle tans, snowboarding in T-shirts and slushy snow. Full disclosure: I grew up with old-school, four-buckle boots. I used to be skeptical that the BOA system might present the identical help and construction I’d come to depend on from metallic buckles throughout my years of all-mountain snowboarding. I’ve additionally seen BOA knobs break on bicycling sneakers, leaving you with a shoe that isn’t cosy anymore.
Getting my toes into the Salomon S/PRO SUPRA BOA on day one was a cinch, because of a supple shell and slick liner. The boots instantly felt comfy. I clamped down the highest two buckles as normal, then turned the BOA knob to the best to realize my desired tightness. (One other plus: The knob is straightforward to regulate with gloves on.)
I used to be fallacious in regards to the match: The boots felt as stable as any four-buckle boot—and had been extra uniformly safe. Whereas snowboarding, I felt like my foot was swaddled like a child or wrapped by an expert burrito maker. But nothing appeared tight; my foot felt protected, and my heel was locked in place.
To launch the stress, you merely pull the knob out and the boot immediately loosens to a cushty strolling match. After I did this within the carry line, it felt like I used to be sporting cozy slippers. On the prime of the carry, I pushed the knob in once more and turned it again to the place I needed it, and I used to be able to ski once more. Coolest characteristic: The boot has numbers on the shell—one by means of 4—the place the knob turns, so you may modify to your favourite setting every time.
One other enchancment: Earlier BOA techniques solely turned in a single course; in case you needed them a bit looser, you needed to launch the knob and start the tensioning course of anew. The improved H+i1 system enables you to commute, micro-adjusting so as to add a little bit extra tightness or create a tad extra looseness, so that you get a match that’s excellent.
Sturdiness
Understanding that ski boots take a beating, and in robust situations, BOA engineers developed this new system to be further sturdy—and likewise simple to restore if one thing does break.
Consequently, that is probably the most resilient system BOA has made but. My fears of the knob breaking mid-slope had been unfounded. (I attempted to interrupt the burly dial and had no luck.) The tensioning cable, in the meantime, is thicker and longer than in earlier BOA techniques. And because the system is exterior and attaches to the boot shell with screwed-on {hardware} (versus the rivets that ski buckles are often connected with), elements will be simply changed.
“By means of design and testing, this BOA system has been fine-tuned to resist the acute nature of alpine snowboarding,” says Lauren Samuels, Salomon affiliate class supervisor for alpine snowboarding. “But when it does break, Salomon and BOA have a sturdy protocol for guarantee and alternative elements.”
The thickness of the plastic across the foot was reengineered to be smoother and softer to allow that wrapping sensation. Meaning the boot truly feels lighter and extra pliable, making turning simpler. “We didn’t simply slap a BOA on a beforehand present shell,” Samuels explains. “We constructed a totally new boot and a completely redesigned shell for the BOA system.”
Downsides
The BOA knob does add a little bit of weight. Fashions with BOA additionally value greater than comparable boots with out the system. However the acquire you’ll get for that may be a boot that wraps your foot like no buckle ever might. I additionally discovered the boots to be a little bit heat—the latex-foam lining was cozy however not precisely breathable. Then once more, I used to be snowboarding in June, and it was sizzling. On a chilly winter day, they’d in all probability be excellent.
The S/PRO SUPRA BOA is a downhill ski boot. It doesn’t include uphill touring capabilities. (Should you’re on the lookout for a touring boot with BOA’s H+i1 system, try the K2 Mindbender BOA. It’s a touring-capable freeride boot with a “tech toe” that inserts into touring bindings and a stroll mode for skinning uphill.
Backside Line
The Salomon S/PRO Supra BOA boots have a medium 100 mm final. With a customized shell, it may well develop to a roomy 104mm. They’re out there in 105 and 95 flex in girls’s fashions and 130, 120 and 110 flexes in males’s. The boots will work for a variety of skiers, from intermediates on groomers to consultants who hike to again bowls. General, I’m a convert. The boots had sufficient excessive efficiency to take a skier all around the mountain whereas additionally being comfy sufficient to put on from first chair to final, with out complaints.