New boots and liners from Scarpa

The biggest news from Italian ski and alpine boot manufacturer Scarpa is the dual use Terminator X. Named after Norman “Terminator X” Rogers, Rap DJ, former member and producer of Public Enemy the X is designed for the NTN (New Telemark Norm) system. This dispenses with the classic Telemark duckbill front lip. Instead, the NTN binding interfaces with a rounded front sole and a lip under the arch of the boot. This gives much greater rigidity and power transfer for the widest telemark skis.

Scarpa Terminator X

Now the cool bit. Because a rounded front sole is used the boot works with standard Alpine touring bindings and it even comes with Dynafit inserts as standard. The boot is similar to the popular TX2 with three buckles and a front belows to aid telemark turns but like the F1 touring boot this also makes climbing more comfortable on both types of binding. No more sore shins for AT skiers. The boot is quite high and features a torsion frame to optimize lateral stiffness.

The Hurricane follows on the heels of the Tornado moving even further away from alpine touring boots. It is equipped with the DIN standard Ride sole. This rubber sole is designed to work effectively with both touring and downhill bindings. The claimed weight is 3750g, which seems light but is perhaps down to the new Intuition™ liners.

Scarpa Hurricane

Garmont’s also have a new boot in this category called the Shamen. It has an anatomically moulded shell and is as stiff as most alpine boots.

The Scarpa F3 is a beefed up version of the popular F1 boot. Both boots borrow from telemark technology with a flexible bellows to aid climbing. Whereas the F1, which features some improvements to the ski/walk lever, has been popular with racers the F3 is a chunkier boot that will appeal to ski tourers looking for better downhill performance. There is no news on whether Scarpa have sorted out the durability problems with the sole that affected the Spirit range last year.

Scarpa F3

Scarpa also women’s versions of the Spirit 3 and 4. These are shorter boots with a slightly different shape to fit the morphology of womens legs and feet.

Scarpa have teamed up with therm liner specialist Intuition™. The new liners will address some of the wear and fit problems of the old Scarpa liners. The new liners use Ultralon™ foam; hmmm sounds like something from a Sci-Fi B movie but apparently Ultralon is used by ski racers and mountaineers for its warmth, light weight and fit. Scarpa say that the new liners will come in half sizes (currently they juggle shells and inners to get half size fitting) and will be available in men and women’s versions. They will be pre-moulded in the factory for the appropriate shell but then can be custom moulded to individual feet requiring minimal boot fitting and without the need for custom footbeds. Scarpa also claim they won’t pack out significantly in use.

Ultralon foam is a closed-cell EVA compared to the polyethelene (PE) and open-cell foam used in most touring boot liners. The foam is denser, lighter and more durable Ultralon is a more resilient, higher-quality foam. It is a much denser closed-cell foam, so it is very resistant to compaction, very warm and very lightweight. The Scarpa inners will feature overlapped stitching for comfort and no seam on the sole of the boot. A final plus, they don’t hold moisture like PE liners so dry quicker and shouldn’t smell as bad. The liners should be available as a retro-fit option for existing boots.

Comments are now closed