Salomon MTN LAB boots - first impressions

I am now 4 days in on a pair of MTN LAB boots (thanks to Salomon UK !!), so here are some initial impressions:

(for reference I am 83Kg currently, size 28.0, previous touring boots include Dynafit Mercury, Technica Cochise Pro 130, Dynafit Titan & TLT5P, along with a variety of 120/130 alpine boots; conditions tested - hardpack piste, grippy piste, old soft powder, variable/crud... early season '15 in the Alps!)

Fit - seems similar to a Titan but possibly slightly tighter at the ball of foot and toe box. I never had to have a Titan shell pushed out, but most likely will with the MTN LAB

Buckles - The 2 buckle + powerstrap system seems very efficient at creating great hold of the foot in the boot. My initial worry looking at the boot was the lack of a 'middle' buckle, as with 2-buckle boots in the past (ie TLT5s etc) I have had trouble getting sufficient 'hold' of the heel back into the pocket, particularly noticeable when skiing heavier snow.

Boots with a view:

Walk mode - amazing! The range is very good (though this isn't a big factor for me as I don't typically go for uber-long strides even on the flat) but what really sets this boot apart is how good the walk mode is without unbuckling the main buckles (unlike the majority of touring boots I have used in the ast where most buckles had to be very loose to create a noticeable 'walk' feel). The lever to lock/unlock ski/walk mode is small but very positive.

Ski performance - very good so far - on a par with the Technica 130s, and considering these are 400gs lighter per foot (going on book weights - to verify on the scales when I have 10 minutes) this is impressive. Flex is stiff (good) but very progressive. Lateral rigidity seems excellent.

More to follow when I have had a bit more time in these...

Touring boots - review of Dynafit Titan

A review of my current touring kit has been promised for some time so here is part 1 (finally!):

I have been skiing on Dynafit's Titan boot for nearly 3 seasons now and have used them for everything from cruising off the lifts through single & multi-day ski touring to reasonably full-on ski mountaineering involving 'proper' climbing (Swiss route on North face of Les Courtes and the like).

While not being the lightest boot (nearly 2Kg per foot) what you lose in extra weight to carry you certainly gain in skiing performance - the performance is not far off that of a '120 flex' alpine boot (although there can be big differences between these!).

The Titan is a 4 buckle design with an overlap shell - great for performance, not so great for getting your feet in after a cold night's bivvy... The boot has 2 cuff angles in downhill mode - 15 and 21º for the tech-heads out there and a walk mode. I have been using a 28.0 shell paired with a Palau hard thermo-formed inner boot and this review is based on approximately 250 days use.

Skiing:   As stated above these boots ski really well for a touring boot, I have been driving some pretty beefy skis - Dynafit Mythic Riders (not big but definitely beefy), Volkl Mantras and Volkl Gotamas. With smooth progressive forward flex, and tight lateral response the Titans can handle a big ski comfortably and give good support even in those 'out of shape' moments.

Dave Searle putting his Titans to good use - Cunningham Couloir on the West face of the Aiguille du Midi:

Skinning/Climbing:  OK, you definitely know you have nearly 2 Kg on each foot, but that is part of the performance/weight trade off and easily mitigated by simply getting fitter... The walk mode is OK, but doesn't give a great rearward angle (compared to a dedicated touring boot) so stride length is slightly restricted (though of course this only really matters on gentler skins - I don't know anyone who takes really long strides forward skinning on middle or top risers...). Climbing-wise these boots are fine on ice up to about grade 3, and OK for easy rock scrambling/climbing but for anything more technical they are definitely heavy and unwieldy

Boot soles have held up fine:

(the soles are interchangeable with DIN-compatible 'flat' soles, though I have never bothered with this).

Some minor negatives: as of this winter the cuff has started to 'buckle' on the outside in the region of the top 2 buckles - not a huge problem but definitely noticeable if you really try to crank the boots up tight.

From new I had to grind down the front edge of the cuff where it meets the moulded stop on the clog - this was preventing the boot from going into the 21º lean mode without some pretty fierce shell manipulation.

The ski/walk mode lock also seems to be wearing out on one boot at least - I have had found myself back in walk mode on one side for no apparent reason

In summary a great boot for skiing hard on big & beefy touring set-ups. It may well be superseded by the next generation of boots (Vulcan etc) offering similar skiing performance with a big weight saving - only time will tell!

Review of Dynafit TLT5 P boot to follow shortly...

*Note  -  I am not sponsored by any brand in particular so this review has no commercial bias - all I am looking for is kit that does what I want it to do... *