sweet

a boot that rocks the resort as well as the backcountry. Stiff and comfy. Walk mode is easy and useful even at the resort. Love the vibram like soles even use them in my alpine bindings (some say switch to the provided iso alpine soles). Uphill comfort is excellent (when using laces) paired with the Naxo 21's. Price is ugly but its my only boot now. Get them fitted at your local ski shop and boy howdy are they comfy. Great AT setup! They will drive any ski.

Major design flaw.

Great boots, but the rivet at the ankle is under-engineered and breaks. If you can afford $800 a year for boots these are great. Size 12 fits a 29.5 well for me as well.

follow up review

OK with 50+ days on 'em the liner is packed out. I had them re-fitted that helped. Also once last season and once this season I have blown out the inside rivet holding bottom of shell to upper shell. Not sure if it was the same boot or not, also not sure if skiing in walk mode on rare occasions causes this rivet to weaken. Sorry but sometimes I F*&^ up and forget to put 'em back in ski mode, but only a few turns before you realize your error. Still a beefy, comfy boot and a nice option for the one boot quiver. Just a couple of concerns of mine to be aware of and curious if others expierence these symtoms. I still recommend them if your in the market for a stiff AT boot.

Finally

Finally an AT boot that can, and will drive any ski out there. (I do not intend to make these boots drive World Cup-stiff race skis.) I've been on G-Rides and pocket Rockets for the past 3 years (G-Rides wouldn't drive a ski much stiffer than the P.R.) Demo'ed the adrenalins (O.K.) but waited for these this year. Glad I did. The boots are UBER-comfy, and they really are stiff enough to drive just about any ski you choose. (I have replaced the power strap with BOOSTERSTRAPS like the last three pais of alpine and AT boots I have owned. Go ahead and do yourself a favor and replace all your power straps with BOOSTERSTRAPS, trust me.) This is the only boot I ski any more. There is no need for Frankenstein-walking alpine boots any more. The only drawback is the price. I can justify this because they will be my ONLY boot for area skiing and the backcountry for like 4 years. It would be more difficult to drop all that $$ if I were using them only a few times a year. I live a few miles from the Aspen/Snowmass/Highlands/Buttermilk and ski quite a bit all season. 45+ days. I was in these boots from opening to closing day and my feet were never happier on the hill. Oh, the lace-up liners are awesome. Four different strangers asked me about my boots simply because I was cruzing through the parking lot with such ease (Cuff un-locked) I had to laugh, but hay, you can dance in these puppies at the bar.

Really Nice Boots...

These boots are full of surprises: warm, responsive, comfortable and they look cool too! The sizing is a little off, i.e. if you wear a size 12 get a 30.5 instead of a 30. They will take some time to break in and they are heavier than there cousins. Also they are a little tight around the calves for people with large calves, and the recommended Garmont thermo fitting machine is hard to find as very few shops have them a least around here (east coast.) All in all I am very pleased with them and would recommended them to any freeskier.