How to choose your ski touring boots?

Ski touring has wind in its sails! At the same time, it's hard to resist this discipline that combines the challenge of climbing & descending in powder snow in the middle of the backcountry... to choose your ski touring boots, follow our pieces of advice!

How do ski touring boots work?

To allow you to alternate between the phases of climbing in alternative steps and descending in alpine skiing style, the touring ski boots must allow you to adapt the position of your feet very easily. To do this, they are equipped with buckles or hooks & velcro straps, that you will be able to tighten or open depending on the terrain you are traversing.

For the ascent phases, the boot will be opened to free the shin and allow you to perform your alternative steps freely, this is called the travel. Before descending, you will have to close the top of the boot. From an aesthetic point of view, a touring ski boot looks more or less like an alpine ski boot but, on the other hand, fits on touring bindings known as "Low Tech" or "with inserts".

---

What type of locking system for ski touring boots?

1, 2, 3, 4 hooks or a BOA system to close your boots? In order to make the right choice, look at your ski touring practice and the type of outings you particularly enjoy. The more downhill-oriented your profile, the more you should choose a model that provides a very good support. If you are more of an uphill lover, touring ski boots with a single buckle/hook will suffice. There are often four profiles of ski tourers and, for each, a number of buckles or hooks (depending on the model and brand) is recommended:

• The versatile skier: he likes both ascending elevations and downhill experiences, so he will need boots with 2 or 4 hooks and he can choose the ones he finds most practical.
• The freerider: his thing is the downhill experience and in the powder at best, it will thus be necessary that his foot is well maintained by 4 hooks.
• The confirmed skier: even if he has a great preference for uphill, this skier always enjoys the slopes. He therefore needs a consequent support and this is why he can choose ski touring boots with 2 buckles or equipped with a BOA system for a customised and adaptable tightening.
• The expert: going far, fast and high could be his motto! He is not really interested in descents and prefers to focus on performance with boots with one buckle or BOA tightening, as light as possible and with good articulation.

When choosing your ski touring boots, don't forget to also take your weight into consideration: the heavier, the more stiffness you will need for the descent and therefore a greater number of buckles.

---

How to choose the size of your ski touring boots?

To find the right size of ski touring boots, you proceed as for alpine ski boots: you look for the correspondence between your shoesize and the mondopoint size. The latter, sometimes differs a little from one manufacturer to another. Here is a size guide that will give you a first idea:

MONDOPOINT SIZE CHART: TOURING SKI BOOTS

Choosing the right size of ski touring boot is fine, but, to be truly comfortable in your boots, don't forget to also measure the width of your foot at the metatarsal. You can then compare this value with the fit (shoe size volume) indicated on the pair of your choice. This measurement is almost always given for the 26.5 mondopoint boot. If you wear bigger boots than 26.5, you should know that the volume of your shoe will be greater. If you wear smaller boots, it will be the opposite.

---

How to try on ski touring boots:

To make sure you have the right size of ski touring boots, you need to check that your feet are perfectly comfortable in both downhill and uphill positions.

• Uphill position: put your boots on with your socks on and don't close them completely, as you will be testing the comfort and articulation of your boots. Walk around (on a carpet) and check for discomfort from your toes, through your malleoli, shins and calves all the way through to your heels. You should be able to walk normally without lifting your heel. Make sure that your feet do not move in the innerboots (this could lead to blisters in the long run). If all is good, move on to the downhill position test.
• Downhill position: Tighten your top buckles. If you are forced to tighten to the first or last notch, stop right there, the collar is either too wide or not wide enough, it won't fit. If you have the right size, then your feet should touch the front of the boot and not be in contact with the boot at all when leanign forward. The shoes should wrap around your feet and support it well without compressing it. In the heel part, your feet should touch the back of the touring ski boots when you lean forward but without coming off the insoles. Finally, no pain or discomfort is felt in the malleoli and shins. That's the right pair of boots.

Ski touring is a fulfilling discipline that will allow you to thrive in the wilderness. But before you head out to shred some "pow-pow", you need to take special care in choosing your boots. Now that you know how to choose comfortable, technical and correctly fitting ski touring boots, the first outdoor outings are not that far away!