Atomic HAWX ULTRA 130
Last: variable
Size tested: 28.5 (320mm BSL)
Design: Carryover
Background/Stats:
6'2", 250lbs w/gear, measure 13.5/14 shoe size, 11/10ths skier, ski the entire spectrum of terrain and conditions (with the exception of moguls; I will go out of my way to not ski moguls).
I have been in several Atomic boots over the past five seasons, starting with the first year Redster Pro 130 (29.5). That boot fit me better and skied better than any other I had been in before, and after the addition of a Nordica foam liner, I thought I would never want to ski anything else. One day (a very short day) of backcountry skiing in that setup ended my relationship with that boot. From there I moved to an Atomic (starting to see a pattern?) Waymaker 130 (28.5) with an Intuition Gold tongue liner, and that was the perfect blend of performance and versatility. That lasted for about 450 days, and at the end of last season I was "forced" into a Dalbello Pantera 120 (28.5) as the Waymaker finally gave out. I could never get the Pantera to fit properly, and although the walk mode in that boot was great, it wasn't worth the weight and poor fit for my foot.
I'll start off with the Memory Fit. I had never been in a fully heat moldable shell before, and didn't think it was everything my bootfitter friends said it was. I don't have an outrageously weird shaped foot, in fact its pretty normal aside from having a slightly narrower heel and slightly high arch. The heel has been my Achilles... heel, for years, as its just narrow enough that if a boot is sized for my forefoot, it packs out too much in the heel and I get significant lift. Not fun at 50ph in crud. Since I know exactly where I typically need work on my boots, @Philpug and I didnt spend much time assessing where we would need to pad my foot for the molding process. What we did do was pad the outside of the liner instead of my foot to get a little extra room.
Once the shell and liner are heated and your in the boot, it starts off feeling kind of cozy and quickly progresses to feeling like a steam roller that got blow torched is rolling over your foot. I'm not sure if Phil let me sit in them for longer than normal just to give me a little extra torture, but it took about 35 minutes to complete. By the end, I was ready to hurt somebody due to the feeling in my feet (I never actually lost feeling, so I guess thats a good thing?). After 10 minutes of letting my feet cool down and return to its normal color (they were bright red and white when they were removed from the boots), I put the boots back on. Any doubts I had about MemoryFit (and CustomFit, Salomons equivalent), were completely destroyed in that moment. I had never felt that comfortable yet locked into a ski boot without ever having skied it. I had to take them off and put them back on to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Lets just say, I am now a complete believer in MemoryFit.
The first few days I "skied" the Hawx we're work days with lower level students. During morning line up, the first thing I noticed was the lack of a walk mode. I had become so used to being able to unlock the cuff and have significant range of motion in my ankle when walking/hiking, and this year working with lower level students, that I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to work in the new boot. After a few days though, I got used to it and now I don't really notice it while I'm working.
When I finally got a chance to freeski them, right off the bat (before even getting onto the lift), I was blown away with how light these boots are. Granted, I'm coming from a Pantera, which is one of the heavier(est?) boots on the market, so the difference from what I was used to was huge. Nonetheless, a boot that skis this well shouldn't be this light. Lets talk about how well it skis. The response you get out of the boot is insane. It was almost too responsive after being used to the sluggish, (relatively) soft Pantera. It only took 6-7 turns to figure out that I could dial back the intensity of my skiing and still get a ton of performance out of the boot. The next thing I noticed was how much I could feel through the boot. Changes in the snow, mini chicken heads, ruts, divots; the tactile feedback from this boot is unreal. It took me a little while to get used to, but now that I am I LOVE it.
One drawback that I and others have noticed is that the toe dam does not properly seal out water. My toes get wet pretty quickly in pretty much all conditions. Something else worth noting is while the liner hasn't packed out hardly at all, it doesn't feel very substantial. I think a Boot Doc foam liner might be in my future after hearing how much @Philpug and @SBrown like theirs.
I will continue to update this thread as I ski it more, and as we go into warmer weather. One thing I am a little apprehensive about is spring/summer patch skiing in this boot, as the lack of a walk mode makes anything more than parking lot > lift walks mildly unpleasant.
Last: variable
Size tested: 28.5 (320mm BSL)
Design: Carryover
Background/Stats:
6'2", 250lbs w/gear, measure 13.5/14 shoe size, 11/10ths skier, ski the entire spectrum of terrain and conditions (with the exception of moguls; I will go out of my way to not ski moguls).
I have been in several Atomic boots over the past five seasons, starting with the first year Redster Pro 130 (29.5). That boot fit me better and skied better than any other I had been in before, and after the addition of a Nordica foam liner, I thought I would never want to ski anything else. One day (a very short day) of backcountry skiing in that setup ended my relationship with that boot. From there I moved to an Atomic (starting to see a pattern?) Waymaker 130 (28.5) with an Intuition Gold tongue liner, and that was the perfect blend of performance and versatility. That lasted for about 450 days, and at the end of last season I was "forced" into a Dalbello Pantera 120 (28.5) as the Waymaker finally gave out. I could never get the Pantera to fit properly, and although the walk mode in that boot was great, it wasn't worth the weight and poor fit for my foot.
I'll start off with the Memory Fit. I had never been in a fully heat moldable shell before, and didn't think it was everything my bootfitter friends said it was. I don't have an outrageously weird shaped foot, in fact its pretty normal aside from having a slightly narrower heel and slightly high arch. The heel has been my Achilles... heel, for years, as its just narrow enough that if a boot is sized for my forefoot, it packs out too much in the heel and I get significant lift. Not fun at 50ph in crud. Since I know exactly where I typically need work on my boots, @Philpug and I didnt spend much time assessing where we would need to pad my foot for the molding process. What we did do was pad the outside of the liner instead of my foot to get a little extra room.
Once the shell and liner are heated and your in the boot, it starts off feeling kind of cozy and quickly progresses to feeling like a steam roller that got blow torched is rolling over your foot. I'm not sure if Phil let me sit in them for longer than normal just to give me a little extra torture, but it took about 35 minutes to complete. By the end, I was ready to hurt somebody due to the feeling in my feet (I never actually lost feeling, so I guess thats a good thing?). After 10 minutes of letting my feet cool down and return to its normal color (they were bright red and white when they were removed from the boots), I put the boots back on. Any doubts I had about MemoryFit (and CustomFit, Salomons equivalent), were completely destroyed in that moment. I had never felt that comfortable yet locked into a ski boot without ever having skied it. I had to take them off and put them back on to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Lets just say, I am now a complete believer in MemoryFit.
The first few days I "skied" the Hawx we're work days with lower level students. During morning line up, the first thing I noticed was the lack of a walk mode. I had become so used to being able to unlock the cuff and have significant range of motion in my ankle when walking/hiking, and this year working with lower level students, that I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to work in the new boot. After a few days though, I got used to it and now I don't really notice it while I'm working.
When I finally got a chance to freeski them, right off the bat (before even getting onto the lift), I was blown away with how light these boots are. Granted, I'm coming from a Pantera, which is one of the heavier(est?) boots on the market, so the difference from what I was used to was huge. Nonetheless, a boot that skis this well shouldn't be this light. Lets talk about how well it skis. The response you get out of the boot is insane. It was almost too responsive after being used to the sluggish, (relatively) soft Pantera. It only took 6-7 turns to figure out that I could dial back the intensity of my skiing and still get a ton of performance out of the boot. The next thing I noticed was how much I could feel through the boot. Changes in the snow, mini chicken heads, ruts, divots; the tactile feedback from this boot is unreal. It took me a little while to get used to, but now that I am I LOVE it.
One drawback that I and others have noticed is that the toe dam does not properly seal out water. My toes get wet pretty quickly in pretty much all conditions. Something else worth noting is while the liner hasn't packed out hardly at all, it doesn't feel very substantial. I think a Boot Doc foam liner might be in my future after hearing how much @Philpug and @SBrown like theirs.
I will continue to update this thread as I ski it more, and as we go into warmer weather. One thing I am a little apprehensive about is spring/summer patch skiing in this boot, as the lack of a walk mode makes anything more than parking lot > lift walks mildly unpleasant.