What does "within the range of the hashmarks" mean exactly? Does the housing have to sit at the middle hashmark? Or anywhere within those 6 hashmarks? That seems like a very wide range.

Breaking in boots ❌ Breaking in feet ✅

Since Atomic and Salomon are from the same family tree, how similar or dissimilar are they from each other…fit, performance? Also, if Tecnica are changing their boots should I wait till next year? I need their MV boot.

my boots wiring channel is blocked off (has some sort of debris or something in it) not allowing me to thread my wire through, what should I do?

Oh my word.... I do lots of squats and deadlifts, short sprints... so I thought this would be easy... turns out...not so much!!! Great workout and I know from painful experience that the more I suffer now the more I will enjoy the snow! Great video; worth taking the time to check and master the exercises the first few times.

I've skied my Technica Mach 1 130s for some 500 days. From Alaska to Canada to the Alps. Gear is overrated.

Been skiing for 50ish year. All over the globe. My take on the stiffness and the way I approached with my kids is that, yes, stiffer boots enable better skiing, but are just one of the many limiting things. Didn't give them really stiff boots until they were better skiers. As that would have been like giving a F1 racecar to someone who just got his/her driver's license. Boots are important, yes, but so are many, many other things.

If normally I ride 171 directional ski should I go 168 or 174?

@TheSkiMonster How do you know when you picked “too stiff” of a flex? I went with BFC 130 instead of 120. In store I felt the 120 boa felt more harsh on my shins but then I tried the 130 (non boa) and it felt great in store but then I got on slope and my ankle was uncomfortable and I felt more confident straight lining than I did turning. I did go to 100 flex panterra to 130… I’m 5’7.5 205lb and 24.5 size.

So I’m sold on ripstick. I’m a low end intermediate, 236lbs, ski the white mountain region mostly. Looking for a ripstick I can progress on. I would like a little float but don’t want to overshoot my skill level. For the 2025 models would you suggest the 88, 96, or 96 black?

Im 184 cm 90 kg what size for me would you recommend

10 minutes to explain 1 minute of info. Stop being verbose, people want short key points, not 5000 words.

why two watches?😂

Oh man.. I gotta try this.. THANKS!

Hey, I recently bought a pair of boots and took the liner off the shell and had a hard time putting it back in. Any tips?

But,,but,,you forgot very important point.. In front unit you have two wings which a Ute to ski boot tie area. You must not have lateral play,,, So you must boot in,,,then look down front binding in the mating area above wings. See space,,,you must screw in gentally. Do not over tighten screws to boots.. Voila,,,

So for an advanced (not expert) skier, is the 130 flex much of an advantage over a 120? Seems way easier to find a great late season deal on 120 flex boots than 130s.

Thank you 🙏🏻 my repair kit never sent an Allen key for my side BOA… any tips on popping it off without the key. (Besides reaching out to BOA)

Thank you for this! Exacly what I needed :)

How “approachable” is the rustler 9? I’m a low end intermediate looking for a playful ski I can develop into. I ski NH with my kids. Would like slow speed maneuverability and ability to hold the east coast ice. I’m on the heavier side at 236. Been considering the ripstick 96 and rustler 9.

What the heck is a "low volume foot" vs "high volume foot"?? 10 minutes of talking and you never explain it. As someone who deals with human biomechanics on a nearly daily basis, I notice that a lot of your claims about the foot and ankle are simply incorrect. We're potentially going on a ski trip next year, so I'm looking for helpful information about purchasing new ski boots. This video isn't helpful and has several erroneous statements with regards to the foot and ankle ailments.

I disagree with everything this guy is saying. As a former ski instructor the biggest problem I saw is when a boot is too stiff and the ankles are locked, the only place a person can move is with their knees. If you can only flex the knees then your weight shifts backwards. Skiing in the backseat is a struggle unless you are a world cup skier.

Been having issues with heel slip whenever I put too much forward pressure on my boots. Smaller sizes are too small. What can fix it.

Which one would you pick now, that the 2025 bent is out?

Nimble? Through trees!? WTF? No, do not do this with the Smokescreen unless you want to end up like a Kennedy. Jesus Christ

What? That Santa Ana you skied needs a tune because I have that ski and it has no problem holding on ice, it is soft and skis short.

The ENFORCER IS NOT softer than the Anomoly, at all.

How would the new Nordica Santa Ana 87 hold up against these two? Which one would you recommend for early advanced skier, mostly on piste (needs to hold an edge well for ice where I am) but keen for slightly more playful to explore more off piste. Thanks!

great video!

Dodge ski boots for the win!

I would say complete opposite

I just retired my 2011 Krypton 2 Pros. After many hundreds of days and 3 liners they just didn't have it anymore.. I was very sad they fit perfectly after many shell mods. Fortunately skiing mostly in Alaska not too much UV degradation to worry about.

Thank you brother. I just popped the side wheel on my K2 Clickers. Very helpful

Do you have any sources for the flex index starting with nordica and the basf reference number? I've not been able to find any articles which mention basf and nordica in the same article.

I would rather die from embarrassment than ask a friend for help getting back into my skis no matter what the bindings are.

Love the comparisons. Thanks.

Thanks for the great videos!

oops

Used to ski and race with rossi equpe... 150 wasn't stiff enough as is. Yes, I riveted them plus a wider power strap( I weight 140 and six tall. and ski with my skeleton and powerful with my din set at 14 for race, 11 for all mountain.. Moved on to the redster and they did it! I'm old now and yet still love the redster and the yellow rossi's,. my go to boot also Atomic is the Hawx ultra white 130. I can make them not move on boilerplate and get a little forgiveness in the bumps and steeps. Really loved foot space thought as I've always had zipfits and unbuckle as soon as I could. Get off lift and I'm cranking down cuz I do not want movement in the boot. My style of skiing wants to feel everything the ski is touching. Thanks!

Good stuff, thanks

A similar video coming up for women's boots?

Wow! He buried the lead! The last comment is all you need to hear.

Stack height, durability, cost.

great explanation (I've been a buying customer for some time and now I'm also a listening customer! Thanks for the great video topic.)

Good video. Just a few points: (1) I would think a boot would be stiffer for a lower-volume foot, because with an LV foot the skier needs to crank the buckles a lot tigher to get a good wrap, which increases the stiffness. (2) You said WC DH racers don't shy away from stiff boots in spite of the terrain vibrations they get. While WC DH racers are skiing 150+ flex boots, they are still skiing softer boots than are used in WC SL. I think that's because they don't want every bit of terrain vibration transferred to their feet, and because they don't want the boots to be as reactive. (3) As a 145 lb recreational skier looking for high performance, I ski both a Lange ZB and an Atomic Redster TI 130. I know it's not commercially viable for most stores to carry those, which is unfortunate, since it makes it harder for those of us looking for high performance boots. I actually had to mail-order them, try them on at home, and then bring them to my local fitter.

As an experienced (and I flatter myself, an expert) skier, a question for you: what is your view of 120 vs 130 flex? I know it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but, all other things being equal, do you think the difference between 120 and 130 is significant? I’ve been looking at some new boots and some of them top out at 120. They are tempting but I’m “worried” about a loss of responsiveness (vs 130). Currently in a pair of Atomic Waymaker 130 flex from 2014.

Thanks for another good comparison. How does this new declivity x 102 compare with the blizzard anomaly 102?

I ski a Dalbello Panterra 105 and a ski instructor in Steamboat identified that I was not flexing the front of my boot in an upright athletic stance. I had to bend over to use my body weight to flex into the front of my boot, which is not the proper body position. So, my boot fitter put a little heel lift under my foot bed to slightly change the angle of my shin in the boot and make flexing into the front of my boot easier. Made the world of difference! Shout out to Andy at Viking Ski Shop/Chicago. Also I started exercises to strengthen the muscles on my shins to better flex into boots, which also helps a lot!

The channel set up sucks so far

So, why manufacturer bothers making soft boots if they are no good , according to your statement? It is skiers choice what type of boot to use on slopes. Everybody is different, different feet, different athletic abilities, different balance and different skiing level. All that determines what is the best boot. Personally I prefer softer boots for many reasons and balance is absolutely no problem.