Gear Review | Scarpa F1 LT, Backcountry Touring Ski Boots

[@georgeparkhurst9348]

best review on the internet of these boots. Thanks for taking the time to do this Ben! I will buy them thanks to you

[@Grawedx]

Superb review, helped a lot in choosing my next boots. Thanks a lot!

[@boisagarrapascual5516]

The best light ski touring boots that I have ever had. I think that this model, it's a game changer in this kind of boots because even if it's really light it's stiff enough to have a really decent performance on the down hill. The only BUT (in my case) it's the liner I made a hole on it after only half a season of intensive using, I know it's a ultralight liner but i would expect a bit more performance in terms of durability. Thanks for all your videos, they're really inspiring.

[@BenNearingburg]

Thanks, I'm glad you like the videos!

[@MacLeanWright]

Great review Ben. Love these boots. Couldn't agree more with what you said. I haven't had any issues with the boa yet (knock on wood). These boots are my daily driver, skied about 70 days so far on them and love them. I've used them for skimo races, powder skiing, and hardback/icy runs, and they excel in all conditions. Compared to a heavier touring boot, you probably lose like 10% "performance" on the downhill, but gain probably 50% (or more!) efficiency on the uphill due to the weight and range of motion. That's a trade off I'd make any day of the week since touring is 95% uphill. Thank you for a great review!

[@thicccboyztv]

I'm sorry but saying you lose 10 percent performance on downhill is such a farce. Particularly saying that they excel in all conditions...if you want to wiggle in low angle terrain in good snow at low speeds? Sure. It can do that. But crank up the speeds, and add variable conditions? Light boots are not fun and they do not excel there. Also saying you gain 50 percent performance uphill is also legitimately untrue. When I raced I did 11k vertical in 4 hours in full skimo kit in variable snow but on a resort. In real backcountry conditions skiing only 45 plus degree couloirs as descents I've skied 8800 ft in 5 hours or so and that includes trailbreaking for portions (done solo but some lines had been skied already) which means that skiing easier terrain and with established skintracks 10k would have been pretty realistically achievable in 5 hrs. Also mind you- I was skiing 138mm pow skis with hoji boots- not weight weenies skis or boots. If you say the weight of skis and bindings are half of uphill performance and boots are the other half, the total percentage efficiency gained by myself for full skimo kit is about 30 percent. If you say boots are worth half of uphill performance, then the total uphill efficiency gained by weenie boots is 15 percent. I would be willing to wager however that on the downhill that compared to beefier boots, you can only manage probably half the speed in these boots. And I'd also wager that in truly variable conditions and in steep consequential terrain that you would ski at best perhaps a quarter of the speed. So in sum, realistically you get a 15 percent efficiency bonus on the up for a 50-75 performance decrease for the down. Again, If you prefer low speed, low angle skiing then sure, these boots are totally adequate but they pale in comparison to real boots in real terrain. As the reviewer mentioned- these are best for long traverses or mountaineering where the skiing isn't the main objective, however, I would also say that there are still far better options. I'm writing this because it truly is doing a disservice to viewers/readers when you put comments like this that are frankly untrue and misleading.

[@ListlessSilence]

Very informative, highly appreciated!

[@BenNearingburg]

Thanks, glad it was helpful!

[@miloschjovanovic]

Nice review man!!! What size of ski are you using? Thanks!!

[@BenNearingburg]

Thanks! In that video I am on DPS Pagoda Tour 106s.

[@Steffesa]

@@BenNearingburg I have been eyeing those, i got my rustler 10's instead however because of half price. Did you have any issues skiing those wide shis in the LT's?