My Season As A Hard Boot Splitboarder
Hard boot splitboarding? What’s that? Are those ski boots? How does that work?
These are just a few of the questions I’ve been asked while touring in my hard boots this year — and they’re fun conversation-starters every time.
While it’s not new tech, hard boot splitboarding is still a curiosity here on the east coast, where many of its advantages don’t exactly get a chance to shine. I’m hoping that by sharing my season of experiences as a hard boot splitboarder, I can help a few more folks understand why it might be a good setup for them, too.
About me: I’ve been snowboarding for about 20 years, with the vast majority of my experience consisting of freestyle and terrain park-focused riding. Over the last 5 or 6 years, I’ve spent more and more time in the backcountry — racking up close to 100 touring days each year for the last two years.
For some reason, there’s always been this stigma in the snowboard community toward hard boots. I’m not sure where this came from — something to do with the historic feuds between skiing and snowboarding in its early years, perhaps? It also remains hard to deny that soft snowboard boots are more comfortable than ski boots.
Because of that stigma and the perceived comfort tradeoff, I’ll admit I was apprehensive to try hard boots. Most of my curiosity into the world of hard boot splitboarding came from a desire to spend longer days touring, and to move quicker and more efficiently. Last year, I toured in the Salomon S/Lab Trek boots, which offer an articulating cuff on a soft boot. This was good, but really just left me wanting to go further with the concept. I’m glad I did.
What and why? Why not?
The concept is relatively simple: By touring in a lightweight ski boot, the user is able to eliminate the excess weight of a traditional splitboard binding underfoot. A simple bear trap-style binding by Spark R&D folds up flat and stashes in your backpack and, in my situation, this setup was about a pound lighter on each foot. The old (paraphrased) adage goes, “One pound underfoot is equal to five pounds in your rucksack.” This kernel of conventional wisdom dates back to Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first ascent of Everest in 1953, but since then, numerous studies have shown that it is indeed true. Weight on your feet is disproportionately more exhausting (requiring 4.7 to 6.4 times the effort) than carrying the same weight in your backpack.
Every bit helps when the sleds and duffel bags come out.Other advantages include the ability to attach fully-automatic crampons, boot durability and ankle mobility. If you're the type of person who regularly seeks out ski mountaineering-style lines in the Whites, Adirondacks or elsewhere, this feature will be a big selling point. I recently put this to the test on a week long trip to Katahdin and can say that I was very happy to have confidence in a boot and crampon that climbed well and didn’t limit mobility.
Let’s talk about mobility for a second. This is something that will make it impossible for you to go back to touring in a snowboard boot: Walk modes. Modern ski touring boots boast walk mode range of motions of up to around 70 degrees. Your snowboard boot? Well, it doesn’t. Long strides in flat or rolling terrain? No problem. Kick turns in steep technical terrain? Doesn’t flinch. Second to weight, this is probably the most useful and appreciated feature.
As far as durability goes: most snowboard boot manufacturers recommend an 80-100 riding day lifespan for soft boots. After this amount of use, the materials the uppers are constructed from just don’t function the way they were designed to anymore. A hard shell boot can last many seasons without its structural integrity being compromised, and it's easy to swap out liners when the time comes.
The Gear
It'll be easiest for me to talk about my setup, but I'll try to mention other popular alternatives and what I know about them.
Boots
I can see this being the crux of the situation for a lot of people; it was for me. I was familiar with most of the popular options on the market. Boots like the Atomic Backland or the Dynafit TLT series have been modified by people for a while and are known to work well. The Slipper by Phantom — which is one of the first splitboard-specific hard boots on the market — was also released in the past year. I wasn’t able to put my hands on any of the options I just mentioned, though I know they work well.
I decided to take a chance on a new(er) boot from Dalbello, the Quantum Asolo. The Quantum Asolo weighs in at 1060g which is incredibly light. What drew me to this boot was its simplicity: a two dyneema cord closure system allows for easy and custom fits as well as simple repairs. The other ideal feature is the single-lever walk mode in the rear. This is essential for anybody who may want to install the Phantom Link Levers.
On Link Levers:
Link levers? What are those, and do I need them? Phantom makes a replacement walk mode lever that has an interchangeable spring built into it. What this spring does is allows a ski boot to flex like a snowboard boot while the lever is locked into ski mode. These springs can be swapped out according to the stiffness you prefer.
I'm 5’9” and 155 lbs, and I ride the stiffest spring they offer — the gold spring that is estimated for my body weight felt way too soft for me. I’m not sure if this has to do with the specific leverage ratio of my boot, but my recommendation is to take the weight recommendations they offer with a grain of salt.
My advice is to try on as many lightweight touring boots as possible with a trained boot fitter. Search out shops that sell the Backlands, TLTs, Quantums, etc. Ski boots are much less forgiving than traditional snowboard boots, and although you can manipulate the plastic with punches, you want to be as sure as possible that you're getting the right boot:
- Make sure the boot uses a single arm walk mode lever. Almost all of these can accommodate the phantom link levers based on the measurements I have taken while at work.
- Always double-check your specific boot. There may be variations, and custom boot work will be required. Modifying boots will void all warranty, so be sure before you go drilling into that fancy $800 boot. I rode in my boots for nearly a month without modifying them (and was honestly just as happy).
Bindings
There are two primary options on the market for bindings. I ended up using the Spark R&D Dyno DH. Unlike traditional splitboard bindings, the touring brackets are not included in the binding. You'll need to purchase your preferred tech toe separately. I chose the Spark R&D Tech Toes for ease of mounting to the standard Voile mounting pattern. There's also the option to purchase the Dynafit Adapter Plate so that you can use a Dynafit Tech Toe if you prefer. There is a weight penalty of about an ounce.
When you want to descend, just slide the binding over your pucks like you would with any other splitboard binding. I found these bindings were somewhat complicated to adjust, and there is no real standard for acceptable tension of your lock lever. If you need help, I’m sure somebody at your local shop will be able to set you up.
