Salomon is an alpine ski company that has seriously ramped up their backcountry game in recent years. From the Salomon Quest 12 ski boots, to the Salomon Guardian 16 binding, they’ve made their presence known in the ski-touring world. Well next season, the company is raising the bar with the new Salomon Quest Max BC 120 ski boot. It’s a touring boot with serious alpine qualities that is much improved over previous incarnations. While it won’t be available until the 2013/14 ski season, we got to take them for a test drive both in-bounds and in the backcountry.
First things first though, here are the specs from Salomon:
- Twinframe technology
- Custom Shell 360
- Pebax lower shell
- Polyolefin cuff and overlap
- Contagrip interchangable alpine/touring pads
- Full thermo liner
- Ultralight construction
- Hike and Ride Technology
- 24mm oversized pivot
First off, the Salomon Quest Max BC 120 is real purty. The white, blue, and black shell is a nice alternative to the generally loud colors that companies insist on using these days. Overall, the boots looks very similar to past incarnations of the Quest line. They came with the alpine soles already on them, so I took them for a spin at Snowbasin on a particularly icy, boilerplate day – the perfect setting to test flex on rock-hard bumps.
Putting them on, the boots fit pretty good without any break-in time. I usually wear a mondo 26.5 size (which is what the test samples were,) but these felt a touch roomy, especially in the forefoot. I really liked the liner, with its plastic, reinforced tongue for extra stiffness, and the super-fast and easy quick laces. Just one tug cinches the liner down around the calf and ankle area, and you’re ready to buckle up.
About those buckles, they are large and easy to operate with gloves on. It’s a three-buckle system with an oversized strap at the top. The way the buckles tighten the shell looks and feels like it enclosed my foot, wrapping it in plastic shell like a burrito, rather than simply tightening which can put pressure points on the top of the foot (a common problem I’ve found with other boots.) The buckles also have a three-position adjustment so you can move them forward or backward to your liking. I didn’t mess with this feature and left the buckles they way the came.
Okay, so that’s what I noticed just by putting the boots on. It was time to ski that boilerplate. At a flex of 120, I expected them to be stiff, and they were. The other Salomon Quest boots I tested a few years back were the Quest 12, and the Quest Max BC 120 boots are even more stiff. I’d say it’s a solid 120 flex and they didn’t feel any softer than the Black Diamond Factor Mx 130 boots I tried at Outdoor Retailer. Locked into my Salomon Shoguns mounted with Marker Baron bindings, I cruised around on crusty groomers. These boots were a super easy ride and that flex allowed for large, fast, sweeping turns. I could really lay into the curves and turn in chatter without a hint of over-flexing. Going from edge to edge was whippy and fun in these boots as they transferred power quickly, and I really liked how the forward lean kept me over my skis, even when the going got tough in frozen chunder off the groom tracks.
Seeing as how this is a review of a Salomon backcountry boot, you’re probably most interested in the tech soles. So I mounted up a pair for a three-day weekend of touring. Like most swappable sole blocks, these attach with small screws. They were easy to put on, and I found it interesting that the rear tech fitting comes uninstalled. A long screw secures it, and that screw literally drills into the actual boot shell. No chance of tech failure there. With the touring soles installed, I headed to Logan and clicked into my Voile Chargers mounted with Dynafit TLT Radical FT bindings.
The tour was long as we sought out fresh powder on Millville Peak above Providence. A long skin up a gravel road for 4 miles took us to the upper part of the canyon, and I was impressed with the Quest Max BC 120’s touring capability. While they certainly were not as light as a dedicated touring boot, they were far from clunky. In fact, I was really surprised at how much range of motion these guys had between the upper and lower cuff. Flat tracking up the road, I felt like they were just as capable in walk mode as my BD Quadrants, which is considerable considering the true 120 flex and alpine feel of the boots.
Once we topped out on the peak, it was time to ski some pow. We dropped into the north face and did laps in knee-deep fluff. Just like the turns on resort groomers, the boots were also awesome in soft snow. The flex didn’t come into play much here, but I was able to drive the boots with ease when slarving my skis over the white stuff like a butter knife spreading frosting on a cake. In short, these boots are fun!
However, by the end of the 9-mile, 5,000 vertical-foot tour, I’ll admit that my dogs and legs were damn sore, but I’ll forgive the boots. With their weight (8 ounces heavier than my pair of Quadrants) and stiffness, I’d say the Salomon Quest Max BC 120 is more appropriate as a sidecountry/alpine boot that can be taken out for short tours. But I don’t think I’d want to march on another 9-mile epic in them again.
The Good: High performance alpine-style boot that rips in bounds, true 120 flex, excellent range-of-motion in walk mode, beefy buckles, comfortable liner that requires no break-in time, good looking.
The Bad: Not friendly for longer tours, heavier than backcountry-specific boots, sizing is on the large side.
Final Word: Salomon has made their best alpine/sidecountry boot yet. They are stiff enough to be your daily resort driver, are comfortable right from the get-go, and have all the features you need for short tours in the backcountry. They’re perfect for anyone who splits their time evenly between backcountry and resorts and are looking for one boot that can do it all.
Those look sweet. The new skiing shoes slightly look more and more like roller blades but they’re much better and way more comfortable.