Scarpa Spirit 4 Observations
I just picked up a pair of Spririt 4s. Apart from the obvious (they are frickin' shiney and nice) I thought I'd share a few things I have noticed about them. Thought it might be handy as they aren't distributed in the US, I think. Don't know how much of this info is already out there but here it is anyway.
- they aren't super-duper light. My old red Denalis with thin, very light Conformable thermos are lighter.
- they come with two tongues - a walk tongue (green, sort of split to flex more when unbuckled) and a ski tongue (black) that is significantly stiffer, much more like a Krypton tongue but smooth (no depressions) and a bit shorter. I didn't realise this before I saw them in the shop.
- they come with rear spoilers that velcro onto the liner (à la Tornado, I think).
- they have WAY less lateral play than the old red Denalis. Nice progressive, moderately soft, Flexon-like forward flex (but not as high on the shin).
- they are higher volume than the similar length Denali. Wide and high - not what I read elsewhere but what I expericed when trying them on. FYI My denalis and my X-wave 10s both needed stretching for width in places; these seem to fit fine out of the box fine.
- the Scarpa thermo liner seemed to bloat more than others I've had when baked so this volume might not be such a problem for people with skinny feet.
- the walk switch feels as if it will break. Easily.
- the only difference I can see between the Spirit 3 and 4 is the colour. The forefoot buckles are bolted on (I already took mine off) - and it looks almost certain to me that the 3 and 4 both use the same holes. So a 3 could be very easily modded to a 4 and vice versa.
- with this in mind, why does the 4 cost so much more then?
- almost the heaviest components are the buckles. I think they weigh almost 100g each.
- the (overly complex?) walk system is probably even heavier. I didn't weigh it as it is splay-riveted in and don't want to pull it out as I have no replacement yet. Lose (or replace) it and you would still have a burl boot but A LOT LIGHTER (maybe 400g per pair, I think)
- the plastic feels a lot less durable than my Denalis - old Denalis are bombproof though - but really soft and easy to scratch. However, the dual-injection flex feels much better than on any other touring or tele boot I've used.
- they have very slightly less rocker than the Denalis but enough to make walking pretty easy (might feel more like this because my Denali toes are rubbed down a bit). I am hoping this will make them more conducive to wedging into jacked up Salomon bindings as I am planning on gluing a teflon AFD onto the toe sole for alpine binder use.
- they are pretty cheap (relatively speaking) at Sport Conrad (although I had my reasons to pay a lot more for them in London... :rolleyes: )
- they have Dynafit inserts. More to the point, they feel well up to driving my Sanouks with Dynafits and I am stoked to ski them soon.
Rock on Wayne! Rock on Garth! Excellent!
