Originally Posted by
wstdeep
Three days in mine. Fit seems really subjective, I have had buddies who can slide right into my alpine boots (atomic hawx 130) no problem practically tear them off once they get them on ( just like I did with their Hoji's) and some who ski in boots I could never get in like them. I'm 11.5 street shoe, avg width, pronate like crazy, have a morton's toe, large sixth toe and multiple ankle spurs, so wide and flat up front with a pretty narrow heel and thin calf in general. Generally I jam into a 27.5 x 98-99mm and spend quite a bit of time punching for toe length, the assorted spurs and throw in intuition wraps. Ski wise I am out the gates at Jackson most days, more hike than skin but do some touring as well.
Day one: throw in formed intuitions from my Hawx, length and sixth toe are good, significant pressure/pain from my lower leg just above the ankle. The boot was really stiff with the Wrap liner...I have been skiing Girlamid for about 7 years now and like the way it skis...no exception here. Way stiffer than any cross over boot that I have been in and I have tried every one on looking for the holy grail one boot quiver. That liner is pretty thick above the ankle the way it's molded contributing to my pain I suspect.
Day two: heat fit a Hawx liner and throw that in the mix. that liner is a bit too low in volume in general to fill the shell but still pretty decent. Still having lower leg pain from one leg where I took a puck years back.... it's calcified and larger above the ankle there.
Day three: heat fit shells with the Hawx liner and add a boot board under the liner..almost there but the liner is just not quite filling the shell...bottoming out the cuff buckles. Leg pain has disappeared with the heat fit.
Day four: heat fit the stock liner which is puffier than a new couch pillow. Add the boot board under the liner after fitting. The fit is good all around without any punching...feels luxurious compared to my normal setup with the Intuition liner. I don't think this will last long term as I like a really tight performance fit and any packing will likely be too much but today I skied with zero pain and pushed it hard.
Performance on current rock hard Jackson bumps and ice rink groomers is really impressive...by far the best of the hybrids that I have skied. At this point I'm sure I have a winner and with a fresh intuition wrap I can easily see them as a do it all inbound/backcountry setup. See ya Alpine boots I think, one and done.
I like em, am thrilled with the performance level and love the Hoji lock setup.