Scarpa Spirit Observations

**Mulletizer** · 12-10-2006, 04:40 PM

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...

)

- 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!

**summit** · 12-10-2006, 04:55 PM

Good info!!!

Compare and contrast vs a Megaride?

**Pow4Brains** · 12-10-2006, 06:54 PM

I was at Larry the Bootfitter on Friday. He is doing all the repair work for Scarpa and has some for fondling.

**squirrelmurphy** · 12-10-2006, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by Summit

Good info!!!

Compare and contrast vs a Megaride?

sounds like the fit is very different. also, i think they're a few pounds heavier per pair...

**Mulletizer** · 12-11-2006, 01:31 AM

Mrs Mullet has some Megarides but they are not here right now; we'll do a comparison later. My guess is they are lighter and much narrower. Being able to lose that 4th buckle so easily means it'll be very straightforward to shed weight from the Spirit 4. Do that and something with the walk mode and it'll be very lightweight in a measure of "pounds for burlyness".