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The Best Power-Focused Alpine Touring Ski Boots

Power-focused alpine touring ski boots are designed with the downhill turns in mind. The two trends driving boot innovation today are lightweight backcountry ski boots that still perform and boots geared toward aggressive downhill skiing that aren’t oppressively heavy. This category is designed for those who want to use human-powered travel to get to objectives that require skis and boots that don’t skimp on performance in service to shaving weight.

These are three- and four-buckle boots that would hold their own resort skiing all day, but have a walk mode with legit articulation for comfortably skinning up mountains. They typically weigh less than your favorite resort boot and are often infused with carbon to keep them light yet stiff. 

Below are our tests of power-focused alpine touring boots designed for skiing hard outside the resort. Scroll through the grid below reading the pros and cons of each and click into the review of the boot that looks to best suit your needs and abilities.

Review Year
Best in Class
Overall Rating
Price
Name Overall Rating Ratings The Good The Bad Price
Salomon MTN Lab
91
Best in Class
2016
Fit / Comfort 8
Lightweight 8
Power 9
Walk-ability 7
Versatility 9

Two buckles and powerstrap keep things simple

Flex consistency is strong and smooth

Great weight to performance ratio

Clean design

Walk mode could have a broader forward range

98 mm last is limiting

Not for hard charging inbounds use

MSRP
N/A
BEST DEAL
evo
Scarpa Freedom RS 130
90
Best in Class
2016
Fit / Comfort 8
Lightweight 8
Power 7
Walk-ability 9
Versatility 8

Intuition Tongue Liner shaves weight and is comfortable and warm

Walk mode is best in class

Versatility—the boot has function and purpose in most skiing objectives

Dialing in the forward lean takes a tool and figuring out

Not sold on the “130” flex

MSRP
$829.00
BEST DEAL
Dalbello Lupo Ti
88
Fit / Comfort 8
Lightweight 6
Power 9
Walk-ability 7
Versatility 8

Overlap Intuition Liner—light, stiff and warm

Tech fittings allow more opportunities to reach backcountry stashes

Two stiffness tongues

Heel retention buckle

Heavy in spite of the Intuition liner

Walk mode provides modest range—fine for short tours

MSRP
$950.00
BEST DEAL
N/A
Dynafit Khion Carbon
87
Fit / Comfort 7
Lightweight 7
Power 8
Walk-ability 8
Versatility 7

Downhill performance

Flex consistency

Walk mode and spine

Buckles are fussy

Boa closure is busy

MSRP
N/A
BEST DEAL
N/A
Fischer TransAlp TS Vacuum
86
Fit / Comfort 7
Lightweight 9
Power 7
Walk-ability 7
Versatility 6

Out of box comfort is stellar

Super nimbleness of foot

Clean design albeit a little antiquated

Pretty soft under the hood

Liner is stock

Scott Superguide Carbon
86
Fit / Comfort 8
Lightweight 8
Power 6
Walk-ability 7
Versatility 7

Out of box comfort

Ergonomic & high cuff

One of the lightest four-buckle boots on the market

Pretty soft under the hood

MSRP
N/A
BEST DEAL
Rossignol Alltrack Pro 130
85
Fit / Comfort 8
Lightweight 6
Power 8
Walk-ability 6
Versatility 7

Available with DIN or Walk-to-Ride soles

The progressive flex offers legitimate power transmission

Two last widths offer wide appeal

Liner adds to the boots already dense nature

No tech fittings

Walk mode is not ideal

MSRP
$850.00
BEST DEAL
evo
Tecnica Cochise Pro
85
Fit / Comfort 8
Lightweight 6
Power 8
Walk-ability 6
Versatility 7

Liner is cozy, stiff and warm

Versatile w/ optional tech fittings & lug soles

Dynamic Powerstrap buckle offers quick up/down transition

Heavy with the posh liner

Modest walk mode range

Upright stance

MSRP
$840.00
BEST DEAL
Lange XT 130
84
Fit / Comfort 8
Lightweight 7
Power 6
Walk-ability 6
Versatility 7

Very smooth and consistent flex on the down

Clean design and appearance

Robust rubber sole/tip and tail attachments

Redesigned toebox and instep

Warm temps seriously affect the fore/aft stiffness

Walk mode is sufficient but not generous

No tech fittings