What "Boots' Do (Or Have) You Use and WHY?

[kbroderick]

Let's see..I can remember a pair of 26.5 Rossi Course E's that are still kicking around in my parent's attic but worn out (I replaced the toe and heel wear plates at least once and the liners once, but there's only so much you can ask from a pair of boots). I don't know if I've ever had a pair of boots fit as well since.

After the Course E's, I went to a pair of Rossi Mtn. Vipers (they were the step down from the Course KX at the time, and I assure you that I had no intention of trying to ski in a KX.). Fit was so-so, as I had to go up a shell size, and I wasn't particularly happy with the boots until they started cracking and I got them replaced under warranty (and then sold them as LNIB).

I went to a pair of Lange race boots (retail stock) that took about a year to break in, although I was never 100% happy with the way they fit. They were a bit tight (quoth the rep: "Yeah, we can Dremel that to make it work," when I could feel the shell touching both sides of my foot despite the liner not being in the boot), and something about the fore/aft balance and flex pattern just never quite worked for me.

Now I ski in a pair of Rossi Soft 2's, which have the major advantage of being soft enough that I can flex them. Additionally, they're warm enough that I can ski all day without getting significant frostnip (so long as I'm dressed appropriately and unbuckle on chairlift rides), and they still provide enough energy transfer to/from the ski to be a quite capable ski boot. I'm still not sure I've got my ramp angle where I want it, though, and I'm definitely not aligned quite right laterally (I ski with a few strips of duct tape on the inside edge of each binding contact piece).

[skibum1321]

I have the Salomon X-Wave 10. It's a stiff and wide boot, which is great for my feet. Alot of the boots out there are just too narrow for me. Plus now I can never get lost with bright yellow boots.