Mine is average width, but definitely a low instep and still I had to remold my liners a 2nd time to reduce overt pressure around the cuboid region of my foot. The Axial hinge of the tongue on the Maestrale makes getting in and out of the boot easy.It might still be difficult to get your foot in if you have a wide, high volume foot. If you don’t open the tongue, it’s dang difficult. However, once open it is super easy to get your foot in and out of the boot. Because of how stiff the cuff is, it takes a bit of force to open past the cuff. Fortunately Scarpa accounted for that with their Axial tongue closure that hinges the tongue to the side, not forward. That is when simply getting in and out of the boot. There is another aspect of the too stiff cuff that requires a bit of technique to overcome, but not much. However, when I bent forward before flipping the mode switch it latched into the 2nd position, yielding a forward lean of 20°, perfect for initiating and giving enough leverage that I could drive my knees forward to hold a carve. The cuff is so stiff that it is hard to get it to flex much, and from a relatively upright position it was hard to drive the boot. Some might even say too stiff, and I originally agreed because when I flipped the walk mode switch to downhill I latched into the first position, yielding a mere 16° forward lean. Scarpa achieves the mix of downhill control in a welterweight frame by using Grilamid for the lower shell, and a very stiff cuff and tongue. This was a sweet one, with a solid transmission of power mounted to a pair of planks that had zero problem holding an edge, whether in the steep runway of a rock lined couloir or banking giant slalom sized turns down an open bowl, the Chams held and Scarpa’s Maestrale was the maestro, conducting every command with power and precision.Īnd yet, the Maestrale only tips the scales at 3 lbs. It is true that to really enjoy making powerful alpine turns you need a good system. The Chams were amazingly responsive, and the only fiddling I had to do with the Yak was attaching the safety strap. It was flat out fun cruising cold powder packed by machines and fluffed by fellow skis on the groomers, or charging a firm ski line in the couloirs under the Lincoln chair at Sugar Bowl. These in turn were rigged with a fiddler binding, the Yak by Plum. Not only was the snow perfectly prepared – I was also armed with a new pair of Dynastar High Mountain Cham 97s. Not just a couple of conditioning tours with a few tepid turns thrown in to get back to the car, but an actual locked-heel bombing mission. Lots of power in a welter weight AT boot.Finally managed to put Scarpa’s Maestrale to the test last week.
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