Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

So, I bought ALICO Ski march Boots from the army shop. If they are real Alico, made in Italy.... I do not know. They have logo on the side. I recommend to go for a 2size higher then your real length of foot. My mondo is 25cm so first I ordered UK5. But to short and narrow. So I ordered size 7. Size 7 seems ok, but it feels still narrow a bit on side. I guess I need to get use to it. On some higher sizes they make also wide E fitting. Exterier of the boots look really great. Interier looks a bit poor. The Inside lining fabric around the ankles and shoe inside tongue is like strong/hard kitchen paper towel.
I am keeping my shoes. I am planning to buy Voile 3 pin binding with the cable or Heavy duty Rottefella 3 pin binding.
I do not think they would fit to the normal BC 3 pin cross country binding. The Duck bill on Alico is shorter and wider.

These are excellent boots, the US Marines just bought 2,500 pairs of them to go with the 2,500 pairs of Asnes Combat NATO skis they just bought. They have been training a lot with the Norwegians and have a rotating deployment up there now. I think they were a bit embarrassed by: a. their in-the-closet-since-the-80s gear (bunny boots for ski boots!) b. their utter lack of skiing ability The corps vows to change all that now.

Sorry I digress- these are very good boots and a steal for the money. They are made of Amfibio leather which is made at a tannery a few KMs from where I live- it has made fine ski boot leather for ages. Alico is a few KMs the other direction- most of the world's ski boots are or were made here, Alico still is. I skied two Scandi tours with these boots last year. My only major gripe about them is that they do not come in half sizes and I am an exact half-sizer, so I have more room in them than I would like. This year I am going to try out bc magnum bindings (gasp!) and the Madshus Glittertind boot. I head up to Norway on 7 April and will write s blurb when I surface again.

Rando, I am happy to hear these boots are still made, thank you. I think NNN-BC is the right binding for your adventure, and all I own is 75 mm. I look forward to your the log of your trip. I look forward to the photos and the stories of a long ski trip. May your flats glide well, and your downhills be soft, may the sun warm your face, but not mush the snow, and may you have good cabin mates, and may we read of a great adventure.
Cheers

The boots arrived today as scheduled. Wow! Really look like quality boots! Glad I ordered a size smaller than my usual. They're stiff, especially around the cuffs. I usually take a EURO 44/US 10. These are UK 9's and are definitely not too small. I suspect breaking these in will require patience and strategy.

A UK 9 is a US 10, and is a 44

randoskier wrote:A UK 9 is a US 10, and is a 44

I thought that UK9=US10=EUR43, not 44.

Well, seems like it depends on the brand:
https://www.achillesheel.co.uk/shoe-siz ... ion-chart/

Mine just arrived today. I can confirm the UK 9 is a US/Canada 10. Solidly built, quite stiff, lighter weight than I expected. Been wearing them around the house for an hour, feel pretty good. They strap into my MSR Lightening Ascents okay, I think some snowshoeing will be part of the break in plan. Time to put the Voile CRB bindings on my Hoks now...looking forward to the Alpina Discovery 80s showing up as well. More snow would be nice too...

Time to dig out the SnoSeal.

it's unbelievable to me that the US Army has gone whole-hog into the Asnes skis and Alico boots! So validating....totally old-school, stiff, leather Italian telemark boots and the best nordic ski available, with fairly narrow sidecut and width. I wonder if they went with Rottefella or Voile bindings?

Been ferreting out this type of gear and buying extinct boots off eBay for years....it seems to work best for ski touring. Real leather, welted boots feel so much better than plastic. Hopefully this boot purchase means the Ski Marches will be available for a long time. With these & Crispi Antarctic you have very high quality heavy-duty & lighter options.

Inspiredcapers wrote:Mine just arrived today. I can confirm the UK 9 is a US/Canada 10. Solidly built, quite stiff, lighter weight than I expected. Been wearing them around the house for an hour, feel pretty good. They strap into my MSR Lightening Ascents okay, I think some snowshoeing will be part of the break in plan. Time to put the Voile CRB bindings on my Hoks now...looking forward to the Alpina Discovery 80s showing up as well. More snow would be nice too...

Time to dig out the SnoSeal.

Mr. Capers

I learned about this Zamberlain product on this forum from Gareth (Lilcliffy).
I have been using it on my Ski March boots for a couple seasons, lift and trail skiing. I personally believe it is a superior product to Sno-seal. Read the thread, and make your own decision.
Best wishes and kindest regards, I hope you really enjoy your Ski March boots,
Bob

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