Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Hello all! I'm a new telemarker, based out of BC, Canada. I've dabbled in downhill and backcountry telemark skiing a handful of times, mainly renting from a local outdoors club that has a wide collection of early-oughts skis with G3 Targas and T2 boots. I enjoyed it so much that I've finally decided to take the plunge and buy my own (budget) set of used Tele Skis.

A lovely gentleman in Seattle gave me a good deal for a pair of BD convert (non-carbon) skis with 22D Axl bindings, which are a nice upgrade to what I've been riding with the rentals. It's especially nice to have a touring mode, since I plan to do occasional backcountry days (my seasons will be roughly 80% resort, 20% BC).

Now I'm on the hunt for boots... which unfortunately seems to have grim prospects on my side of the border.

Now comes the question - there is someone on FB marketplace nearby selling the following boots in a set with some (very old) K2 skis. I could care less about the skis, but the set is rather cheap and it might be worth picking up the package if it means I can finally have some boots to ski on.



Here's an imgur link since it seems the fb link might not be working:



As far as I can tell, these are Crispi CXP boots (but hard to say for sure as there isn't much record of this boot online). I asked the seller how old the boots are, and he claims 6 years... which I don't believe for a second, because the skis they come with look to be in their thirties. I would love for it to be true, but my intuition says otherwise.

Is anyone able to positively ID the boots and give me an idea of their actual age? Even if they're pretty old, I don't mind skiing them as long as they're not going to be brittle and explode under my feet - but if these things are as old as the skis, I imagine they're probably unsafe by this point.

Would love the input of some of you much more experienced gearheads!

2004-ish.

https://www.freeride.com/gear/ski-boots/crispi-cxp.html

This is what a basic SEO query brought up when i put in "purple and red Crispi CXP."

So there may be a range of how long they were produced in that colorway but suffice to say it aint 6 years ago.

my guess is maybe this is how long the seller has had them. but that is a very kind benefit-of-the-doubt guess.

Hmm, not surprising. So they're potentially as old as 20 years or so.

my guess is maybe this is how long the seller has had them

This would make sense. Is riding 20+ year old boots a big safety concern? I'd be getting these for the equivalent of about $35 USD, so it's a dirt cheap way to get some turns in before the end of the season while I wait for better boots to come along... but not worth a potential injury, if that's a possibility.

Go for it. I have boots that old that I wouldn't be afraid to ski. They will PROBABLY be fine, but you may want to replace the liner if they are original and well used.