Construction
The boots have an inner/outer design that I have seen on a couple of other boots. The inside of the boot is a very soft liner with laces and one set of eye hooks higher up. After you snug this portion of the boot down you close a zipper on the oustide of the boots that seals the inner portion from water and snow. It reminds me of a built in gaiter as they come up quite high and have a cinch at the top to keep snow from coming in. After you have done this there is a pretty sturdy velcro strap across the mid of your foot that helps secure the lower portion of the boot. Up top there is a rigid plastic cuff with a pivot that supports from your ankle up to the top of the boot. This is tightened via a snowboard binding style ratchet and provides a lot of support.
The materials the boots are made of have really impressed me. I have not noticed any amount of wear over the past 4 years of skiing in lots of different conditions. The boots are well made and the outside liner is very durable. I have worn these boots skidooing a couple of times when I have been too lazy to change them after skiing and they have held up wonderfully. The outside layer is waterproof as long as you do not submerge the boots for too long. I have had several incidents crossing creeks where I ended up dipping my boots in and my feet have stayed dry. Love that about these boots! It is especialy nice on a spring day with wet snow as I am not worried about my feet getting soaked from slush.
It is worth noting I have seen a picture on telemark talk of the toe portion of the sole delaminating from the upper but I have not experienced anything like this on my boots. As with anything I am sure there is a range in build quality and usage.
Performance
I really do not know what a proper boot should feel like, but I will tell you my personal impression of learning and growing with these boots. I ski primarily on hilly farmland at home, a good mix up and down with telemark turns, snowplowing, and kick and glide skiing. I do also take occasional trips to lease land west of my house that have much more steep hills that are great for turns and yo-yo skiing, and trips to low mountain terrain with a mix of hiking and quad trails. Longer ski days reach into the 10-20 km range on untracked terrain. At home I ski after work a 3-5 km 2-3 days when the daylight and snow allows it.
I started skiing these boots on a 200cm Amundsen for my first year of skiing, and have used 200cm Combat NATO skis for the remainder of the time.
My initial impression of the boot was very positive as the only comparison I had was low cut NNN boots. These boots were so much more supportive and enabled me to snowplow safely down hills until I became more confident in terms of turning or gaining more speed. The boots provide a comfortable flex for kick and glide skiing and feel like they transfer energy efficiently without being too stiff. The upper cuff ratchet strap does allow some amount of control on how tight and strict you want the boots for. I tend to leave it a little looser when skiing flatter terrain and tighten it more on hilly terrain.
I am self taught in terms of telemark turns, but with my NATOS these boots create awesome control in soft and untracked snow. I do feel like hard snow really overwhelms this setup and the boots have a hard time powering the skis through turns when there is solid crust. They start to feel too soft at this point, but it could totally be my technique as well. I am competent downhill alpine skier but as you all know telemark turns on this equipment is a whole new world! These boots don't feel like they limit me at my current ability level and have taken me many kilometres with really no complaints.
It is also worth noting performance wise that these boots are extremely warm. With the right socks I have comfortably skied in -30c without thinking about the warmth of my feet once.
Drawbacks
Personally I do not love the look of the boots, which is a bit of a drawback for me even though basically only a handful of people ever ski with me. My main ski partner has Alaskas and they are so much better looking. This is of course a small and subjective complaint. The cashier at Tim Hortons may judge my style choice when I get a pre-ski coffee in my gear
My only other complaint is that the ratchet strap is far too long! No one would ever use the loose settings on it unless they had absolutely massive lower calves/ankles. The only reason this bugs me is that the strap is very stiff and so with all the extra length it sticks straight out from the boot and pushes my ski pants away from the boot. This causes the strap not only to rub on my skis pants, but also lets some heat escape from my lower legs. Again, a small complaint but I can be picky when boots are so expensive in Canada.
Overall
When I bought boots it was the peak of gear craziness and I would have bought literally anything that was available and NNNBC. I originally wanted Alaskas and I may still get them someday, but Glittertinds were the only boot Norseman had at the time. I am happy I ended up with these boots as they seem to be a good all around boot for what I enjoy doing on my skis. They are a well suited match for both my Amundsen and NATO skis, and have held up well to my expectations. I love quality gear so I am thrilled to see these boots look as new as they did when I first purchased them. I will be certain to update a comparison if/when I get a different set of boots in the future.
