A Case for 'Bro Boots'—Ski Touring's Latest Evolution

However, at the pinnacle of the sport, many athletes have thought of the whole problem from a different vantage point. Unwilling to give up any downhill performance, especially in the type of terrain only found deep in the backcountry, they would modify walk-mode-less alpine boots or even true plug race boots to work with hybrid touring bindings like the Shift, CAST, or Duke PT systems. That tended to involve some serious Macgyvering and Franken-booting in the deep, dark recesses of boot rooms. Even today, Idaho-based CAST Touring will still do that modification for you, drilling out the sole and cementing in tech fittings in the toe of the boot.

Sure, the boots don’t walk super well, but they’re adequate for short skin tracks to the goods, with zero loss to their much-trusted downhill performance. In effect, these skiers were willing to endure the calf pain of touring without a walk mode just for the chance to charge down unimpeded. The industry hasn’t really come up with a name for them, so let’s just call them bro boots.

This season, we’ve seen a few leading brands in the industry take that design philosophy to the masses with the release of ultra-high-performance freeride boots that have tech fittings–but lack a walk mode. Call it the trickle-down effect.

So what’s going on with these boots and what might it mean for the future? In 2023, Dalbello debuted versions of their classic walk-mode-less Krypton 130 and Chakra 115 boots with tech fittings, targeted at “demanding” freeriders and used by much of their pro athlete team. This year, that was followed with ultra-stiff boots from K2 and Fischer that even did away with the rear tech fitting, featuring just inserts in the toe to allow for uphill travel with hybrid bindings (the lack of a heel fitting means they will not work with true tech bindings).

With off-the-charts super-stiff 140 flex indexes, these boots are clearly aimed at professional athletes or recreational skiers that have legs of steel and the skills to back it up. With more and more skiers riding outside of ski areas every year, often with help from snowmobiles or other forms of mechanized transport, it’s a natural evolution to see more aggressive skiing that demands specialized equipment in these places too. Having spent many days on a few of these boots this season, I fully understand the appeal of ripping backcountry turns in stiff, solid, reliable alpine boots. It’s truly amazing.

In reality, they don’t make sense as everyday ski touring boots, but could be the best choice for someone looking for a boot with race-level performance and stiffness that can go uphill in a pinch, or for a short distance. Think of them as boots for getting back to the resort from a sidecountry hit, to the summit from the end of the snowmobile track, or even guide or ski patrol-specific boots for emergency situations.

Admittedly, the use case for these might seem to be quite small, but it’s really exciting to see brands willing to try new things and cater to highly specific audiences. I’m a firm believer that innovation happens best this way. Get weird, don’t be afraid of specialization, and learn from specific use cases for more general design principles. With more thinking outside the box, what will we see next?

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