Boot Opinions

I bought a new pair of Garmont G-Rides late 2004 to tour in. I found the heat moldable inner boot combined with custom insoles work great for lift served downhill in my 9 year old Lange shells but...I'd like to find a better rando boot for backcountry downhill. I'll sacrifice some comfort and weight penalty on the approach for the boot closest to an alpine boot for maximum leverage, comfort and control downhill in the BC. I'm 6'1", 210 lbs with an average 10 1/2 sized foot...any recommendations?

Try some Garmont Adrenalins...and I think Garmont has a new pair of AT boots this year that are supposed to be even beefier, you could look into that. I'm not very large (5'7" & about 140), but I ski very aggressively, and my Adrenalins work fine to drive my 166 Stockli race stock slaloms on those groomer days. I sometimes wish I had gotten them 1/2 to 1 size smaller for a little more precision, but on the flip side I can wear them all day in the backcountry or while standing around coaching little ski racers with no problems at all. I would definitely buy another pair if I needed new boots!

I would second the Adrenalins. I really like mine. I am not quite as heavy as you (6'-2" 175 lbs.), but I find the Adrenalins work for touring and alpine very well. You might like the Endorphins better as they look to be just a bit closer to a full Alpine boot, but the Adrenalins are pretty close. They may not be quite as stiff as my Lange XRIR, but they are pretty close.