Alpinord just set me up with my very first tele bindings, Cobra R8. Now I need some boots (on the cheap).

What should I be looking for? My alpine setup currently consists of the 172 Metron B5, Lange CRL 90 in 10.5 US, and I'm 6' 190 lbs. I consider myself pretty damn near expert (don't we all? ) in alpine, but am a complete newcomer to tele.

Advanced alpine skiers can have trouble weighting the inside ski while flexing the inside boot in a telemark turn. Boots that are too stiff can make it tough to learn, and the extra weight is not good if you ski backcountry.

Boots that are too soft will not give you the leverage to tip and turn big skis.

Look for something in the all-mountain category from this guide.

http://www.telemarkski.com/html/how_...lect_boot.html

I'm thinking something from Scarpa, probably a T2 variant. I ski in alpine Langes and it seems that Scarpas are also a narrow boot.

What's hard is I'm hoping to buy used. I may just have to go try some on at EMS. Normally I don't try it in the store and then buy elsewhere, but:

1. I'm looking for used, they don't sell used.
2. You can't really consider EMS a BM store that is going to be hurt by loosing a sale.

But hey, I'm going skiing in Stowe this weekend, so the boots can wait!

I'm in the same boat. Decided I'll try tele this year for the first time. I was at Mountain Travelers tele shop in Rutland Vt. last week and the owner was very knowledgeable.

He highly recommended the T2X. I bought them and they fit me great. I have a medium to narrow foot and I never had an alpine boot that fit this well. I didn't get a chance to try the gear yet. Hopefully I will at the end of the month though.

I also picked up a pair of K2 Super Stinx with Cobra R8 bindings.

Looking forward to trying these out!

I have a pair of Garmont Garas 26.5 that I would like to sell for cheap. They are well trained, but have lots of good skiing left. I foolishly tried on the new Garmonts. If this is your size great. If not they are a poor deal at any price. My bias is to go with a stiff plastic boot that will get the job done on the down hill. I don't find them hard to tour in. I also started with leather boots and find the plastic to be superior in every way. My best tip for you is don't forget to bend the front knee. I see good alpine skiers learning to tele who lock the front knee and trail the back leg with little or no wieght on it. It's basically an alpine turn with a down stem. It's really hard to get too much pressure on that back (inside) leg. It will help with your alpine skiing going towards developing a stronger inside half. Have fun.

Scarpas tend to have a stiff flex and soft bellows, and the Garmonts have a softer flex and stiffer bellows. Scarpa compestates for their stiff flex with the offset bellows, which make it easier to weight the inside ski. The feel of both wearing and skiing the two brands seems very different to me. When I stepped up to top line boots I demoed some Scarpa T1s and hated them. They felt like a block of concrete, very stiff with no feel of my skis and the snow. I then tried Garmont Enger-Gs and immediately liked the fit and feel of them in the store, plus they seemed much lighter than the T1s. I have been extremely happy with how the Garmonts ski and have two friends that were long time T1 users that have switched to the Enger-Gs. If you want to go a step down the Syner-Gs are a bit softer, and I believe comparable to the T2s.

I know many good tele skiers who would not consider anything but Scarpas, and for years they have been considered the gold standard for high performance tele boots, but I would suggest trying on some other boots to see how they feel. Scarpa makes excellent boots, but there is now more than one good way to skin the tele cat, so I recommend not limiting your options without trying on "the other brand."

Too bad you didn't have time to see Benny while you were at Stowe.

If the OP is not interested I may be as I wear a 26.5 alpine boot (men's 9.5 shoe). Is the scuttlebutt correct on telemarktips.com that this boot has a pretty wide forefoot space?

Yeah, I know.

I've definitely got some alignment issues with my alpine boots that I need to get worked out too. For some reason I was really paying a lot of attention to the mechanics of my skiing this past weekend, it must have been something in the air...

Was Benny participating in ESA, or just working out of his shop (Inner Bootworks?).

P.s. I like the new name!

Get out some w/ Ty, blow the carbon out of those Metrons. BTW, his skiing jump a notch or two when he went from the Metrons to the 888's. I think, for my own safety, I am going to put him back on the Metrons.

Trade my B5's for his 888

Sorry. Been down that road, but still was never a B5 fan, unless it was a M11B5. Egan rocked his M11 B5's. It was funny seeing the Line guys giving him guff for being on a carving ski.

From what I hear, Egan rocked about everything at Stowe.

I wish I could have been there Sunday.

I think I just hijacked my own thread.

I think that it does. That is why I wear Garmont. I like the way the Scarpas feel and flex in the store, but have to get them off quickly after about 10 minutes. I will get them out, clean them up, and shoot some pics. It will not be before tommorrow as I left my camera in my uniform jacket and tonight is the new hire party for the ski school.: I'm very busy right now. I will be working on snow all day, everyday until Jan 5. This will also include two double shifts and two torchlight parades. PM me to remind me after a few days.

I don't think these will work. Right now I'm in a 10.5 Lange, can't find the mondopoint anywhere on the boot. From what I can see online, to convert mondopoint to US, you just add it up:

2+6+.5=8.5 US

When you get to mondopoint 30, add 9.

I might be able to get into a 27.5, but this looks too small. Thanks for the offer though.

None of the boots pictured will work with those bindings. :

No worries on the timing ... I'm away next week so anytime after New Year's is fine. I've got a decent tele setup for a beginner but wouldn't mind replacing the boots -- yours might fit a little better than my current pair and have a few other advantages. Let's get back in touch when you're through this busy phase.

Thanks.

Which boots won't work?

This is kind of the reason that I started this thread.

krp8128 - check out many tele gear offers here: http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=4

including this one for beatup but cheap 28.5 Garmonts: http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/vi...b947 887bdddb

The boots that Phil seems to be recommending. Or is that just an advertisement? Il Moron, Storm, etc.

Yeah, that's just his signature. Obviously an alpine boot isn't going to work in a tele binding, or I wouldn't be asking what boot to buy!

Well keep in mind a telemark boot will cost more than an alpine boot of similar quality due to smaller market. Spend at least as much on your telemark boots as you did on your alpine boots.

Bumping my thread, as I still haven't bought boots...


Still in the same boat as before, can only afford used and am very confused right now. Alpine boots are size 10.5 US (28?) langes, with a little more then 1.5 fingers behind my heel on a shell fit. I could probably go down a size, but would need quite a bit of work to the boots, I beleive lange 10 and 10.5 are the same shell.

Based on all this I'm thinking Scarpa would be a good choice. Looking at the Scarpa Size Chart a 26.5 Mondo is a US 9.5 and shares the same shell with a 27 which is a US 10. If I go to Mondo 27.5/28, tht is a US 10.5/11, likely too big for me.

I've also read in a few places (TGR was one of them) that Scarpas "run small". So should I be looking a half-size bigger (27.5) in a scarpa?

Scarpas can run short-toed which is one possible sense of 'small'.   They also can have wide toeboxes which is not even remotely a sense of 'small'.

Stop, stop, stop, stop! using US sizing, it is completely irrelevant and misleading.   

Think ONLY in Mondopoint and you will simplify your life.  

One of the nice things about used tele boots is that they keep value.  

Buy a used pair of 27.5 or 28 Crispis or Garmonts, try them on,  if they don't fit, you _will_ be able to flip them on ebay for a goodly chunk of what you paid.    Far more readily than alpine boots, because the market is teensy.


Edited by comprex - 7/21/2009 at 04:54 pm GMT

Comprex,

Is the mondo consistent between brands though? I don't think so, as it seems like every manufacturer has their own Mondo/US conversion cart.

Lange Men's

Men's Ski Boots

US Men	EU	Mondo
3	36	21.5
4	37	22
4.5	38	22.5
5	39	23
5.5	39.5	23.5
6	40	24
6.5	40.5	24.5
7	41	25
7.5	41.5	25.5
8	42	26
8.5	42.5	26.5
9	43	27
9.5	43.5	27.5
10	44	28
10.5	44.5	28.5
11	45	29
11.5	45.5	29.5
12	46	30
12.5	46.5	30.5
13	47	31
13.5	47.5	31.5
14	48	32
14.5	48.5	32.5

So my 28 Langes aren't going to be the same (rough) size as a 28 Scarpa...


You say Crispi and Garmont, you think those would be better?

 As I recall Scarpa uses English sizing, like Converse sneakers did last time I checked. An eleven English is approx. a twelve US. I don't know the answer to how Scarpa mondopoint sizes compare to others brands, just wanted to warn you about the English/US size discrepancy.

I don't understand the chart you have posted. Mondo 29 should equal an 11 US. I would not trust that chart, it looks wack. I though mondopoint was the actual length in centimeters, so it should be consistant from brand to brand.

I recently picked up some 2005 scrapa t2's on ebay for 70 bucks in good condition. Just keep an eye on there and craigslist etc.

 If Scarpa thinks a mondo 26.5 is a 9 1/2 US, they are probably confusing US and English sizing. A ggod rule of thumb is add the numbers. 26mondo; 2 + 6 = 8US. 29,5 mondo equals 11 1/2 US, but Comprex is right, just ingore the US/English sizing if you already know your mondopoint. Use at least a half size bigger than your alpine size if you are using a "race fit". Unlike alpine, Telemark is not about cramming your feet into Cinderella's slippers in an attempt to improve performance.