Apex (See: Hanson) boot priced at $1,295.00

 http://apexsportsgroup.com/

This boot has been in design for the past couple of seasons. Looks like Denny Hanson is ready to bring it to market under the "Apex"  not his own name. 

Thoughts on a $1,300.00 boot? I am assuming "Street price" will be $999.00. Has any tried it on, let alone skied it? 

Had it on for about 30 mins maybe a month ago. The fit was better than expected and the flex was more or less normal. Looking at it, I thought "soft boot goes upscale" and maybe that's what it is. It would be a great coaching boot, and a great boot for the Deer Valley crowd. I think it will work well enough that at a more normal price, it would do pretty well. At the current pricing, it will be extremely limited. IIRC there is no street price.

SJ

Wow these are certainly in the running for the most hideous looking ski boot ever designed... say what you will, in the 70's the Hanson boot looked amazing and they did ski ok, of course favoring comfort over performance... these new ones might ski ok, and may be designed for comfortable walking, but who wants to be seen walking around in what looks like snowboard boots with duct tape?  Of course, if the comfort is there the word of mouth could sell these to the Cayenne crowd...

Loord Vader, your new boots are here. 

Someone will buy these things but not this child; not at anything near that kind of money.

Quote:
Hah, that's enough reason for them right there. My current boots look like a creamsicle.

Seriously tho, its one of the more aesthetically pleasing boots I have seen. CF and leather look pretty sweet. If they are functional, I would use them... if I needed new boots and if I didn't have to pay for them.

 Look similar to some snowboard boots designed for use with step-in bindings. I'd consider a pair if they were compatible with K2 Clicker bindings and if they cost about $1150 less.

Those almost look as cool as Warner Nickerson's CF boots (if anyone here has seen them they are basically boots that are carbon fibre liners and thats it; they are EXTREMELY thin). Wouldn't drop that much on a boot though, no matter how comfortable it is. Any good boot fitter could make a crap boot fit and feel just as nice.

so he has invented a carbon exoskeleton for a snowboard boot....clever possibly, overpriced most definately

I guess I should've come here first instead of TGR on this one.

I'd think that the narrow strap on the shin with a soft boot below wouldn't distribute pressure effectively.  I.e., comfort in the lodge, pain on the slopes.

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Edited by comprex - 9/8/09 at 12:36pm

I'd have to say that this boot is NOT overpriced for what has gone into it. It probably is overpriced for the general market though.

SJ

 This boot actually reminds me of my K2 Inline skate boot.

Jim, since you've actually fondled these... any thoughts about pressure distribution on the shin?

In the 1/2 hour or so that I was in them, I found no problems in that area or really, in any other. This boot is clearly targeted at the "luxury" market and as such, favors supreme comfort over ultimate performance. It is far superior to any of the "soft" boots of the past because it does not collapse on the top of the foot. I brannock at a 28.5 and was in a 27 boot. It was pleasantly snug but felt a little short. Then again, most conventional boots feel a little short in a 27 as well.

This boot will not ski like a conventional boot. Even a 3-pc shell will have more lateral feel than this will. Still.......it is intended for a niche market and will deliver what that market requires.

SJ

Well, at the price listed, it would definitely be a niche market.  However, Peter Keelty just did a write-up on his testing of the boot and he raved about the comfort, warmth, and most of all, the performance of the boot.  His only complaint is the forward flex is a little too soft for his liking.  He feels that the boot compares favorably to the 'plug' boots he normally skis and reviews.  Bottom line: "genuine innovation" not a gimmick.  They are way beyond what I would ever imagine paying for a ski boot, but I'd still love to see one and give it a try.

You can see his comments at www.expertskier.com; however you may have to subscribe to the web site to see the content.

PS. Just looking through the Apex site: one of the reviewers said they used the boot to alpine ski one day then took the boot out of the exo-skeleton and used them as snowboard boots the next day.  Now that would be a versatile boot!

Spoke with a person here at Copper Mountain who skis on these boots and had a boot in his office to examine.  First, his report: he loves the boots.  He is an ex-racer and finds the boots provide all the support he needs/wants and, not surprisingly, are very comfortable and warm.  After taking a look at the boot and slipping it on, it is indeed comfortable and once clamped into the exo-skeleton, they certainly felt tight, but more like a snowboard binding than a ski boot.  I'd love to see just how they ski.

WADR to Mr. Keelty, his experience, expertise, and his excellent reputation.......my own view is decidedly different.

SJ

I skied with Billy Kidd at Steamboat on one of the 1pm tours in January, who was wearing them and making suitably positive noises (wonder how much he paid ).

The whole thing appeared to be a set-up with someone in the group asking just the right questions, and making all the right noises.

FWIW, Billy had positive things to say.

all of our boots (at least the production ones I see) are exo-skeleton designs, duh, they just don;t have cutouts.
Not sure if I wanna trust a boot which has no adjustment for the Ball O foot, since everything starts there, for me. There definitely needs to be some active stabilization of the forefoot.
not a lot there for $1300 of innovation.
staement on website - "adjustable “A-flex” suspension system allows for individual adjustment of the resistance to forward lean" - adjustable forward flex (been done 30 yrs back and it worked great...) but in this case it looks like an elastic band. but how does it adjust?
any of the performance fit come from the 'shell' or are we relying again on a compressible comfort liner?
edge cut protection? I still bang the edges along the boots.
tell ya what I wouldn't want to 'catch an edge' and have the ski cross back over the front of that boot...
but then I'm not Billy...
Pressure distribution along the tongue/shin? howz that done (again, that would mean the inner boot...)? And for those with skinny or fat calves (or low or high calves), that fit/performance area becomes even more ciritcal on these.
That inner boot is where the rubber meets the road. It's hard to say how much is going on there, and maybe there's a lot more going on than from outward appearance. I would hope so.
I luv new ideas.
I'd luv to give them a spin for an hour or 2, but not on my nickel.
Right now they would seem be more show than go. the website is a lot of fluff with not a lot of info.
Full shell boots can be a bitch to fit for many of us, but once done, they're hard to beat. There's a lot to be improved on current boot designs, I'm not sure I see 'next gen' here. But a great place to start.
too bad they're not comin to mammoth to demo...

How did he SKI?

That would tell a lot more than whatever he was saying.

I'm going on the record in saying that I'm very interested in these.  I just left the doctor's office with my wife.  She's got open sores on three of her toes and a very serious thing going on one heel. 

She's been an avid skier for nearly 40 years.  She's had off-the-rack boots, custom boots, custom liners, shaved shells, punched shells, punched liners, cut-out liners, Lange boots, Nordica boots, Atomic boots, San Marco boots, Head boots, and backcountry boots.  She's been fit (ad nauseum) by some of the best-reputation bootfitters in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah.

She's been unable to ski for the last week and the doc just told her she has to stay out of her boots for AT LEAST the next 15-20 days because she has infections in at least two of those toes and possibly her heel.  She's on antibiotics right now.  This is the third time in five years she's gone through this.

She loves (LOVES) to ski and is incredibly tough about putting up with pain.

At this stage, I would GLADLY pay $1200 if this boot would solve her issues and still allow her to ski.

To me, this boot looks like it's well worth checking out.  I've been in touch with the company and, assuming she can still put on a boot, she'll be trying a pair sometime in March when they come here with their demo van.  If SHE tries them, I intend to try them (I don't have any need for boots but I'm curious about how they ski).

If we get a chance to try them, I'll post a report.

He skied well (of course nowhere near as well as some of our resident "I'm the greatest" dweebs), but for a 65 year-old guy, he was doing just fine.

I'd sorta suspect that an Olympic Silver medalist could ski fairly well on leather boots and 2 x 4's.