Using BC boots in the park?

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New member
Hey, I'm about to buy some new boots as I ditched my 10+ yr old boots on my last trip and am about to go to japan to do some slackcountry - but I will also be working at an AU resort this year so I'm going to be teaching myself park skiing basically from the ground up for a season.

I've read a lot that people prefer to have boots for park and boots for BC and that BC boots canNOT be used in the park because the moving parts and flex patterns will make it difficult/impossible/break the boot etc.

Will this actually affect me as someone getting started in the park, or does this kind of stuff only come into effect for guys doing 50ft cork 1080s and whatnot?

for reference a guy at a boot shop just tried to sell me these:
http://www.edgeandwax.co.uk/1321537/products/lange_xt_130_lv_2015_mens_ski_boots.aspx

for $799AUD which sounds like a goodish deal - they fit ok and would be pretty good after some adjustment, but I originally wanted to try FT first chair 8's - sadly these boots don't exist in australia and they didn't have any classics in my size to try on. I'm pretty sure he tried to sell me the langes because they were the only boot they had in my size at the time.

anyway all I really want to know is will i have a shit time in the park with those boots? will the flex and buckles etc make it much worse than the full tilts or can I get away with it?

cheers
 
You will have a shit time in the park and everywhere on the mountain if the boots don't fit you. This is true for all types of boots. I rode Lange RX 130 race boots in the park for a long time. It's not about what type of boot it is, it's about how the boot fits you.

Those Langes will work fine in the park if they fit you well. One thing to note is that they are a stiff flex at 130 which will not be very forgiving if you're just learning park. However if you're a big heavy dude or a competent skier who likes stiff responsive boots and the boot actually fits you then they shouldn't be a problem.

On some of the cheaper/lower end walk mode boots I find the switch on the back creates a sort of weak point on the boot which makes the flex feel softer/squisher/doesn't rebound as nicely (I experienced this on Salomon Quest 90's) however those Langes are very high quality boots so I doubt this would be a problem.

If they fit just ok I wouldn't get them. In my opinion for such an aggressive, stiff, high end boot to work and not cause issues they need to fit very well. Also don't go into the shop with ideas of what boots you want because it will just make it more difficult to judge what actually fits you. Just tell the boot fitter what you're going to be skiing and let him examine your foot and give you recommendations from there.

Finally make sure you get a custom footbed with your new boots, without good footbeds your feet won't be in the right position in the boot and they won't fit you properly.
 
Ok thank you for the info - so the only real concern I'll have with these boots is that the flex is too stiff for beginner park skiing... I think I can live with that. these langes feel like they lock around my achilles heel much better, whereas in my last boots my heel could do whatever it wanted, causing me to sprain the left one after getting a bit of air. I feel like this one factor alone will give me a leg up learning park.

as far as fit goes, i'm under the impression that if im 80-90% happy with the fit, the rest can be fixed by moulding etc. I tried the boots with footbeds, but on a 34 degree celsius day in sydney so i expect the fit will be just that bit less snug on the snow. after spending about 20min in the shop with them on, my left ball of my foot started to go a bit numb, but I reckon that was the heat and the fact that they aren't moulded yet.

glad to hear that flex is the only real differentiator between park and alpine/bc boots. 90% sure im gonna drop coin on these
 
I love my rx 120's and I use them in the park a lot. You can rip park on any boot as long as they fit. My buddy rips park daily in dynafit boots on salomon rocker 108's w/ marker barons and it doesn't seem to trouble him
 
I'd be the most worried about play developing in the walk mechanism when they're locked, especially with lots of impact every run in the park.

I would definitely try to find some long reviews on the 14/15 models of the xt to see if any have much play after some hard use. I know the old Langes were pretty bad for that but I'm not sure if they've fixed it or changed to a different walk mode.
 
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