Alfa Skaget Xplore

[KnoxPolk]

Hey Guays, i was lurking around Alfa instagram and I found a photo from some store in Norway which shows how this ski boots look in real. I was planing to buy them but finally I bought a pair of Vista Advanced and after seeing this photo of Skaget I am glad I didn’t bought them. At first I though they will be similar to Alpina Alaska but they don’t even close to Alpinas and they look completely different comparing to photos from Alfa site. Imo they aren’t as sturdy as Alfa adversities on their website. What do you think guays?

[lilcliffy]

Huh-
Thanks for the photos-
I agree, that is not what I was expecting from the earlier photos of the Skaget boot...
I was expecting something as tall and stiff as the Fischer Transnordic...
Those photos certainly make the Skaget look like a light-duty XC boot...

[Stephen]

Maybe I’m missing something but current pictures of Skaget look same as @Johnny’s January 2021 write up…
viewtopic.php?t=3564#p36314

The Vista looks like the Guard, with an Xplore toe.
Interesting that the Skaget and Vista are listed as a “Wide” fit, and the Free is listed as a “Regular” fit, for width (per ALFA’s website).
.

[lilcliffy]

The early photos of the Skaget (i.e. the photo posted by Johnny and others)- at least for my perception- make the Skaget look like a much taller boot, than the more current photos in this thread.

For whatever reason, I was expecting the Skaget to be a taller boot than the Kikut/Skarvet/Guard.

[lilcliffy]

Was just on the ALFA website-
the Skaget is described as an "extra high boot"-

Extra high boots in leather with good stability and comfort for those who like to ski outside the groomed tracks. Insulated midsole.

https://www.alfaoutdoor.com/pages/xplore

[telerat]

Here comes my comments and impressions.

The picture above is of the women's model and size is unknown, but the toe looks very low in the picture. My Alfa Skaget is snug but as roomy as I want; With one medium or thick hiking sock I can wiggle my toes as much as I'd want in a boot used for descents with telemark turns and for touring skates. With both socks the shoes are snug and comfortable and I can still wiggle my toes a bit, but they meet resistance at once. If you look at the picture on alfaoutdoor.com, Vista has a higher toe box than Skaget. I prefer the Skaget fit to the very roomy feel of the Guard (which I assume is similar to the Vista boot), but if you freeze easily and/or have multiday tours the Vista might be the better boot.

Alfa Skaget has quite thick contoured foam that holds your heel; I was a bit skeptical at first, but it's comfortable and feels good on my feet. The heel pocket is smaller than my old Asolo Morgedal boots and the heel can also be laced to sit much more snug. I'll see if blisters will be a problem on longer/steeper tours and post updated experiences/impressions later.

Skaget is listed at Alfa's website as being 18 cm high, Vista 17,5 cm and Free 17 cm, so very little difference there, but I believe they feel quite different. My Size 41 boots are ~17 cm from the inner sole to center of the top eyelet and ~18,5 cm to the top of the boot. I also thought Skaget looked a little higher in earlier pictures and the rubber rand looked slightly higher/better, but the new one should not come loose. The boot gives me significantly more support than my old Asolo Morgedal, and as much as I'd want for a general purpose boot. I have only tested them very briefly on touring skates so far though. They have little resistance fore/aft and I think they will be good for kick and glide also, but perhaps a bit more resistive than the Alpina Alaska XP. I'm looking forward to testing them now during Christmas, although there not too much snow here. The lacing system is very nice and the dual locking eyelets allows for independent tension on each of the lower, ankle and upper parts, with the three upper eyelets allowing very strong lacing of the shaft/upper.

I have so far only two gripes with the boot/system:
* The sole is rather stiff which makes them less comfortable to walk in than with a softer sole. The walking comfort is similar to the 75mm boot since it doesn't have a duckbill; one step forward and one back for hiking comfort.
* The toe/front of the boot is the same rugger material as the middle sole, and doesn't look to have the same durability and friction as the proper rubber outsole underneath the shoe.

I'm very happy with the boots so far.

Edit: Picture of the boot in other thread: https://www.telemarktalk.com/viewtopic. ... =30#p44468

[orangeviking]

@KnoxPolk @telerat Have you used the heel riser on the Xplore bindings already and how did your boot perform? I took my Vista Advance boots out in the weekend and when using the heel riser the boot flexed under the ball of the foot. It is of course to be expected as the sole is designed to flex there, but somehow I hadn't thought of it. It made the heel riser less comfortable and while the riser was one of the main reasons why I wanted to have the Xplore binding I am not not so sure if it is really that good.

[telerat]

I have not used the Alfa Skaget/Xplore binding on skis yet, only on touring skates. I have have thus not used the heel riser yet, but have on both 75mm leather boots and on Scarpa TX NTN with Rottefella Freeride and Meidjo.

The soles of my 75 mm leather boots bends quite a bit more than I assume Xplore will, and I find the heel riser to work fine. The effective riser angle will increase when the sole bends, so I'm glad the Xplore riser is relatively low. Fri Flyt meant it was too high in their review, so I'll see. The effective height of the risers I have used earlier from Rottefella have been about 45 mm, but I also has one with 35 mm. I preferred the lower riser for mountain/xcd skis, but my wife uses it due to her shorter boot and thus higher effective riser angle. On my Scarpa TX/Meidjo the effective height seems to be 40 and 60 mm, but I have rarely used the higher one. A higher riser can alleviate blister problems, but I have no problems with that and often wait with raising the heel riser until it's steeper than other prefer.

The height of the Xplore riser seems to be approximately 35 mm effective which sounds nice, but it could also have been lower. It will probably take a while until I've tested it properly on a steeper ascent with full length skins and can comment more. I can understand that the experience is quite different if you have used alpine touring boots with rigid soles before, but I expect it to work fine.