I bought these boots because I was looking for performance. I haven’t been happy with the skiability of my Garmont Endorphins and their lack of Dynafit cups. I wanted to shed some weight on the ups and add stability by using the Dynafit bindings. Freerides lack stiffness on the downhill and their high position can be awkward on the uphill. I was hoping to lower the weight on my feet and get better control of my skis. I was basically looking for an alpine boot’s performance in an AT package with ankle articulation for skinning and climbing. Throw in some vibram on the sole and this is what I was looking for. Something that will perform on the way down very steep lines and do a reasonable job on the way up.
So far I have 4 days on these boots. I had them heat fitted at Bent Gate Mountaineering and used my custom footbeds from my Garmont’s that were done by The Custom Foot in Englewood, CO. They still need time to pack out at this point and are very tight. I’ve only skied with the mountaineering sole at this point and will not be addressing the performance of the DIN sole, I ski inbounds so rarely that I may never use the DIN soles. I weigh 173 lbs at the moment. I weighed the 2 boots on my scale and the Titans weigh 1.2 ounces more than the Garmont Endorphins per boot. Another cool feature of the boot is the guided cups, this feature is only available on Dynafit brand boots and acts as a guide for getting into the bindings easier.
My 1st day on these boots was on the Mt Holly trip. This trip was 4.5 miles and 2300 vertical. The skis for this trip were BD Killowatts with Dynafit FT12 bindings. The boots were very very comfortable on the uphill for the skinning. The snow was firm for the most part though the pockets of loose snow were handled nicely as well. On the climb of the ridge, the boots had SUPERB ankle articulation and made climbing a breeze. The descent was in the dark, on an unknown line by headlamp. The snow surface was basically wind hammered snow resembling East Coast skiing. The line ended up being in the high 30’s. The boots did very well and I felt like I new what my skis were going to do when I pressured the shins of the boot. Just like skiing Cannon in high school. After skiing down the main bowl we traversed to a more protected line near some trees. The snow was about 12 inches of recycled powder. The boot performed very well here but I wasn’t quite used to how stiff and responsive they were so I think I was over turning a bit. There was also a fresh tune and I didn’t have a chance to detune the tips and tails the way I kied them so this may have contributed to the sense of overturning. Skiing by headlamp probably didn’t help this overturning as well. It was a very acceptable 1st day. There was a bit of pain in my feet at the end of the tour but no blisters and no more pain than expected for a new ski boot.
Day 2 and 3 were spent at Loveland Pass, skiing on a pair of Team Rossignol B-Squad 184 with White Freeride Bindings. These skis are tuned just the way I like them. This is a serious big ski with titanium and a heavy wood core. The Garmont Endorphins had a really tough time controlling this ski. It always felt like I was trying to control my direction with my toes and feet. This is very tiring. One of the problems was that the cuff was lower than an alpine boot. This lower cuff leads to instability at the ankle when trying to push a big heavy ski. The plastic in the cuff also displays an odd flex pattern. Since the cuff is lower it’s very easy to over torque the cuff when pressing through the shins. This leads to over flexing and over turning.
The Titan and it’s higher overlap design solves this problem. The plastic is alpine boot plastic and the boot has a flex pattern that follows suit. Since the cuff is higher you have more control over the flex and are less likely to over flex the boot and get yourself out of body position, or too far forward. You can be more minute in you movements since more of you shin is controlling your forward flex.
As for the skiing, the 1st day had blown in pockets about a foot deep with dust on crust the rest of the time. The boots handled this very well. Sometimes on transitions from soft to firm a softer boot will kick you forward causing over turning. Not the Titan, it’s stiffness leads to consistency in mixed conditions. I went for one hike up to Ballroom and dealt with a bit of wind crust, deep blown in snow and soft pow. The boot also shined in these conditions, allowing me to stay stable and track right on through.
Day 2 at the Pass was the best day of the year. They were reporting 10″ of new at Loveland Ski area and it was knee deep shots all day long on the pass with free refills all day long. One of the issues with the Garmonts is the need for foot steering in deep snow. I like to steer with my shins and the Titans allow me to do that even with a big ski. All day long I felt like I was going exactly where I wanted to. I was beginning to trust these boots. I jumped off a few things and though I don’t really go big any more they handled it well. They weren’t the softest landings but the boots didn’t over flex forward like some softer boots can. The boots are starting to pack out a bit and are definitely more comfortable.
Day 4 on the boots involved a tour of roughly 5 miles and 1000′ of vertical. We got turned away by dodgy avalanche conditions and ended up skiing Loveland Pass again. This tour was again on my Killowatts. The touring was more comfortable than the 1st day as my foot seemed to be getting used to the shape of the boots and the liners were packing out a bit. Touring was great and much better than touring with the Garmonts Endorphins. The walking mode allows for much more ankle articulation that the Garmont allowing more range of motion while skinning and in the end more efficient upward progress. This leads to more energy for what’s important, The Skiing.
The second part of the day was skiing wind effected packed powder with soft pockets at the Pass. I’m really starting to enjoy skiing these. They ski just like alpine boots except it’s a little soft in the back seat. I tend to enjoy pressing my tails at the exit of my turns while carving. I like the acceleration. The Titan’s only fault so far is that when pressing through the calves the boot seems a bit soft. I think I could mess with the tightness of the boots power strap to stiffen the back/spoiler a bit. Every other aspect so far seems to be amazing. I’m really happy with my purchase so far. I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle the steep this spring.
Now go get yourself a pair, you won’t be disappointed. I have to say I think they are the best AT boot for skiing ever made, and that’s why I tour.
