Ski Touring Boots

There's nothing more important than a good pair of ski touring boots if you don't want to turn a dream into a nightmare! Discover Alpinstore 's wide range of ski touring boots.

The ski touring boot market has become prolific with increasingly technical innovations, and that's just as well. Enthusiasts find their way around, and newcomers who are just starting out do so in perfect technological conditions. To choose your ski touring boots, you need to think about your skier profile and the type of skiing you do. Then, for competition or touring, the weight and rigidity of the ski touring boots will be important. Finally, the type of hook and the price. All of this with perfect foot comfort in mind, which is why we offer not onlythe best men's ski touring boots, but also the best women's models for the right choice!

Ski touring boots, a wide range of products

Among ski touring boots, there are lightweight, competition boots with 1 or 2 hooks. Then there are classic ski touring boots with 3 hooks, offering a good compromise between weight, stability and price. Racing performance boots are designed with 4 hooks. They are very similar to alpine ski boots. The criteria to be taken into account are the skier's level and profile. In other words, the ability to be a versatile skier who does 40% uphill and 60% downhill, or vice versa. You'll want a boot with 3 or 4 hooks.

Free rando models:

This is the skier who particularly likes to go downhill, with a ratio of 30% ascents and 70% descents. They should opt for a pair of 4-hook touring boots. The expert skier, who likes above all his 80% uphill and only 20% downhill, can ski with all types of ski touring boots. He will choose lightweight touring boots with 2 high-performance buckles. Competitors will ski 90% of their ascents and 10% of their descents in lightweight touring boots with 1 buckle. The Lupo model from Italian brand Dalbello is a good example of a free rando boot. Tecnica offers several interesting models for both uphill and downhill versatility.

The 3 main criteria for choosing a ski touring boot

• Weight

The heavier the skier, the greater the need for rigid ski touring boots with 4 support hooks. If your skis are rigid or, on the contrary, flexy, you should choose a pair of ski touring boots with the same features. Generally speaking, touring boots are lighter than alpine boots, thanks in part to the more systematic use of carbon. Carbon does have its side effects, however: it is more expensive than other materials, and less impact-resistant than plastic. However, the rapid growth of ski touring in recent years has prompted manufacturers to constantly innovate, to offer ever stronger and ever lighter equipment.Lightness and sturdiness are what characterize models from the Scarpa brand models, which offer reassurance on both ascents and descents.

• The liner

The most important component of a ski touring boot, the liner is thermoformed to the shape of the foot. The liner can be thermoformed on request in the store, or more automatically during use on your first outings. However, this does not guarantee freedom from pain: if unpleasant sensations occur on fitting or after thermoforming, it's best to keep looking until you find a boot that will give you nothing but comfort and no discomfort. As with any ski boot, you should also pay particular attention to the model's foot volume, which gives a reference for the width of the boot at the metatarsal level. Slender-footed skiers will opt for a 96 to 100 mm fit at the meta, while wide-footed athletes will prefer a 100 to 104 mm fit.

• The uphill position

The sensations provided by the uphill position are extremely important when choosing a ski touring boot. Touring skiers spend much more time climbing than descending, so the slightest discomfort on the ascent can be absolutely deleterious for the sportsman. Make sure you assess the collar's ability to move: once in the ascent position, walking for a long time with your boots on allows you to evaluate the pressure of the tibia on the collar and its amplitude. The slightest pain should mean trying on another model. Bear in mind, too, that the liner settles with use: when you try them on, you should feel held, but not squeezed.


There are also versatile models that are both alpine ski and ski touring. See all our alpine ski boots.