Snowboard Boots FW16/17 Trend Report

Nitro

Snowboard boots are a big deal. They’re also such an important part of the sport – and of your buy – that getting the right ones onto the shelf next year is utterly critical. What are the biggest names in snowboarding showing next winter? Let’s turn to the future and look at what boots are coming up down the road. By Tom Wilson-North.

THE ABSOLUTE MUSTS

The R&D focus is still very much on freeride and big mountain models next year. Luckily things are lightening up with some funky new sole technologies. Rome’s Guide has a proprietary low-volume Vibram outsole, which loses bags of weight and gets a more slimmed-down overall footprint, and 32’s Jones MTB model – an industry first and bestseller last year – drops sole weight without losing beefiness. The existing 15/16 Jones outsole ends up on the a new model called the TM-Two XLT, which will also inherit the full rubber toecap which is as good at kicking steps into hard snow as it is prowling around soggy resort backstreets after après-ski.

Moving down from the summits and turning an eye to the mid-mountain, we loved Deeluxe’s new Yusaku Horii pro model featuring mixed materials and an eye-catching look, designed for a park and freestyle rider looking for a supportive soft to mid-soft platform. It’s good to see soft boots moving into the spotlight and makes me yearn for my squidy old Forums. Another big development in park boots is Northwave’s new premium Prophecy S freestyler, which features their new Corset sock – a new way to fuse the liner together with the upper of the boot for uninterrupted transfer of sensation.

Vans: Matt Georges / First Layer

Vimana concentrate their boot technology down to one model – the Continental – which is a cow-free vegan boot (you heard it here first) with a pretty unique neoprene construction. Also pushing things forward at the top end are Burton, who are starting to build boots using the woven style, which is big news in pretty much every other footwear segment right now. Their way of doing it is called Ultraweave, and you’ll see it on the Almighty (men’s) and Ritual (women’s) models. This 3D weave allows them to reinforce parts to add durability, and to eliminate a ton of waste by not having to stamp out individual parts. Both these new models sit just below the SLX in the line.

Over at Salomon, the mad scientists in their boot lab are still cranking out success stories, and 16/17 is looking like a somewhat pivotal year for them. The big news is Mutation, “which is a real turning point for us; a revolutionary way of designing, developing, and producing snowboard boots”. It’s showcased on the HiFi high-end freestyle model, which sits at a reasonably palatable 429€.

“The human foot and ankle are not symmetrical and neither should be your boots,” explains DC Snowboarding Global Hardgoods Director David Appel. The brand introduced Travis Rice’s asymmetrical boot last year to great acclaim and continue this through to 16/17. Also for this year, DC introduce Shredbot Torstein Horgmo’s first pro boot, which David claims is the “first snowboard boot purposely developed for today’s level of snowboarding.”

Vans’ customisable Infuse boot becomes responsibility of do-it-all team rider Pat Moore, who lends his ride-anywhere vibe to the model and gives it a special New Hampshire “Live Free or Die” colourway. Flow’s boot line sees a full retool, with the new Hylite Heellock Focus getting a new hybrid lacing system and positive forward lean shell, whilst Rossignol’s Crank Boa H3 and Alley Boa H3 get a refit and overall stiffness upgrade.

INNOVATIVE BOA SOLUTIONS

We’re seeing companies using Boa in some inventive ways next year. Vans have been a big part of the Boa story since day one; Juss Apivala, their Global Category Manager explains: “Hybrid Plus Boa uses it as a new way to customize the flex of the boot. So your boot delivers a wider range of flex. As a rider you expect your boots to perform in any terrain, in any condition. It’s a bit like with phones – back in the day you had your music player, camera, video camera and phone as separate devices, but these days you expect them all to be on one device and obviously be best in class. Same with our boot.”

We love the concept of being able to change the way a boot works at the flick of a dial, and can’t wait to try it on the hill. K2, meanwhile, upgrade their existing Maysis model to a Maysis+ with Tailored Zonal Fit, using three levels of top to bottom Boa zone tension without the need to turn two dials to get there.

CLOSURE SYSTEMS

Despite this advancement, Boas will still be used as closure systems of course, and Boa has seen continued strong growth by everyone using it. Snowboarders like Boa. But there are some emerging alternatives out there you need to know about; Northwave’s SPIN system uses the gel-spun polyethylene cables you find on kites, parachutes and, er, bulletproof jackets. The aim with SPIN is to keep the cable kink-free and lighten everything up.

Nitro’s Co-Founder Tommy Delago has a high level of stoke for their all new RE/LACE liner locker: “It provides easy adjustability of your inner boot lacing when your boot shell is already tightened (tied), by just pulling up on the lace handle. This allows you to (re)tighten your liner and foothold throughout the day (on and off the chairlift) without having to untie your boot.” Otherwise in lacing it’s what we know already: trad, SpeedZone, FastLace and Boa everywhere.

Burton

THE INEVITABLE RUNNING SHOE CROSSOVER

Running remains super trendy and is seeing the R&D megabucks right now, so there’s inevitable rub-off on our sport. And although we’ll take the advancements in cushioning and construction, you can keep the snotty noses and headbands, thank-you very much. Northwave use the same thermowelding process as our tracky companions to reduce volumes and drop weight, whilst Salomon use Sensifit lacing panels nicked straight of their trail running shoes which increase footfeel and durability. They’ve also got a combination of Springback spine and premium Energy Cell+ outsole foam on the HiFi, which creates a lively, damp-but-bouncy ride. Finally, Head have a great-looking running-inspired upper on their Five Boa with a power strap for extra support, response and waterproofing.

AESTHETICS

Since clients often seek to link their boot colour with the rest of their outerwear, boots seem to follow outerwear aesthetics pretty closely. Next year is the same. There are mixed materials and dark tones from Rome, animal prints and mesh materials from Head and natural, earthy and structured finishes from Deeluxe.

Being one of the world’s leading footwear brands, it’s no surprise Adidas are taking snowboard boot inspiration from other areas of business; the Samba nodding to their football roots and the Superstar shell toe screams classic Adidas. And 32, as always, have some very bright 1990s pop colours, which will brighten up your boot wall nicely.

LINERS

Anyone buying boots likes to rip the thing apart and see what’s going on under the hood. So liners are getting the attention that they deserve. Adidas have fiddled with their boots to improve flex. The brand with the three stripes and Nitro are also making their boots heat mouldable top to bottom, making for a better fit straight out of the box. Vans have an easily readable three-liner line with a ton of customisation options, Salomon are using a new liner concept called Shadowflex and Burton are selling liner upgrades called Toasters. These guys sound impressive, with a very thin and lightweight rechargeable Lithium Ion battery woven into the foam, which charges via a micro USB cord. The three heat settings provide four to eight hours of foot heat, and you can plug it into your USB charger just like you do with your phone. Towards their high end Burton are also showing two brand new premium liners called the Lifeliner and Lifeplus, which replace the old injected Infinite Ride liners that were on the Ion & Supreme. There’s a new Ultralon foam in these which is a filler-free PE with better performance and significant weight gains.

CONCLUSION

So, what to make of all that? Well, the days of gigantic leaps forward in technology every twelve months are obviously over, so FW16/17 looks like it’s going to be more of a refinement and consolidation type of year, with brands jostling for position across price points in the face of rising production costs, FX movement, inflation and the downright sheer difficulty of selling anything full price anymore. Luckily, however, it’s the more expensive boots that are doing the best out there. “Our most sold models go from mid range to high end,” says Deeluxe’s marketing manager Matthieu Perez. “Customers are willing to pay for quality, and it’s all about finding the fine line between high quality and good price”.

Head