Koflach boots

[LeeW]

anyone ride with 'em koflach ? How's the experience with 'em ?

[Guest Randy S.]

You mean those cool ones they made in 1987? I tried a pair once that had built-in gators in a hard boots - the very early days of hard boots. Then again, I also rode in Sorels and in AT boots.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Koflach hasn't made snowboard boots in a long time.

[D-Sub]

94 when I was in steamboat they had a hybrid boot...a friends GF got em cuz softies killed her feet

she loved em

[Neil Gendzwill]

I have a pair of the original Damian model (a pink Valugga light with a gaitor tacked on). I cut off the gaitors and rode them for a number of years. They have two main problems. First, they are fairly soft in flex until they stop dead and flex no more. My Raichle 224s just keep flexing progressively stiffer - way better. Second, they have a regular shoe-type tongue in the liner that twists sideways, which then exposes your shin directly to the shell. I fixed that by gluing/sewing some velcro in there to keep the tongue where it should be.

I like my Raichles much better. If you want AT type boots for splitboards or general hiking ability and whatnot, I think there are some better models out there. If memory serves, Couloir magazine has a website with a forum for splitboards that should have some good information.

[LeeW]

Hmm. Just bought Artic Exp boots. Needed 'em mostly for snowmaking (not slippery on ice). Guess I'll have to rule 'em out for backcountry riding. Thanks everybody.

[nils]

Fluo yellow and grey was it?

Had a pair they were light!! loved them ! Lots of 1987-1988 racers wore them on the backfoot with a racing Salomon ( SX-91 equipe the red one) on the front boot... all this on the emery binding ! Most used also rubber band from old bycicle tires to make sure the binding lever would not open during a slalom!

did not know there was an " after" model post albona!

Nils

[slopetool]

I used to own a pair of black soft plastic lace-ups that were for snowboarding. Koflach had just changed to their new snowboarding brand - Oxygen. This was in '94. The boots gave me a wicked hot spot like blisters on the back of the heal.

So brutal I gave up the moleskin and sold them. Those ones that Damian wore with the gaiters were kind of weird but I still thought he was the coolest dude.

[Coldrider]

I use Koflach Valuga light boots on big mountain ascents, where the vibram sole allows good traction on long approaches. Comfortable for hiking/climbing, good for kicking steps on steep, hard slopes, and quick and easy with crampons.

Downside, IMO, is that the boot cuff is nowhere near as supportive as a hard snowboard boot, so you have to make bigger movements to get the same response (like play in the steering wheel). I find it hard to sting the edge and get off of it quickly. Also, as Neil said, the boot flex stops when you reach a certain point.

It works great for riding in forgiving conditions and on BIG mountains (multi-day climbs), but I've wished for my regular hard boots on more than a few white-knuckle descents in steep, icy chutes, where an unarrested fall or big slide would have been disasterous.

<img src="http://tinypic.com/msmc1">

[knoch]

I had a pair of their ski boots, real comfortable. Apparently i had my bindings set too tight because i double released over the tips and snapped one of the boots in half right across the center of the foot.