Salomon XADV 8 ski boots- Reviewed

Salomon ADV 8 boot

2015 most recent report on the XADV 8
Earlier post about the ADV 8

I have finally had an opportunity to put the Salomon ADV 8 boot through the paces and here is what i have to say:
 1. these boots are great on the kick and glide
 2. these boots are comfortable
 3. the integrated gator is great
 4. there is increased ( from the Greenland)  rigidity in                  the  sole
 5. The zipper is the weak area. Mine has already blown 
     out ( used 4 times). It has blown out from the bottom
     up..which basically makes it a snow scoop.
     (note: Salomon was great about this, replacing the boots at
     no cost. The replacement boots have held up fine)
6. The quick lace thingy is great..really tightens down 
     well and releases well. 
  7. the laces  don't go up all the way..this is comfortable, 
      but does not let you press the cuff to assist with 
      Turning.
  8. The plastic cuff is not appreciably more supportive 
       than the old Greenland

Salomon Raid Bindings

2014 update:  

I have not had an opportunity to ski these this year because I blew out my knee.  I have really put these guys through the paces in the past though.  I think these are great boots to use as an out your back door XCD boot.  

see here for the type of skiing I am doing in these boots : Fun Til Death on Skis!

                                                                

                                                                                      More Fun Til Death on skis: with Video

                                                                                      Michigan backcountry XCD stick whips and all

Kalamazoo Downhill Longboarding

 These guys came and raged some primo spots in Kalamazoo.  The area with the woods path also holds a ton of ski lines...shhhhhh....don't tell anyone.

The video was posted on silverfish- i stole it and put it up here.

old guys at upjohn park

nothing like a finger in front of the camera lens to make a great video.
The price of radness is paid at the end of this little video. 

Upjohn Skatepark : frontside practice

OOOF! The price of radness is paid.

The Set up

The Bail

 All taken with the timed shutter of my cell phone camera so the scenes captured are kinda random. Unfortunately I didn't catch a single successful frontside carve or....attempt at frontside slasher grinds. 

For those of you who are interested:  Limited Edition Fun Til Death stickers are available.  Send me your address and i will mail out a few. Excellent addition to helmets, skis, poles, skateboards, etc. 

does this carve make me look fat?

The Bert Slide is certainly Fun Til Death.  Being a skateboard trick that is low to the ground - falls or crashes from attempting this extremely stylish move are relatively mild. These pics are a compilation, that looks like a series. I pulled out of a couple of these....but i also lost control and fell out of many of these.

This is all a little later than usual dawn patrol church of skaten at Upjohn park.  The park had some wet spots, but you know....wet spots are always the result of fun.  West Michigan had a ton of fun storms, which over the week proceeding and during the Memorial Day weekend of 2011 i had opportunity to camp in. Upjohn park as well as a lot of other spots in West Michigan were flooded.

The 'thane lines on the bank remind me of ski tracks.

On the Old Man Army forum, some one mentioned looking into your arm pit as a method for getting the frontside crave down. They were right, and it has started to open lots of lines for me.

I am wondering if it is too early to start thinking about Ski Boots.  I am financially committed to the binding system i am running- just thinking about an upgrade on boots.

Often fun til death must be planned out months in advance.

Ok- so I am really happy about getting this high frontside on our local bowl. This is real progress. However,  when i am really invested in balance and some one takes a picture- looks like my gut is huge... I think that this may be a result of the Chi Gong- sinking my chi into my tan tien......or maybe the beer that i sink into my gut.

frustration at checker mountain or off piste and pissed off

I was experimenting with wedging the camera between my face and the helmet strap. Here are two views of the same run. One with a crash....and one with out.  This is the first Glade on the South East nose of Checker. Looking at the topo, it is obvious that Mount Checker is not a stand alone formation but part of the long landform that forms a nice ring of hills along the outer edge of plains in the  Kalamazoo Valley.  Parchments hills are also part of this, and if I was skiing better i would want to go over there and explore. An urban assault would probably be excellent, going down those hills- the linked front yards, the linking of turns and dodging of chain link. Trespassing, beauty and danger, what more could you ask for really.

This was just one of many crashes. The run before the crash is pretty nice and certainly gives a different view of essentially the same run as the depicted in the first video. Further up this hill is the eastern summit of Checker.This has some great runs down the North side- steep and open. I crashed on every attempt.  the slope became crisscrossed with climbing tracks rather than being branded with  S and 8.

After this, I attempted to charge back up to give it another go.  I had been having difficulty climbing all afternoon ( improperly waxed ) and ended up sliding backwards, riding a tree, falling down, having my right leg get caught up and as i fall....the tree progressively wedges its self between boot and ski ( so much for the advantage of free heal) and hoisted into the air.  Hoisted on the yard arm of a lower slope of Checker Mountain. The result was bad enough that peter dropped off a beer for me later that night.

Thanks dude.

Vintage Rector Knee pads keep the downed trees from fucking up my knees when I crash.

To trespass or not to trespass that is one question that is a recurring theme in the pursuit of fun.  Should you jump the fence to skate the pool, should you jump the fence to ski the slope, should you hike up into the area that the lifts are not servicing yet... I think that if your impact is going to minimal ( just a few ski paths ) and you are not intending to sue anyone when you get hurt- you certainly should trespass. Especially if everyone else is at work.  This posting only has one picture taken on public property- all the rest are obviously of climbing over fences and shredding some backcountry back yards.

also included is a product placement for this kick ass Arnica Liniment. Feels good on your knees, bruised ribs, and other sore areas from high impact fun. 

Two great things to have at the end of a session at checker mountain.

A rare look at the eastern summit of "Checker Mountain"

these trees selflessly sacrificed themselves to provide easy access to some nice runs.

Not my Backyard technically...but certainly in my "backyard"