Salewa Pro Gaiter Mountain boot?

This is a boot Salewa first showed at the summer OR show in . It still hasn't hit the dealers shelves yet but thought it worth mentioning some of the things I know about it from the samples I have.



The most obvious it this little guy and flex adjustment for the sole.

And a closer look at the internals that make it possible











With my friend Eric giving us a tour of the boot at OR this summer.



What is missing here and easy to not see with all the new technology is the last and human engineering that has gone into this boot. To be honest most climbers are not into fluff. And it might be easy to pass off Salewa's newest technology as fluff in a hardcore mtn boot.



What impressed me even more (and surprised me as well) was the last (actually two lasts) of the new Salewa.



In long email conversations with one of Salewa's and Dynafit's boot designers, Federico Sbrissa it became clear as to why.



I easily saw the design, lastand fit similarities to the new TLT5 Dynafit ski boots and the new Pro Gaiter from Salewa. The emails back and forth to Federico Sbrissa just confirmed that guess on my part.

What I have here is the performance fit. It is tight and form fitting. I really like the fit but would prefer what I think will be a warmer boot the INSULATED PLUS FIT in this boot. Only because I know something of the Dynafit/Salewa design collaboration and trust the end results. Only time will tell if I am right.



But if I am correct the Pro Gaiter might well end up being a dominate player in full on technical boots just as the TLT has become in BC and touring boots. The TLT has done that so thoroughly that few are even in the same game right now. Salewa is betting a lot on this new technology.



The new Pro Gaiter isn't the lightest "super gaiter" style boot out there with even more to come from the major players, new and old. But if a boot truly fits well I am willing to give up a lot of things. And I suspect this boot is going to fit my foot exceptionally well. A few ounces being one of the things I am willing to accept for a perfect fit.



I am really looking forward to giving this boot and several others a real test.











A close up look at just two of the newest boots that will be available by early summer of .