Thread: Category killer - Scarpa Maestrale - now the lightest 4 buckle touring boot

Mobe is still a tongue design. It does not walk very well, particularly compared to the maestrale, which walks very, very, very well.
btw, the maestrale might look as a tongue design, but in reality it works more like an overlap design.
More insight when telepath finally release the saas review, hopefully before saturday

I went to the shop this WE and tried both the Mobe and the Maestrale. They are both so good that I ended up confuse and haven t bought any of those two yet! The Maestrale is uber light walk like a dream and he is "stiff-ish". The Mobe is uber stiff, walk alright and is still pretty light. You barely notice them heavier in your hand than the maestrale but you do notice. They seems to fit smaller than my Salomon.
AS of today I am leaning towards the Maestrale but I am a bit afraid to drive fat skis on big lines with them.
Lee, since you tested them and lives in BC would you dare using them at unleash speed down North Face of Fissile, wedgemount or Wedge couloir? Or would you approach such lines in a more "conservative" way when you ski them?

Sorry to intrude again, but if anyone plans on ditching the Scarpa Active Strap in favor of a Booster or something else, I'd be interesting the buying the Scarpa version off of your boot (or trading you a Booster maybe).

Originally Posted by verbier61

.
More insight when telepath finally release the saas review, hopefully before saturday

What's SaaS verbier?

Originally Posted by janusgre

AS of today I am leaning towards the Maestrale but I am a bit afraid to drive fat skis on big lines with them.
Lee, since you tested them and lives in BC would you dare using them at unleash speed down North Face of Fissile, wedgemount or Wedge couloir? Or would you approach such lines in a more "conservative" way when you ski them?

janus. You might ask someone else this question too. I'm not a finesse skier and would prefer to have a bigger boot for the bigger lines. If it was good snow then I would be perfectly comfortable with the Maestrale but that's not saying much because good snow then you can use pretty much any gear - if you know what i mean?

Originally Posted by LeeLau

What's SaaS verbier?

Saas Fe, a CH ski area. Verbier skied more boots there last week than i will probbaly be fortunate enough to own in a decade.

And Verb, hurry up with the review. I have boots to dream over.

Originally Posted by janusgre

AS of today I am leaning towards the Maestrale but I am a bit afraid to drive fat skis on big lines with them....

hope telepath will post soon the review on coreshot, but anyway....

in Saas-Fee we were 4 testers including a pair of finesse skiers and a pair of big machos. We skied the maestrale with DPS 112, K2 hardside and stockli stormrider DP pro, and were happy.... the mobe is certainly burlier, but the maestrale was surprisingly good.

verbier - thats awesome. I thought the Maestrale was comparable in stiffness maybe even to the Spirit 4; definitely as stiff as the Spirit 3. But the boots were so new that there were no other reviews. It would be great to hear other people's opinions too so there is more data and feedback for everyone

Review from the test where Verbier participated in Saas Fe "The maestrale can drive well burly skis. We have found no drive limits even using the stormrider, the 105 and the 112. Testers were very pleasantly surprised by how efficiently the boot transmits the will of the drivers foot sole. At 1500g per boot, the maestrale is about 350 or so more heavy than the TLT5, but in our opinion drives fat skis better. We found room for improvement in the tongue material and maybe in the rubber sole."

Thanks for the reviews, Verbier61 and Co.

[I enjoy seeing info coming out of skiers in EU, in English]

Not related to the Maestral, but I can confirm that the Radium sole is durable. Mine is still in quite good condition, despite the plastic of the lower boot being very roughed up, to the point where my Dyna toe inserts are starting to protrude. And the buckles are poor in usability and durability (I've lost three now).

Skied The Maestrale today for a run- seems to tour well and skis nicely. I was on 178 REX's. They fit a lot better then my Spirit 4's, and the stiffness seems more or less comparable.

These boots kick ass!
Highly adjustable with a very comfortable walk & tour mode.
They locked down like a tight pussy and I had no problems driving 195 SuperBros w/ FF+ bindings. Plan to take them out after this next storm to see how the Dynafit set up works on softer skis.

Only con so far is I wish there was a thicker Virbram sole for durability on rocky approaches but I would guesstimate there is enough rubber to last a few seasons before needing a resole.

"locked down like a tight pussy". I wonder whether dawson will let me use that in a wildsnow review..... nah.

Locked down like the Virgin Mary on a Saturday night might win some points with those holy rollers.

Originally Posted by mud

These boots kick ass!
Highly adjustable with a very comfortable walk & tour mode.
They locked down like a tight pussy and I had no problems driving 195 SuperBros w/ FF+ bindings. Plan to take them out after this next storm to see how the Dynafit set up works on softer skis.

Only con so far is I wish there was a thicker Virbram sole for durability on rocky approaches but I would guesstimate there is enough rubber to last a few seasons before needing a resole.

The Trend with this new generation (tlt5, maestrale) is towards very thin soles, likely to save weight and (for the tip) for better walking. Time wil tell......

What's the wire gate thingy for on the top buckle for? Am I supposed to lock the buckle pin the groove so I can skin with the buckle unlatched/open?

Originally Posted by mud

Locked down like the Virgin Mary on a Saturday night might win some points with those holy rollers.

How about " Tighter than a nuns".

Originally Posted by sfotex

What's the wire gate thingy for on the top buckle for? Am I supposed to lock the buckle pin the groove so I can skin with the buckle unlatched/open?

thats what it looked like to me when i tried them on

I'm looking for a replacement/compliment to my Radiums - which ski well, but IMHO tour like shit - the cuff motion just seems too limiting. Anyone have any feedback about how the flex of the Maestrale compares to the Radium? I'm sure they tour WAY better, but wondering how much of a step down in performance I'll be taking.

Hey Lee, any word back from Scarpa on whether there will be a stiffer tongue available for the Maestrale?

Bought mine today. Now the waiting for snow begins in earnest.

Originally Posted by the_eleven

Hey Lee, any word back from Scarpa on whether there will be a stiffer tongue available for the Maestrale?

problem is they aren't exactly easy to remove... one geat thing bout the spirits... pop the tongue out entirely to hike or skin, put in the stiff one to descend

Looks like they would be fairly easy to remove; everything on the boot is attached with screws. Am I missing something?

nope, just two screws hold it on

Yah they need screws to remove as opposed to the spirits where the tongue removal was tool-free. I'll ask Scarpa.

I guess I should of tried these on. Looked like an old Lazer with another buckle. Lots of boots to choose from. Did not like the Quadrant buckles. Little too much hook on the bale. Would I really be missing out on a big improvement by buying a carbon zero 4?