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http://www.doglotion.com/ski-boot-re...carpa-spirit-4
Summary
It's a trite observation that the Scarpa Spirit 4 and the F3 are different boots for different skiers for different conditions. Given my preferences and where I ski (heavy coastal snow), the Scarpa F3 doesn't fit my needs. Frankly if I wanted a boot for situations and tours where I knew snow would be light, downhills wouldn't be challenging and where I had a lot of flat approaches I would get the F1 over the F3. If I wanted a boot for technical downhills, I wouldn't get the F3. Given my particular biases and preferences, I wouldn't have the need for the F3.
Despite its weight, the sheer comfort of walking and touring in the Spirit 4 combined with its beautifully balanced downhill performance makes it an appealing one boot quiver. Scarpa has hit a home run with this boot in terms of the trade-off between uphill and downhill. Unless you're a big hard charger who straightlines Alaskan faces, this is plenty of boot.
Scarpa F3 - Cayoosh area; Duffy Lake
Scarpa F3
Pros:
* Relatively light
* Very comfortable touring and bootpacking boot
* Tremendous liner
* Matches up nicely with light skis in predictable snow
Cons:
* Requires installing a shim on your skis (solved by new Scarpa shim coming Jan. 2008)
* Not as light as the lightest touring-biased boots (eg. Scarpa F1)
* Does not have the Scarpa F1 "touring cuff"
* Requires finesse and balanced stance for difficult conditions
Scarpa Spirit 4 - Kokanee Glacier
Scarpa Spirit 4
Pros:
* Superior tourability among the 4 buckle boot class
* Easily customizable
* Tremendous liner
* Will comfortably drive even big skis
Cons:
* Relatively heavy
* Ribbed buckles are of questionable durability
* Clunky when hiking
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