More points in the ski mountaineering department for the use of a heavily rockered, rubber sole, similar to that found on a mountaineering boot. This’ll give you valuable grip whilst kicking steps, or crossing technical sections in an effort to reach the top of your descent.

One peeve of traditional ski mountaineering boots are that they’re typical built for skinny European feet – giving an extremely tight and anatomical fit that’s perhaps unbearable for those with wider feet. Atomic have looked to fix this issue with Memory Fit – the successful boot moulding process taken straight from their alpine boot range, where the whole boot (outer and inner) is placed within an oven, allowing the plastic and foam to conform to the wearer’s foot shape.

Bringing the fit of the boot together is the BOA system, which includes a series of cables that constricts (get it?) around the instep and gives a lightweight yet highly adjustable fit.

“This is a great, full-on, ski touring boot”

This is a great, full-on, ski touring boot. It’ll either become your second boot, to go alongside a stiffer and more durable side-country focused boot such as the Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 130 or the Dynafit Hoji Free, or, if you’re an outright skimo gram-counter who spends three-quarters of their time skinning uphill, it might just become your regular go-to.

Given the lightweight construction and materials used to build this boot, you wouldn’t want to bash this in the resort too often. This boot has been designed for the uphill.

It has to be remembered that the Backland Carbon will only fit in tech bindings – the toe and heel lugs and rockered sole won’t provide a safe fit into a traditional downhill binding. This is the same for hybrid touring bindings, such as the Shift.

Saying that, this isn’t a boot that you’d get to be driving bindings that heavy – it’s ideally suited toward sub 300 gram bindings like the Plum Pika or Marker Alpinist.

 Expert’s Verdict

Blair Aitken, BASI L4 (ISTD) Ski Instructor

Website: british-backcountry.co.uk

“The Backland Carbon has the new BOA closure, which tightens up around your foot and improves the stiffness somewhat. This system can even be adjusted with my mitts left on. For me, working and ski touring in Scotland quite a lot, where conditions can be sub-optimal (at best) and things are quickly icing up around your skis, boot and bindings, so this gloved hand usability is useful.

“For the descent, I can’t feel much difference compared to the previous Backland, which I felt skied really well. Every boot has got a compromise in one direction, either skiing or uphill performance and this one is slightly leaning towards the uphill”

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