Farewell to My Old Trusty Friends. Hello Krypton Kryzma's!

After years of skiing with my trusty Salomon X Wave Sensifit Ski Boots (so old I can't even find a picture of them), I knew I needed to upgrade. Boot technology has moved on significantly in the last five years, but really, when it came down to it, I'd skied two winter seasons with these boots and countless holidays. And, like an old but trusted and loved horse, they were beginning to fail in their duties. I found a new friend in the Dalbello Krypton Kryzma I.D. Women's Ski Boots. Here's my story of the complete custom fitting I had and a review of their performance over eight days of skiing.

Buying 'Instruments of Torture' Is Never Fun

Buying ski boots is a pain in the arse and an expensive one at that. Get it wrong and you've probably just wasted a few hundred on a purchase you can't exchange. Everyone knows it, and I knew that this was the reason I'd been putting off exchanging my now comfy, but packed out and tired, X Waves for so long. But this year I bit the bullet. My boots were so finished I might as well have been wearing slippers.  So, I went on the hunt.

What Boot and From Where?

Now, Dalbello have been creating quite a storm with their boots of late. And as one friend put it to me 'all the ski instructors are wearing them'. Whilst that's not always the best measure of a good boot (after all, they probably look for comfort above performance for teaching beginners all day long) it's still a VERY good sign - a bit like Chinese people eating at a Chinese restaurant. You know it's going to be good! So with this knowledge I looked around a bit for Dalbello's and those competing, tried some boots on in my home town and made some comparable notes. By the way, the help you'll generally receive from boot fitters in the city will never be great. They cater for the boots that are most in demand - usually beginner to intermediate level, so the choice for expert skiers (if that's what you're after) will always be limited and so will the fitters' knowledge sadly. But it is a good way (on the hush) to try on some different boots before making any decisions and maybe finding a better price online or opting for a more professional fit in resort.

The Fitting

I opted for in resort. Mainly because I knew I had some very specific problems that needed some specific attention. After some consultation with my boot fitter, I bought the Dalbello Krypton Kryzma I.D. Women's Ski Boots without even trying them on. This made me sweat, I'll be honest. But I put my faith in my fitter who clearly knew his stuff. He was close to 100% sure these boots would suit my size, shape and skiing ability, so that was good enough for me.

I then spent the next hour being molded into my boots. The first step was to make my custom foot beds. This process was something I'd done before - simply stand on the machine and the beds are molded around the base of the foot. Next step was to have Dalbello's top-of-the-line, heat-moldable Krypton ID Women's Gold Thermo Custom-Fit liner made with high-density Ultralon molding foam (no less) molded to my entire lower leg. My fitter, firstly, spent several minutes applying foam pads to all the pressure points around my feet, ankles and shins to help mold the liners around my feet, but with extra room where I experience problems. I was seriously impressed by this point - I've never had a boot fitting like it. The next step was to put ski socks on over the foam pressure pads, slip into the heated liners, then step into my boots and let science take it's course. It took around ten minutes for the full molding of the liners to take. My fitter was excellent and if you're in the 3 Valees region of France I'd highly recommend paying them a visit in Val Thorens - Val Tho Sport

The Verdict

The first day they fit like a glove and there was no question my foot was firmly in place where it should be with little to no movement from the heel. The second day, I started having problems. They were hurting in the areas I'd previously had problems with and the heels had started to move a bit. I also had the common problem a lot of skiers have, that when I tightened them to solve the 'wellies' feeling, I lost all feeling in my feet. Hmmm expensive mistake I was beginning to think.

However, my fitter did tell me it would take at least three days for them to really settle, so I persisted. Low and behold each day that past, the boots felt better. If you do get these boots, I personally feel you need at least a week skiing with them. The last day of my eight days skiing was when the boots really felt their best. They were comfortable, I could tighten them and make minor adjustments with the adjustable twist buckles, my feet were really fastened in and the stability they gave me over my skis was something I'd never had before. No pressure points were hurting and the boots were really responsive, giving me a lot of extra control, stability and confidence in the hairy stuff off piste.

As a side not, if you have a wider foot (like me) these boots are fine - the liner features an expanded volume toe box and a roomy 98-mm foot width. Similarly if you're sporty and have muscular calves the custom liners are a bit higher than normal which means they don't dig into your muscle or nip, rather they sit above it. This also helps with shin bruising common amongst expert women skiers.

Now I just need some less girly looking skis to match

The Technology

The flex is marked as between 95 - 125, but in reality it's a little stiffer than this on the lower setting. The Krypton Kryzma I.D. has the stiffest flex of the Krypton women's range. The boots come with two interchangeable tongues, which you can change for a softer or harder flex and a few more wedges for the back of the boots for more flex adjustments.

Here's a list of all the other techno babble features about the boots.....

• Cabrio Design: HD P.U. Shell/Cuff
• Contour 4 Concept - This is the bit of the boot that helps overcome problems with pressure points and maps the 4 critical fit points
• Kinetic Response Tongue - more sensitive to movement, improves responsiveness and control
• Dynalink + DC Cable Clusure - minimising foot sliding, heel lift and boot shell distortion
• Low Cuff Hinge - delivering more power and leverage to the ski with less energy.
• F-500 Alu Buckles – 3 Microadjustable
• Forward Lean Control
• Forward Flex Control
• Twin Canting
• 2 Interchangeable Tongues – Stiff & Medium Flex
• 2 Interchangeable Footboards – Firm & Anti-Shock

These boots are an easy choice for the expert female all mountain skier looking to upgrade or replace their boots this season. Highly recommended