Thanks Mark! Let us know what you think when you get yourself a pair!

Thanks Brian! I’m hoping to have the same set up next year, the Backland for long days, the Cochise for the rest. We’ve been told that next year’s Backland will have a bit higher and thicker liner, which may do exactly what you describe by adding an intuition liner for skiing performance. A friend of our mentioned that adding a Booster strap made a big difference on that front as well. Excellent point on the “ballast” as well. It drives me nuts to see all these light skis which inherently can’t ski well, no matter how they weave the carbon or do anything else. Not that they don’t have their purpose, but great skiing isn’t at the top of the list on a light ski.

I’ve had about 10 days in the boot now. I’ve also owned the TLT5P and have skied the TLT6P. Touring performance is slightly better in the Backland. Skiing performance is a little below. However, this is with the stock liner, which is thin, flimsy and short. I almost immediately replaced the stock liner with an Intuition ProTour liner. Still a sub-1100g boot and still tours a bit better than the TLT5/6P, but now it skis better too. The ProTour liner is MUCH stiffer, MUCH taller, and MUCH thicker, and only weighs about 40g more. It’s a no brainer. The boot now skis EXTREMELY well for a boot in this weight class. I’ve even been able to comfortably land larger cliffs (20’+) – on lightweight, short, skinny 102mm skis, which is saying a lot.

Like all boots in the sub-1300g weight class, it will never ski the same as a heavier boot. It’s not just the flex, but it’s also the lack of weight – the ballast. The lack of weight is noticeable, just like it is with lightweight touring skis. This is where my Cochise 120 comes in – for ripping around the resorts and for short tours. It’s the perfect compliment to a long distance touring boot like the Backland Carbon.

Sadly, I don’t know how much skiing you were getting in Tahoe this year, Greg 🙁 These are great boots, but I wonder if you would blow right through them with your height.