Boa Crazy
People that are familiar with our shop know that we are open to new ideas and products. From Anton Gliders, Palmer skis (the first rockered ski), Hammerhead Sleds and Uvex “Magic” goggles, I have a way of finding out forward thinking companies. So we have put lots of fantastic and innovative items on our floor.
While many of these items languish in obscurity, the BOA concept on boots has taken off. Well, if one Boa is good, two must be better right? Last year the big deal on boots was to have a boa on the lower. Now they have added them to the cuff. A good thing? I think so. As far as the Boa thing goes, I think it is more helpful on the cuff. On the lower it is a convenience. It may be marginally better at closing the boot, but it is not a game changer. On the cuff it is better. It seems to allow pressure to even out against the tongue better. This means less shin bang. Less shin bang is good. Should you run down and buy a double boa boot? Not necessarily. First off, I have always felt that if the boot is comfortable, wear it. If the boot is not comfortable, fix it or replace it. If you do need a new boot, I would recommend looking at the Boa models.
Some people including good boot fitters are against the boa being used. They feel it may break. They feel that buckles are fine. They simply don’t like change perhaps? Well, I am pretty open minded and am willing to try anything. After trying a Boa cuff boot, I am sold on the idea that it cannot hurt, and it may help. Will some find Boa a hassle to get on? Yes. Is that the same people that struggle with buckle boots? Yes. Boa boots are no easier for me to get on. Will the Boa fail? I say no. I was invited to go see the Boa facility this fall. It is first rate. The Denver location has state of the art labs doing crazy testing. If struck, the winder thingy can be knocked off the boot without breaking. Putting it back on is a snap. Literally a snap! They are very serious about quality and durability as well as performance. In addition, as one of the shops that got early release BOA products, we had a parts kit suddenly show up from BOA that has everything we could need to fix a system that had a problem. That was before we had received any boots. BOA wants us to know they have our backs. I fix buckles all the time. I have fixed lots of BOA’s on snowboard boots. I would expect that I will eventually need to fix a BOA on a ski boot. It will probably be easier than replacing a lower cuff buckle! So far, no problems! Zero.
So, our take is that we are open to progress. We are open to new ideas. We are usually on the cutting edge. We think BOA is great.
We will stock a boot with the BOA option if it exists. Our customers seem to appreciate them as do we. I think you will too!