Behold. The K2 Waive Snowboard Boots. These boots just arrived and I won't be getting out on them for at least a couple weeks, but I plan to put up a more detailed review on how these actually perform out in the mountains. I picked these boots up due to an experience I had last spring splitboarding with a buddy of mine. Our goal was to get to the top of Mt. Mohagany in Cedar Hills, Utah. The approach is long and steep and there isn't really a trail anywhere that leads to the top. It's a lot of bushwacking up until you get to the bottom of the actual run which is where the snow starts and you finally get out of the scrub oak. From there it's a 30-35 degree pitch up the face of the slope we were going to ride.
Once we were out of the bushes we were able to boot pack for a bit through the gulley just below the bottom of the run. The sun was directly on the snow in the gulley and it was just soft enough to boot pack up however there were a few places that were a bit spicy in snowboard boots where I would have really benefited from having some crampons. I actually had to put on my Union Charger bindings with the crampon attachment on in a few spots or I would have slid down the hill for a lot longer than anyone would have wanted to. My buddy on skis was able to toe kick in the whole way up though. When we got to the base of the run we strapped in and started skinning up. The slope was northwest facing and the sun was not direct enough to soften up the snow like we had hoped for. A couple days earlier the temps were getting warm enough during the day that the northwest slopes were softening up. Then on the day we could make it work it got like 20 degrees colder. As we started skinning up it wasn't steep at all and we could just skin straight up the face. As soon as it got steeper we had to start traversing. This is where things got bad. My boots were a super soft freestyle boot and I couldn't get my edges into the hard snow. My feet were cramping super bad and it was exhausting to say the least. Finally I resorted back to putting my binding on my feet with the binding crampons attached again and tried sideways bootpacking the rest of the way up. This was also super tiring and just plain sucked! The day wasn't a total loss. We still had a great time, but I knew I needed to find a better boot without going to a full hardboot.
I started looking at some different splitboard soft boots. I thought I had it narrowed down to the Thirty Two Jones MTB's. They checked all the boxes on paper and solved the main problems I was trying to solve. They were laterally stiff so I could edge in harder snow conditions, they could accept a semi-automatic crampon. They also had "walk mode" where essentially near the top of the spine of the boot, the shell is softer to allow your leg to come back further into a negative forward lean situation, giving you longer strides on the skin up and causing less fatigue. They looked super rad and I thought for sure these were my boots I would be going with. When I tried them on however they were way too tight. I normally
wear an 11.5 in most brands of snowboard boots. But the 11.5 in these were almost a full size too small. Even taking the footbed out and adding a heel lifter they were too tight. There were other spots on the top and sides of my foot that felt painful as well. Not gonna lie. I was kinda bummed.
I started looking again and one boot I didn't notice before was the K2 Waive. These looked intriguing. I thought they should probabaly fit good too because I have been wearing Ride snowboard boots for a while and they fit my foot really well and I believe Ride and K2 boots come from the same manufacturer. I went with a size 12 because sometimes with 11.5 Ride boots I end up having to take out the footbed and adding heel lifters to make room in the toebox. Right out of the box the K2 Waive Snowboard boots felt perfect! The are not quite as stiff as the Thirty Two's , but plenty stiff for what I would be doing on them. They accept a semi-automatic crampon and the walk mode on these is pretty rad. There is a BOA dial on the side that allows the back of the boot to open up and let your leg move back quite a bit. Stoked to see how it feels having walk mode on my boots. Now maybe it will make the walk mode on the bindings be a lot more effective since my leg will be able to lay back a lot further.
I do wish the BOA dial was a bit further down the boot so you don't have to pull your pants up so high to acess it. The lacing system is a traditional lacing set up with a power strap up top to get more support and response for riding down.
The K2's have a nice grippy and lightweight Vibram sole as well. Hoping to get out soon on these! We have a nice big storm that has just rolled in so maybe some stuff will start filling in! Get yourself a pair at evo while they still have some in stock and we have some good amount of season left!
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