Garmont Dynamite AT Ski Boots - Dynafit Compatible (For Men)

I use hard boots for snowboarding with old Burton race plates. Most hard snowboard boots are heavy and lousy for hiking. I do a lot of hiking and the Garmont Dynamites are great for hiking. I also use the Dynamites fo skiing with old Silvretta 404s. Nice to have one pair of boots for everything. Blue Dynamites and blue Megarides have softer and more pliable pebax plastic than the harder plastic used in the red Garmont GRides. I cracked inner heel tongue on the shell of the GRides. I don't think that will happen with the Dynamites. Dynamites have 3 buckles instead on the 4 buckles on the MegaRide. I like the lighter weight of the Dynamites. I also prefer the Pad Lock liner (more like a traditional lace up fabric and foam liner) to the G-fit liners that are heat moldable. Garmonts also just fit my foot better than Scarpas, but that is certainly an individual preference. For skiing, I like a soft boot, and the Dynamite is relatively soft.

Garmont's Dynafit-compatible MegaRide is a deservedly popular boot (with lots of new competition from Dynafit and Scarpa), but unfortunately as of now (Aug 6, 2008), stp doesn't carry any. Except for the Dynamite, all the Garmont AT boots stp currently carries lack Dynafit compatibility, so they condemn any skier to using much heavier bindings (and which are even heavier in a dynamic sense, since each skinning stride entails pivoting the binding, not just the boot). The Dynamite is a shorter, lighter version of the MegaRide. Unfortunately, the Dynamite isn't much lighter, yet it is noticeably softer. Still, it would definitely appeal to some skiers, but the version here has the economy/pricepoint liner, so the overall boot weight is even *heavier* than the stiffer MegaRide. However, stp does have lots of good deals on lighter thermomoldable (both Garmont and Scarpa), so with aftermarket liners, this could end up being a good choice.