This is the most revolutionary thing to happen to the world of terrain park skiing. If you're a die hard park rat and you don't have a pair of these, you're an idiot. It will make everything better about riding park.

However, if you're a skier that likes to get out of the park a fair amount of time, and isn't willing to have two pairs of boots to do so, forget it. You'll hate it.

I gave this boot a 9 because I do ride a lot of park, and that is what I am rating this based on. I am not considering the down sides of its all-mountain performance simply because I would consider it so stupid to use this boot for that full-time that its almost not worth mentioning.

So 9 as a park boot, and not a 10 because my feet were so damn cold.

However if you're a big mountain skier, consider my rating about a 3 or 4. There are plenty of good all mountain boots out there that would be ok in the park but perform much better elsewhere.

The shock absorbing characteristics of this boot are unreal. There's padding under the foot, on the shins, beside the shins, everywhere you can imagine. The to box is big so you don't slam your toes into the front. The boot has a greater upright stance that really helps in skiing switch. Its the first thing you notice when you take your first run, that you aren't forced into a forwards stance like traditional boots. This works perfectly if you're riding a symmetrical park ski mounted dead centre, which if you're riding a park you'd be silly for skiing on anything else.

The best thing to describe the way this boot rides is that it is a boot designed from the ground up (totally new mould) for the specific purpose of riding a terrain park. It takes the edge off of jump impacts, gives you the flexibilty to get low on rails, is better for riding switch, and a myriad of other performance enhancements for terrain park riding.

If you go riding in the trees or on the steeps though, it really lacks. I mean it works, but if you're doing anything but riding parks 80% of your time skiing, probably look somewhere else.

One interesting problem I found though is that for some reason my feet just got colder than all hell in this boot. Usually I don't have too much of a problem, so I do feel like this isn't the warmest boot out there.

It looks good, the two buckles are really easy to do up, the massive velcro strap makes the boot cinch down quite nicely. With the addition of a leather outershell for asthetics on the newest model, its going to look banger too.

Again though, everything about this boot is designed for jumping and park riding.

The main word to describe the flex of this boot is SOFT. There is no way around it, the boot is soft as all hell. If you're big guy with a stiff ski, forget it you'll be able to touch your knee to the ground.

Now all that being said, that is exactly what I want out of a park boot, and thats exactly what this boot is. It is the ultimate boot for terrain parks. But if you're looking for a boot that will perform in the backcountry, forget it look somewhere else.

Held up great throughout the season. Didn't have any problems with buckles blowing or the velcro getting weak. I had a few of the metal ringlets on the velcro strap pop out on me, but they are purely asthetic from what I can tell.