tomPietrowskiIf your looking for stiffer boots th salomons may not be for you. The quest max 130 is great and the custom shell is amazing but the shell material does make it softer. Even more so when they are warm so in the shop they will feel very soft but can stiffen up 15-20% when cold so more then most boots. If I was you I would look at the waymaker and freedom. The freedom can actually be fitted pretty big if needed but the waymaker is overall higher volume. I found the freedom a littke tight whereas all I need to do with th waymaker was add footbeds and a small adjustment to the boot board. The 130 version is pretty stiff no plug boot but really having a little more give in te boot will be good for free riding. I more often then not actually slightly soften boots for pro freeriders rather then stiffen as they like a little more movement.
I skied the quest max 130 last year and just bought the quest pro 130 for this year.
I'd say the stiffness of each is more into the 120 range, depending on temps. The quest pro almost a full pound lighter than the quest max in each boot. I think its going to be a much better touring boot.
The quest max also has a narrow profile (98 last vs 100 last). While they claim the Custom 360 Shell can be molded to add up to 6mm in last, that is not my experience at all. Plus, the wider you make the boot, the tighter it gets around your instep.
I have a wide foot and wasn't able to get the quest max to fit properly.
One last thing of note about the design. If your hitting big lines, be very careful of the walk mode. I've had mine switch into walk mode after stomping large cliffs (@ 20+ ft).
You'll notice that it is extremely easy to put the boot into walk mode when forward pressure is applied. When you stomp something big, there's basically a very brief, but intense, increase in forward pressure right as your entering the snow. When this happens, even the small force upward of powder rushing by your boots is enough to flip the boot into walk mode. You lose all support and it feels like your going to break you boot in half.
I now bring duct tape with me when I'm stepping up to anything serious.