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Gear Review | Salomon TREK S/LAB snowboard boot

Can the 500 Euro boot convince off-road?

by Patrick Wehowsky • 03/25/2021
Patrick Wehowsky
Patrick Wehowsky
For years, the Salomon Malamute was (and still is) a good answer to the question of a solid, reliable freeride boot. Salomon had made a name for itself in the freeride community alongside Burton's Driver X and Deeluxe.

For the 18/19 season, Salomon has introduced a snowboard boot that has never been seen before in this form. The Salomon TREK S/LAB has a special soft boot walking mechanism for the ascent and is therefore an interesting boot for the soft boot touring faction alongside Thirty-Two and Deeluxe, which offer technically different walking mechanisms. We have tested for you whether the high-priced boot can fulfil its promise of ultimate stride length.

The special feature of the TREK/S LAB is its innovative walking mechanism. Salomon has equipped the shoe with a movable shaft that can be fixed by the BOA lacing. A video says more than 1000 words.

FIRST IMPRESSION

The Salomon TREK/S-Lab looks stylish when you take it out of the packaging for the first time. Trying it on for the first time reveals a comfortable boot, the BOA system on the outside works well and you can buckle the boot very tightly. However, the front lacing is questionable as it is limited by a bulky plastic part and a snow guard. If you tinker with the laces in the snow guard and close the zip, you end up with a small bulge. It didn't bother me when riding or walking later, but I would have solved the forefoot lacing differently.

If you have the BOA completely open, you can stand and walk very comfortably. That's why the boot is certainly also suitable for park shapers or other snowboard professionals (coaches, instructors) who spend a lot of time standing or walking.

There is also a Velcro strap that fixes the liner to the outer shoe to reinforce the heel hold, as well as a top strap to fix the tongue to the outer shoe.

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Downhill characteristics/ technique

Immediately after the first few descents, three things became clear. Although the flex fits (rather harder) and the board feel is rather good compared to the mountain sole fraction due to the flat sole, I slide around in the liner and my heel doesn't have a good grip. Unfortunately, this didn't go away even when I baked the liner. This was surprising for me because of the good feeling when I tried them on, so my tip is to try them out (if possible) before you buy the boot.

That's why I started the next test with a different liner, with which I no longer had this problem at all.

If the liner then fits, the TREK S/Lab is a good freeride boot on the harder side of the spectrum. The BOA worked well for me. The quick lacing system for the lower lacing was not needed, nor was the cover for the lacing.

Many splitboarders are sceptical about BOA systems because you can't really repair them well on tour and then have to ride with an open boot. This critical argument has little weight with the Salomon boot. Thanks to the combination of normal external lacing in the foot area and the top strap, you can actually get down the mountain quite well without the BOA. This is only a real safety risk for steep wall descents without the option of retreating or long crossings with very difficult passages.

Ascent

In ascent mode, the boot actually has significantly more freedom of movement than any other soft boot I've tested so far, but this freedom has its structural limits. To understand this, a brief digression on the ideal touring snowboard boot, which Tobias Graser once formulated very specifically.

Ideally, such a touring boot is stiff for lateral movements on the ascent and flexible for flex to the front and back (i.e. like a ski touring boot with a walk setting). The opposite is true for the descent. Here the snowboarder wants lateral flex and a firmer flex to the front and back. This combination is not so easy to achieve.

In the specific example, I can open the TREK S/LAB very wide and then have a very good flex forwards and backwards and thus a desired long stride length. However, the wider the shoe is open, the more it flexes to the side and we would like to have this stability.

If we only open it halfway and leave the top strap in place - as suggested in the operating instructions -  then the stride length is also reduced again. The English-speaking world says "you can't have the cake and eat it".

The desired constellation described above is therefore not possible with this boot. On the other hand, you could argue that you only need long strides on flat terrain anyway. In kickturn terrain, these are rather negligible. So you could have the boot open on the flat approach and close the boot when it gets steep.

Patrick Wehowsky
Patrick Wehowsky

Personally, I think this objection is quite right. Whether you buy a boot with a walking function for flat terrain and also have to adjust it during the tour is something everyone has to decide for themselves.

It is noticeable that the shoe is very wide and extended at the top in open walking mode, which can be a bit of a fiddle with some tighter trousers and snowy trousers. A baggy version is required here if you want to bring the trouser legs over the boot in a relaxed manner.

On multi-day tours, it's quite common to take the liners out of the boot, be it to have hut shoes, to keep them warm in the sleeping bag or simply to dry them separately. This tends to be annoying with the TREK S/LAB. The source of annoyance is the strap that connects the liner to the shell. Getting the liner back in properly  so that this connection works again can end in a veritable swearing match. If you are happy with the shoe itself, you should try out whether you need this device (inner strap) - otherwise I would simply cut it out.

The boot has the in-house Salomon sole, which is grippy, but has a much finer profile than a Vibram sole.  In addition, the boot has no rear sole edge, and can therefore not be used with semi-automatic crampons, which I personally do not find so important.

CONCLUSION

With the TREK/ S-LAB, Salomon has actually developed a soft boot with a real walking function that works and at the same time offers good downhill performance. However, the ideal condition for the ascent has not yet been achieved. A genuine Thermofit liner, improved lacing in some areas and a reduction in the rather high boot weight would be desirable.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

+ functioning walking mechanism

+ good board feel and downhill flex 

- very voluminous on the ascent (do the trousers fit over it?)

- Lacing sometimes annoying

- quite heavy (1340 grams per shoe in size 42)

DETAILS

  • Ortholite C3: A dual density  insole featuring a moulded heel cup for all day comfort and a precise fit.

  • Trek EC+: High stability  outsole featuring a Salomon exclusive technology that combines the rebound of  Energy Cell+ and the stability of our VIBE compound.

  • Articulated Hike Cuff: A fully articulated cuff actioned by our exclusive BOA system - adjustable for the hike up, locks  down for the ride down.

  • Boa® Trek: Exclusive patented  S/LAB tech and a Boa® fit system that opens and closes the fully articulated  upper of the Trek S/Lab boot. This configuration allows you to manage how much  or how little the cuff moves for the hike up, and lock your boot for the ride  down.

The boots were provided to PowderGuide by the manufacturer free of charge for testing. You can find out how we test them in our test statement.

Christian Skala
Patrick Wehowsky
Christian Skala
Patrick Wehowsky

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