Gear Review | Scott Freeguide Touring

First impression

Two years ago, I tested the then new Freeguide Carbon and was thoroughly impressed by its downhill performance. I was therefore very excited to take a closer look at its "little" brother. Externally, the shoe can be distinguished mainly by its colour, and the inner shoe has no Boa system or no lacing at all. Otherwise, the shoe has the familiar three buckles, with the upper one being a strap buckle. The internal locking mechanism is also identical to the Freeguide Carbon. The touring version is slightly lighter, although the few grams probably have little effect.

Testers and test conditions

I am a good 180cm tall and weigh a good 80kg. I do a lot of ski touring, but can also be found on the piste or freeriding. In general, I emphasise on downhill skiing and therefore usually use wider skis and downhill-orientated boots. I have tested many ski touring boots in recent years and usually wear either the Scarpa Maestrale RS or the La Sportiva Skorpius.

I've been using the Scott Freeguide Touring since the start of the season, which unfortunately doesn't mean much due to the acute lack of snow - which is still continuing. Nevertheless, I was able to test it in fluffy powder, on the piste and in broken snow to get a good overview of the boot's ascent and descent characteristics. The skis used were a Downskis CountDown 104 and a Scott Superguide LT 95.

I tested the shoes in size 27.5, which is very tight for me, but experience has shown that smaller is better than bigger.

gear reviews

presented by

Test report

Before I started testing, the inner shoes were first thermo-fitted, whereby I made sure to "get out" as much as possible here due to the short length of the boot for me. The result was okay so far, the inner shoes fitted quite well. Basically, the shoes are slightly too wide for me, but the length is tight. This worked well for testing, but more intensive adjustment measures would be necessary for long-term use.

The boot has Dynafit-certified inserts, but not the Quick-Step version. For me, getting into the binding therefore requires unusually precise aiming - especially with the Marker Kingpin, which I used for most of the test days.

Like its "big brother", the boot also sits well on the foot with three buckles, although you have to be careful when closing the buckles to get all the shell parts on top of each other in the right order. I'm used to using lace-up liners in my touring boots, but I didn't miss the lacing on the Freeguide Touring. The inner boot fits well and I didn't slip significantly in the boot, even on the ascent.

Speaking of the ascent, the shoe behaves as expected here. It walks wonderfully and has a very flexible shaft, especially towards the front. As the buckles snap into the open position, they don't wobble around when climbing. Of course, the low weight of around 1500g also has a positive effect on the ascent.

The switch mechanism for walking and ski mode is internal, but works well and never iced up. The boot is quickly switched to ski mode and the descent can begin. It's worth noting that the Freeguide Touring is noticeably softer than the Freeguide Carbon. With rather light and easy touring skis or even for lighter skiers, this is certainly sufficient, but with harder skis and in choppy snow or on the piste, I lacked stiffness and skiing was therefore a bit strenuous. This is interesting, as the really stiff Freeguide Carbon was rather too hard for me. The flex behaviour of the Freeguide Touring is great. As in the carbon version, it is very progressive, which makes the boot very easy to ride. The flex behaviour is very reminiscent of my Full Tilt alpine boots, which is really a big advantage. This means I have a lot of fun on the descent with the boot, especially in good snow, but I have to admit that I would personally prefer the harder carbon version in the long run.

Lea Hartl

Brenner mountains

Lorenzo Rieg

Conclusion

A good all-round boot for anyone who finds the Freeguide Carbon too hard or would prefer a softer boot. It impresses with its very natural flex, low weight and good ascent and descent properties, although it cannot keep up with the Freeguide Carbon in terms of stiffness. Heavyweights and fans of high-speed descents should therefore choose the slightly more expensive carbon version, but for normal use the Freeguide Touring will usually suffice.

Advantages & disadvantages

+ Lightweight touring ski boot suitable for ascents and descents

+ Very natural, progressive flex

- Noticeably softer than the carbon version

Information on

RRP €629.95

101 mm last width
15° template
60° shaft rotation
Dual Flex Action tongue
Skywalk rubber sole
Dynafit-certified tech inserts
Weight 1390g (size 26.5)

Here is the link to Scott's website with further information.

The boot was provided to PowderGuide free of charge by the manufacturer for the duration of the test. You can find out how we test them in our test statement.