Review: 2024 Scarpa F1 XT

Weight (per boot in grams):

• 1,145 (27)

Pros

• For a lightweight AT boot, it drives a heavier ski exceptionally well
• Surprisingly warm for a minimalist boot

Cons

• Not quite burly enough to handle variable conditions with confidence

If your vision of spring skiing includes pre-dawn starts, steep couloirs, and booting thousands of feet to the top of your line with enough gas left in the tank to enjoy the descent, Scarpa’s brand-new F1 XT could be the boot of your dreams. We tested the company’s new addition to its stalwart fast-and-light F1 line in the biggest winter—and longest spring—the Eastern Sierra has ever seen. That means we put it through the paces skinning steep, icy slopes, crossing raging streams, booting impossibly long chutes, and skiing back to the sagebrush. This boot blew our minds with both its blissful walking abilities and its capacity to drive any ski we threw at it.

The scaffo (lower shell) of the boot has a nice low-volume fit that doesn’t feel crushing for those with a medium to high instep, thanks to the tall waterproof gaiter. The upper cuff is nice and tight, with no play at all, allowing for easy power transfer to the ski. While the liner is very thin, as with most boots in its class, the gaiter and Intuition foam keep this model very warm and comfortable.

The XT sits in a ski-focused slot in the F1 line. While it is much lighter than the original F1, it skis just as well because it has less carbon in the scaffo, allowing for a more progressive flex. (It also takes a better punch.) It is 155 grams heavier than the F1 LT, but has buckles instead of a BOA and Velcro power straps, which makes the alpine skier in us much more comfortable.

Related: Understanding alpine touring gear

For most of the spring, we tested this model on a complementary ski—1,000 grams and 80 millimeters underfoot—to see how it fared as a quasi-skimo-style boot. The lightweight setup delivered the true potential the F1 XT has as an uphill-focused weapon for the lines you’ve been dreaming of, but may not be quite fit enough to tackle. This boot breezed up the Avalanche Gulch route on Shasta and left our tester feeling sprightly enough that he wished he’d brought a more downhill-focused ski for the 7,000-foot descent.

On that narrow ski equipped with ski crampons, the F1 XT had no trouble at all side-hilling slopes greater than 30 degrees. The boot delivered the breeziest and most confidence-inspiring kick turn of any in our test. Our tester found that the lugs accepted automatic crampons (but only when the walk-mode lever is flipped up, which may be a problem for skiers attempting to climb ice and névé above 75 degrees), and the Vibram sole feels durable after more than 15,000 feet of booting on snow, scree, and rock.

Standing in exposure, the boot transitions to ski mode with just the locking lever in the rear, two buckles, and a very nice camming power strap. In smooth, firm snow, soft corn, slush, and powder, this offering delivered excellent power and control to the ski for its weight. The only conditions we really felt limited in while wearing the 1,100-gram F1 XT were breakable crust and very inconsistent snow. In those cases, we would have been better served by a boot with maybe 500 grams more mass.

We were especially impressed when we clicked the Scarpa into a heavier ski. On a 1,600-gram Armada Tracer equipped with a light tech binding, the boot skied beautifully down steep corn and danced over avalanche debris in the bottom of the chute. It truly felt like the best of both worlds: skiing a fun, poppy, and damp ski with a boot that left us with enough energy atop our line to rip on the down.

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