Review: Salomon Shift Alpha BOA 130 Boot

Despite what the industry wants to tell you, ski boot design has always been about compromise. It goes something like this: “Pick two - light enough, walks well, or skis well.” I’ve tested a lot of boots over the years, looking for that unicorn that might actually cover all three bases, and there’s been a few that have come close enough to where I’m happy to take them on real missions into the mountains to ski aggressive terrain.

After testing it this winter, Salomon’s new Shift Alpha BOA 130 now joins that club, and makes a mark as a solid contender in the category of true backcountry freeride boots. For the last two seasons, I’ve switched back and forth between the Tecnica Zero G and the Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD (both the older Grilamid non-BOA version and the current PU version equipped with a BOA), and this one falls into the same category. To me, the new Shift Alpha BOA 130 bridges the gap between these boots and could turn into a quiver killer for backcountry riding for the right person.

Features:

Just a few years ago, we saw a ton of boots in the freetouring sector move to a full or partial Grilamid construction. This special plastic had the advantage of being incredibly light and fairly stiff, but it was too thin to be warm, and tended to give boots a very rigid, chattery feel. It made sense in touring-only boots, but I found that it was not appropriate for any sort of hybrid or freetouring boot that you’d spend time skiing inbounds. Now, it seems boot manufacturers have returned to using slightly heavier plastics like good ol’ polyurethane (PU) and even some new stuff like Polyolefin. The Salomon Shift Alpha BOA 130 uses PU in the lower, and Polyolefin in the cuff, which seems like a good combination of materials to keep weight at a minimum and still let the boot feel damp and consequently ski well.

Salomon’s new boot contains, yeah you guessed it, a BOA closure system! It’s the same BOA H+i1 fit system as all the other new BOA boots, but it’s integrated in a much more effective way. The dial is on the outside of the foot opposite your navicular bone, and the cable system attaches to the inside ankle pivot with a strap, helping to pull your foot into the ankle pocket instead of just crushing it. Up top, we’ve got two standard buckles and a screwed-on 50mm elastic power strap that’s essentially a Salomon-branded Booster Strap. All the hardware is screws and bolts, which might add a little weight, but makes the boot much easier to repair and modify.

The spine has a unique walk-mode mechanism, somewhat similar to what was found on the outgoing Shift boot. Unlike most other walk modes, the switch is integrated into the cuff and flips horizontally. Of course, there are standard tech fittings on the toe and heel, and the GripWalk-compatible boot features a full rubber sole from toe to heel.

Inside, we’ve got Salomon’s heat-moldable MyCustomFit Freeride 4d liner that features a soft section above the heel to add to the ROM in walk mode. The tongue is made of moldable plastic, adding stiffness and comfort. The liner can be laced up with included laces.

Oh yeah, and the boot is purple - how sick is that?

Fit:

The boot comes with a stated 98-104mm last, thanks to the BOA. I would say it feels a bit narrower than other boots with that range, particularly in the heel pocket. The toe box is fairly square and tall like other Salomon boots, giving extra room to my big toe specifically. In fact, the shell feels a smidge longer than other 27.5 boots I’ve tested. Given the locked-in heel, I don’t mind a little extra room up front, especially for touring (and landing backseat).

Both the shell plastic and liner are heat-moldable like other high-end Salomon boots. See a bootfitter if you’re unsure, but I was able to do this in my kitchen using an oven. Like any boot, a custom footbed goes a long way in making these feel good, and I haven’t felt the need to punch anything so far. The liner comes with laces and a spoiler, both of which I used to further dial in the fit.

The biggest aspect of fit worth mentioning is how effective the BOA’s ankle strap is at holding your foot in the right place. How have other boot manufacturers not done this with the BOA yet? It works remarkably well.

One downside to the snug fit is that this boot is quite hard to get into and out of. I found myself wrestling to open it far enough to get my foot around the bend - but once I was in, it felt really good. Unlike lots of other boots on the market, Salomon doesn’t seem to have sacrificed performance by making the instep area out of softer, thinner plastic to make it easier to get on and off, and I think that’s actually a good thing.

Uphill Performance:

I’d be lying if I said the Shift Alpha BOA boot outperforms other more touring-oriented boots on the skintrack. The ROM isn’t amazing, and they are not super light - but they have been very comfortable on short and medium length tours. For me, that’s the kind of stuff that’s 1500-2000 vertical feet of booting or skinning to access a line, or lapping a mini-golf zone. But given how well it skis, I’m ok with that.

The sole is VERY grippy, and is confidence inspiring on icy bootpacks, ridge scrambles, or just walking across frozen parking lots.

The walk mode lever’s action is actually pretty sweet - it’s much larger than older Salomon lever, making it easier to grab with gloves. Its sideways orientation also makes it not stick out under your pants the way bigger levers from Tecnica, Atomic, K2, and others do. That seems to further prevent icing and it getting caught and potentially breaking on rocks.

I haven’t modified the boot in any way, and given how well the stock liner fits and skis, I don’t think this boot necessarily warrants an automatic upgrade to a wrap liner or the like, especially since that would decrease its uphill performance by further restricting the ROM.

Downhill Performance:

The Shift Alpha BOA is stiff! Like, good stiff, not “flexing into a brick wall” stiff. Out of the box, it’s one of the most solid walk mode boots I’ve ever skied in - much stiffer than the Atomic Hawx XTD 130 and slightly stiffer than the Tecnica Zero G Pro Tour. The flex feels very progressive, and the boot is very damp - especially noticeable when skiing hard inbounds through questionable snow. There’s a good amount of suspension that feels really good, and kept my legs fresher for longer, particularly when skiing fast through crud, bumps, and all the other nonsense found when other people track out your stash. It hikes really well, and feels pretty light on my feet for walking (though not quite as light as a more touring-oriented option, more on that below.)

The boot’s forward lean angle is an interesting one - it’s stated as 13 degrees + an internal ramp angle of 4 degrees. That actually kind of puts you into a position closer to an aggressive 17 degrees. On snow, that angle feels quite similar to skiing a boot with a 17 degree angle, but I found it gave me slightly less calf fatigue when standing up in the boot. I thought this was going to cause my toes to hurt more when touring, but that actually hasn’t been the case.

What compromises does the Salomon Shift Alpha BOA 130 make?

I would have liked to see this boot be slightly lighter and have a slighter better ROM to compete more directly with a boot like the Zero G Pro Tour as a dedicated touring boot. It’s one of the best-walking crossover boots I’ve tested, but I don’t think it can fully replace a boot like the Tecnica for pure backcountry use.

I would usually say that having a boot that’s difficult to get on and off would be a downside, but the downhill performance gains kind of outweigh that in my opinion.

What does the Salomon Shift Alpha BOA 130’s ideal skier look like?

In my opinion, a boot like the Shift Alpha BOA would be an excellent option to purchase by two types of skiers. First, this makes sense as a one-boot every day quiver for a rider that values downhill performance and spends 75 percent of their time skiing a resort where lots of sidecountry access where bootpacks, short skins, and complicated exits are part of the game. Secondly, I think this would make an excellent choice for a skier that already owns dedicated alpine boots and lighter touring boots and wants to add an “in-between” boot to a quiver - very useful for those of us that work in our ski boots (patrollers, camera people, and mechanized guides in particular). 

The Salomon Shift Alpha BOA 130 will be available soon.