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looks like a step in the right direction...

screw the gel, upgrade the sole...but yeah, it does look like a step in the right direction.

I've got no problem with my single boa setup, but I've wondered whether a double boa setup is best?

Actually I do have one minor problem with my single boas, the boa cable compress against the liner and eventually packs it out so in time you feel the pressure from the boa on your ankle bone. I'm working on upgrading the liners though...

Northwave has a similar boot called the T-track.... rather innovative, but a broken cable could make for a really shity day in the mountains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0liUszRUeo

I must add that I do not see much to get excited about with this boot? Where is the boot designed from the ground up to address the needs of the serious backcountry rider?

True that.... but the power of positive thinking is HUGE! This boot looks good in a couple ways to me:

Pros:

1) Nice and compact - Snowboard boot manufacturers are FINALLY beginning to realize that boots do not need to be the size of the MOON. I mean seriously... A compact boot walks and climbs so much better, and you are more likely to get a crampon to fit securely.

2) Good liner


Cons:

1) SOFT SOLE. Good luck trying to climb steep ice in this boot... I might be great for walking back up the pipe and looking hella gangster though...

2) Double BOA: All I have to say is that double boa is for riders who don't care about proper boot fit. Our culture just wants things to be so fast and cookie cutter... If your boa breaks in the back country you've had that can! I prefer laces...

3) NO GORTEX: Multi-day trips in soft boots is inevitably going to make your feet SOAKED and CLAMMY. All high-end soft mountaineering boots have Goretex in the shell, and keep your feet nice and dry and breathe super well. One of the reasons our feet get wet in boots is because we sweat so much in them. All I'm sayin' is that for 300 bucks it doesn't seem too outrageous to have something as high quality as a La Sportiva Trango... Those boots RULE:)

Other than that, the shape and style of the boot are right on. All it would take to have a KILLER SICK snowboard-mountain boot would be to add a snowboard specific stiff(er) Vibram Sole, a tougher toe box, and a Goretex Shell.