Not sure if this should go in the boots review section or not, since it isn’t a review. It’s a question.

I bought a splitboard before last season and rode in La Sportiva Trango S EVO GTX boots all winter (about 10-12 days out). They are my mountaineering boots and they functioned alright I guess. They were comfortable to skin in, but they weren’t the best for riding…..too flexible I think. That, combined with the length of my board (175) compared to my resort board (155) and the powder riding conditions typically found in utah, made the performance a little lackluster. I can take the blame for most of it, since I suck, but I’m thinking a stiffer boot would help me throw the board around a bit more, more like my resort board. I like the ability to turn quick. Maybe I should invest in a shorter board, but this seems like a reasonable first step.

So I was trying on some boots today at the discount shop in town. Cheaper boots I think, but they’re nice and stiff. Only problem is that they feel like they would be horrible for skinning. My heel doesn’t stay down very well, even in the sizes where my toes are a bit scrunched. And they push my legs forward a bit like other snowboard boots, while my mountaineering boots have a more natural feel to them for uphill travel.

Is this just an inevitable fact of life? Stiff boots for more control on the downhill=pain and misery on the uphill? Or am I missing something? What would people recommend. I’ve been looking at new mountaineering boots anyway (probably la sportiva nepal EVO’s, a step up in warmth and weight), so should I just try riding in those?

Any thoughts?