Jan13 2009 image

This past weekend a couple friends and I went for a hike around the Mt. Rose wilderness. We got some nice sugar on the North faces in the shade and a great corn shot from about 10,000’ near the top of Mt. Rose itself. Over all it was a super great day touring. The BDEL Factor boots have been perty good so far. They aren’t quite broke in yet I don’t think, so my feet still get a little sore in them. I did have the liners heated up and wore them around after that for about 20 minutes. That helped out for sure. I wear a size 11.5 shoe, so that’s generally a 29 / 29.5 boot, but the Factors 29 was way bigger, so I went with the 28.5 which is quite a bit smaller. Maybe it’s the shell size, I don’t know. My feet are a little tight still. No biggy, they’ll pack out a little and then be perfect. Getting the Factors on is just as easy as it gets, and the BOA system is cool. It keeps the liner really secure on the foot, so I haven’t gotten any heat anywhere on the ankles or anything. They do have a really tight / aggressive heal pocket. The walk mode was really nice to use, but has been taking me some time to get used to since I have only ever toured in downhill boots. I feel like the liner slips a little in the heal when walking however. I don’t know how to remedy this yet. I have the lower 2 buckles loose when touring by the way. Dropping in from the top of the first ridge after de-skinning and clicking in the downhill mode was great. The boots can move larger skis no problem. They might need a little more forward lean, but you can fix that really easily with an Allen wrench. The snow was, for the most part, sugary. If you got into any sun it was crusty right away. You could feel your tips wanting to dive towards each other.The boots felt just fine. Skinning back up, we hiked another pitch just across the valley on Mt. Rose itself, had some lunch and skied some great south facing corn. Any later than 1pm and it would have been soggy in the sun. On the way up I started sliding to my death, but managed to hang on. Self Arrest! Self Arrest! I was hearing from Tyler. Skinning side hill on steep slopes has always made me nervous… After the ski down we toured back to the car for about 1 hour. It was a mellow up hill slog that made me wish I hiked backcountry more. It is beautiful in the backcountry. After arriving back at the road, I ran across the highway and began to disrobe and get organized for the drive back. Taking the Black Diamond Factor boots off is a chore. The liners do not stay in place at all. The heal pocket is so aggressive around the Achilles, that the whole liner wants to come out with your foot. You have to use a couple fingers to push it off the heal, back down into the boot while pulling your foot out. I don’t like that. Maybe there’s a trick I haven’t figured out yet, but right now that is my biggest beef with the Factors. They ski great, are stiff enough, tour well, and are warm. The liner is my only complaint. I’m moving them up to an 8 out of 10 from the 7.5 I gave them earlier. Something has to be fixed with the liner for sure, other than that they ski well.

This past weekend a couple friends and I went for a hike around the Mt. Rose wilderness. We got some nice sugar on the North faces in the shade and a great corn shot from about 10,000’ near the top of Mt. Rose itself. Over all it was a super great day touring.

The BDEL Factor boots have been perty good so far. They aren’t quite broke in yet I don’t think, so my feet still get a little sore in them. I did have the liners heated up and wore them around after that for about 20 minutes. That helped out for sure. I wear a size 11.5 shoe, so that’s generally a 29 / 29.5 boot, but the Factors 29 was way bigger, so I went with the 28.5 which is quite a bit smaller. Maybe it’s the shell size, I don’t know. My feet are a little tight still. No biggy, they’ll pack out a little and then be perfect.

Getting the Factors on is just as easy as it gets, and the BOA system is cool. It keeps the liner really secure on the foot, so I haven’t gotten any heat anywhere on the ankles or anything. They do have a really tight / aggressive heal pocket. The walk mode was really nice to use, but has been taking me some time to get used to since I have only ever toured in downhill boots. I feel like the liner slips a little in the heal when walking however. I don’t know how to remedy this yet. I have the lower 2 buckles loose when touring by the way.

Dropping in from the top of the first ridge after de-skinning and clicking in the downhill mode was great. The boots can move larger skis no problem. They might need a little more forward lean, but you can fix that really easily with an Allen wrench. The snow was, for the most part, sugary. If you got into any sun it was crusty right away. You could feel your tips wanting to dive towards each other.The boots felt just fine.

Skinning back up, we hiked another pitch just across the valley on Mt. Rose itself, had some lunch and skied some great south facing corn. Any later than 1pm and it would have been soggy in the sun. On the way up I started sliding to my death, but managed to hang on. Self Arrest! Self Arrest! I was hearing from Tyler. Skinning side hill on steep slopes has always made me nervous…

After the ski down we toured back to the car for about 1 hour. It was a mellow up hill slog that made me wish I hiked backcountry more. It is beautiful in the backcountry.

After arriving back at the road, I ran across the highway and began to disrobe and get organized for the drive back. Taking the Black Diamond Factor boots off is a chore. The liners do not stay in place at all. The heal pocket is so aggressive around the Achilles, that the whole liner wants to come out with your foot. You have to use a couple fingers to push it off the heal, back down into the boot while pulling your foot out. I don’t like that. Maybe there’s a trick I haven’t figured out yet, but right now that is my biggest beef with the Factors.

They ski great, are stiff enough, tour well, and are warm. The liner is my only complaint. I’m moving them up to an 8 out of 10 from the 7.5 I gave them earlier. Something has to be fixed with the liner for sure, other than that they ski well.

Jan5 2009 text

Black Diamond Factor Update

I drove up the hill late yesterday evening to try out the Factors in some 2” crust. They drive my 188 Gun Labs with no problem. They are mounted up with Fritschi Freerides. I think I am going to move the forward lean forward a little more on the Factors. They seem to be kinda errect right now in the middle setting. I skied a couple runs, skinned back up and snowmobiled home. The Factors hike really well. I love the walk mode. I did notice some slipping of the liner when skinning back up the hill, however.

Skiing breakable crust is probably my least favorite condition with traditional, non-recurve skis. So time to trade those in on some Praxis Backcountry boards. The 188 Gun Lab, Fritschi Freeride, Bdel Factor set up is nice and light compared to other setups I have used in the past.

So far I am giving the Factors a 7.5 outta 10. They jib rails fine, hike well, and ski crust fairly well. My only beef so far is the slip of the liner in the walk mode and the height of the cuff. It’s a little low compared to the downhill boots I have used in the past.

BDEL FACTOR BOOTS!

Dec18 2008 image

Cell Phone Camera to Blog in Seconds! This is great! My new boots, Black Diamond Factor! I’m super excited about these boots from the big mountain to the park to the long backcountry days, these should suffice. I have been a Tecnica guy for a lot of years. My last boots were the Icon Alu. The BD Factors seem to be a tiny bit lower on the calf, like a 1/2 inch, and nearly as stiff if that gives you any idea of how the boot feels. The liner is also really tight around my achelies and the boot is fairly low profile over the top of the foot. That is with the foot beds in. I am getting them fitted to my feet by a pro tomorrow. A word of advice. Spend good money on getting boots to fit well. My Tecnica’s were like slippers. I’ll report on how these boots fair over this 08/09 season.

Cell Phone Camera to Blog in Seconds! This is great!

My new boots, Black Diamond Factor! I’m super excited about these boots from the big mountain to the park to the long backcountry days, these should suffice. I have been a Tecnica guy for a lot of years. My last boots were the Icon Alu. The BD Factors seem to be a tiny bit lower on the calf, like a 1/2 inch, and nearly as stiff if that gives you any idea of how the boot feels. The liner is also really tight around my achelies and the boot is fairly low profile over the top of the foot. That is with the foot beds in. I am getting them fitted to my feet by a pro tomorrow. A word of advice. Spend good money on getting boots to fit well. My Tecnica’s were like slippers. I’ll report on how these boots fair over this 08/09 season.