With snow predicted in the high country this weekend and a few out of state resorts already open it’s time to roll out some new arrivals here at the Trail Head.
The Maestrale RS is an updated version of the original, now-two-season-old orange Maestrale. The RS features a Nylon shell, as opposed to the original’s Pebax shell. The update of nylon makes the boot much more laterally rigid and also yields less shell deformation in the lower, making it effectively stiffer on snow. The RS like earlier Scarpa boots includes a stiffer tongue, which lets you customize your shell performance nicely.
The Maestrale RS is a backcountry specific, wide ski driver at speed while not weighing you down on the uphills. At 1,550 grams this boot is an easy competitor to the Dynafit Vulcan (aka the Hoji boot) and the Mercury. The updated nylon version is also slightly lighter than it’s predecessor.
Inside Scarpa has stocked the RS with an Intuition Pro Tour liner. A light, warm comfortable liner from a company the Trail Head has stocked for years. The Maestrale and the new RS fit the foot and lower leg closer and more correctly, which allowed the original to drive a ski more like a stiffer less precise boot. The RS increases the flex rating to 120 making it an even better performer.
The Pro Tour liner (and all tongue Intuition liners) is softer flexing than an Intuition PowerWrap and other more alpine-oriented liners, which in my opinion leaves a little room to bump up the stiffness of the boot off the top and increase the overall power of the boot, should you wish to do so. If you are looking to run the Maestrale RS inbounds a good bit, or are a big, heavy cat on stiff skis, it might make sense to replace the stock Pro Tour liner with a stiffer liner that can generate more compression on your foot and bump up the stiffness. But as a dedicated backcountry setup, the stock liners are about perfect—smooth forward, and smooth striding.
The Maestrale is a great boot that has flown under the radar a bit. It is very responsive laterally, has a beautifully progressive flex pattern closely modeled after the finest three-piece boots ever made, has a very well executed walk mode, and, to top it off, comes in at a very attractive weight.