The force is strong in BOA, but will it catch on?

BOA invested more than 50,000 hours of design and testing with well-known industry brands such as K2. (Handout)

The ski industry has a long history of introducing new products and technologies where the primary goal has been less about solving glaring problems in the sport and more about creating new markets. After all, skiers continued showing up on powder days long before the emergence of fat skis, rockered skis, or skis with any kind of sidecut. And teens kept coming back for more well before twin-tips and dedicated terrain parks encouraged their trickster tendencies.

Introducing these and many other product innovations catered to emerging styles have significantly contributed to the diversity and evolution of the sport, expanding its appeal to a broader range of participants.

Will BOA Fit Systems have a similar, lasting impact through its asserted improvements in ski boot fit and performance? The micro quick-dial lacing system long has been familiar to snowboarders and numerous other recreational athletes (cycling, running, golf, etc.) but its introduction into select hard-shell alpine and touring boots this season to replace traditional buckles is spurring one of the industry’s most lively debates, with the biggest question being, why?

“We’re a group of pioneers really focused on continuing to push the edge,” Kiersti Bird, BOA’s director of global brand marketing, said. “So, it only made sense to move into alpine skiing and truly revolutionize the industry.”

To effectively build a BOA system capable of withstanding the powerful forces and conditions found in the alpine skiing environment, the company invested more than 50,000 hours of design, development and testing in collaboration with well-known industry brands such as K2, Atomic, Fischer, Salomon and Scarpa.

Its new H+i1 Alpine Boot platform is unlike any other BOA application. It was designed to withstand maximum impact, with micro-adjustments available in both directions for those who like to loosen their boots at the bottom and crank them back down at the top. Additionally, the “laces” are, in fact, constructed from 19 strands of stainless steel wrapped in an additional 90 strands with a pull strength of 560 pounds. Low-friction lace guides create a uniform wrap adaptable to every individual foot shape.

“We want to make sure that the system is going to handle every possible condition that the athlete would throw out if there is an unintended high impact,” said Adam Auell, BOA’s testing director.

Still, skeptics abound. Some argue that skiers, including the sport’s top athletes, simply aren’t asking for BOA on their boots, that they only want something simple and reliable. Buckles work. The BOA system adds weight to a ski boot, it costs both manufacturers and consumers more, and the system is currently featured only in the lower boot shell area when adjustments to the upper cuff, they argue, are more critical to boosting skiing performance.

Tom Pietrowski, global ski boots product line manager for K2 — which features BOA on its Recon, Anthem and Mindbender boots this season — dispels many of the criticisms about the system. “It works,” he said, simply, on a recent panel discussion for Blister Review. “It wraps the foot in a new way, it’s comfortable, something BOA offers that a buckle boot can’t. In the grand scheme of things, it is just better than buckle.”

BOA published testing results that show a 13 percent reduction in peak pressure on the top of the foot while still delivering a precise fit, micro-adjustable in millimeter increments. This translates to improved responsiveness and power transfer during turns, “up to 6 percent increase in peak forces underneath the foot and 10 percent improvement in the rate of force production at turn initiation.”

One of the big disadvantages of buckles is that most of the force is applied directly under the buckle, which can be a problem, especially for people with high insteps, Pietrowski said. The two-buckle design also makes it hard for the boot to close evenly around the foot.

Pietrowski regularly responds on skier forums when the topic of BOA arises. Among his other insights:

-BOA decided to introduce the system on the lower shell for a number of reasons. It is very easy for customers to feel the difference in closure on the lower shell. Most boot issues are found on the lower shell. To get the optimal performance out of a ski boot, the lower shell needs to match the foot as closely as possible.

-Forces on the cuff are far greater, so developing a solution for the cuff is not as straightforward. Will you see it on the upper cuff soon? Pietrowski predicts, yes.

-Unlike a buckle, where all the closure happens when you push the buckle down, the BOA closure is incremental, so the force required is far lower to get to the same tightness. It does take slightly longer, but it is far easier, and also easier to dial in the correct pressure.

-The biggest advances are a better fit and better ski performance. The only real disadvantages are they are slightly slower to close, and they cost slightly more than buckles.

-All internal gearing is new and is produced from metal, meaning the system can pull forces far in excess of any of the other systems. The gearing also is optimized so that the input on the dial is very small compared to the force it pulls.

-The dial itself is designed to pop off if it encounters a large enough force that could damage it. It will still be attached to the boot via the cable and all you need do it push it back on, which is really easy.

“I’m confident that this is the future for alpine ski boots,” said two-time Olympic ski racing champion Benni Reich, who served as a test athlete during BOA’s product development. “The BOA alpine project has been an incredible opportunity to leverage this experience and work closely with their team to improve boot fit and skiing performance for the next generation of athletes.”

Is BOA here to stay? Ultimately, the market will provide that answer.