Dave here at The House talking about my second favorite snowboard boot we got in the shop. It’s the Burton Ozone snowboard boot. Definitely the lightest weight snowboard boot in their line. I refer to this one a lot as the baby SLX. SLX being their super misty $550 snowboard boot. A lot of trickle-down technology goes into this one.
What you’re looking at is a snowboard boot from their park series. First off start with the Speed Zone lacing. This is my personal favorite lacing system on the market. Definitely gonna be the quickest in-and-out time you can have with a lacing system. Theirs works very smooth and its extremely durable, too. This line was actually made by New England ropes, they make rescue ropes, climbing ropes, things like that. It’s got a lot of kevlar and good stuff in it so it never breaks. A big thing on this one is you got two zones; The handles represent the lower and then the upper zone for the snowboard boot. You’re always gonna wrap the bottom one really tight. That’s gonna give you good heel hold, it’s gonna suck you into the snowboard binding and give you good response. But the thing I like about it, you can ride the top part loose and it becomes a softer flexing snowboard boot for smaller mountains, crappier conditions or if you wanted to like park rail box riding, it really helps soften up the snowboard boot. But if you get into some more advanced training or you’re going somewhere outside the park, you can crank on the upper part and it really does change the flex of the snowboard boot.
Moving to my second favorite feature which is the articulating cuff. It separates the upper from the lower. When you flex, which you’re constantly doing when you’re riding, it flexes on itself like a hinge would, so you don’t get the bunching or the crimping you typically would get on a snowboard boot that’s solid all the way through. This is another technology I swear by on my own snowboard boots. From there you’ve got a really lightweight synthetic construction on this one. It’s gonna be nice and waterproof. The sole on this one is actually optimized for the EST snowboard bindings. It’s a thinner profile sole that sinks your foot further down into the snowboard boot. It helps increase that snowboard feel that you get with the EST snowboard bindings. Also on those snowboard bindings you have increased cushioning because it’s all soft dampening materials instead of the hard plastic that used to be there. So you get a lot of your cushioning form the snowboard binding so you don’t need as much from the snowboard boot. Definitely really good partnering up with the EST snowboard binding.
Sole on this one, you got B3 gel on the interior. It’s really gonna help suck up those icy hard pack landings. You got a nice aggressive tread that’s gonna grip good as you’re walking up the half pipe. On the interior you’ve got a really nice lace harness. What it’s gonna do is not actually just hold your foot in the liner, but it’s actually gonna pull the liner and your foot back in the snowboard boot. It really gives you good heel hold versus a snowboard boot that’s got the laces on the liner and can move up and down freely in the liner. That’s about it for the outer part of the snowboard boot.
Moving to the liner, you’ve got the flex-2 liner, which is strictly for the park series snowboard boots. What you got on this one is really nice velcro tabs to hold the tongue in place. They got rid of that power strap. It really holds securely, doesn’t slip throughout the day, a lot quicker to get in and out of. Massive flex panel in the rear to help prevent any fatigue happening in your calves. Fully heat-moldable, as all the Burton snowboard boots are. The best way to mold them is just to ride with them. If you do have a pressure point, you can take them down to a shop to mold them, but I definitely prefer just riding in them. That’s really going to do it more naturally and also with those natural pressures and heats when you’re riding. You got electrostretch panel on the toe that’s gonna allow you to wiggle your toes a little bit more, generating heat for your entire foot. The back of it’s got a really nice achilles grabbers, deep heel pocket. They will use a directional nap on this one so once you put your sock in there it will hold it and keep your heel from lifting and keep your sock from moving around. It’s a very lightweight liner. Just like the outer.
Finally moving to the in-sole. Nice cushioning in-sole. This is definitely going to add some shock absorption. It’s a softer foam material. That combo with the B3 gel and the EST snowboard binding, it’s like you’re gonna have marshmallows on your feet every time you’re landing. Super super cush for sure. It’s got the hot graphics rolling on that, too.
The last thing I would mention is the shrinkage tech. It’s a technology Burton’s using on a lot of their snowboard boots. Say this is like a size-10, it will actually be the toe-to-heel length of their size-9 from last year. So what that means is if a guy’s got a size-12 foot, he can rock an 11 and probably won’t have to get a wide snowboard anymore. Super awesome technology for people with larger feet, for sure. Like I said, it’s the lightest weight snowboard boot in their line, it’s got all the features I love about my SLX snowboard boots, but at a much more affordable pricetag. Definitely one of the hottest snowboard boots I got in the shop. Burton Ozone snowboard boot.
