My Garmont Radiums saw their first major day of touring this past Saturday at Cannon. Snow conditions during the tour included 12-18″ of very dense snow with occasionally significant wind buff. Suffice to say, conditions were challenging. Especially on a ski with only a 79mm waist. I know how my G-Rides would have performed on such conditions. Not very well.

Uphill touring performance was similar to the G-Ride. Others have suggested that the uphill has a better hinge and a better walk mode than the G-Ride/Mega Ride series. However, I am not so certain the difference is that substantial. I will say that I could not tell the difference in weight between the Garmont Radium and the Garmont G-Ride despite the Radium gaining a little more heft. Uphill performance was simply as expected. Though I did like the addition of the upper buckle teeth locks which ensure loose buckles do not fall out of the teeth.

But enough up the up hill. This boot was not purchased for its benefits on the uphill (Dynafit compatibility aside) but rather for better downhill performance. And boy does the Garmont Radium truly shine on the down hill. With its overlap construction instead of the plastic tongue of the G-Ride/Mega Ride series, the Radium has a much more progressive flex. Additionally, responsiveness is more readily apparent than my older G-Rides. I never felt I “hit the wall” with the Garmont Radium in terms of flex (which I always did with the G-Rides).

So it toured nice, fit well, and had an improved flex. But how were the turns? Superb to say the least. Despite the difficult conditions and my skinny skis, per the report posted above, I opened things up on my last run down Paulie’s Folly and really got after it. As close to charging as I could possibly go given the limits of my skis and the conditions. The turns were sublime.

Garmont Radiums are not an alpine boot replacement. The performance will never be quite as good as an alpine boot. But there will always be at least a slight down hill sacrifice in order to substantially reduce the uphill weight penalty of the beef boots. That said, the Radium is a breakthrough in AT boot design that is an amazing combination of uphill tourability with downhill performance. The Radium is as close as you will find to an alpine styled AT boot without giving up the weight penalty. TheSnowWay.com test and approved. It was worth paying nearly full price without a doubt in my mind.