Gear Review | La Sportiva Vega

Tester

First of all, a little information about myself: I am male, 41 years old and weigh around 71 kg at 175 cm tall. Due to the coronavirus, I was only able to test the Vega this winter while touring in the Bavarian Oberland. The Vega has been in use on around 20 days so far. Due to the poor snow conditions, I had to rely on piste tours a few times until the beginning of January, but later - and thus most of the test days - I was able to ride the Vega mainly off-road. Despite the poor snow conditions, the snow conditions were quite varied: from powder to hard snow to slush - there was a little bit of everything. My touring was mainly downhill orientated. As I generally have quite high expectations of touring boots, for me this means that the boot should not only be comfortable and easy to wear on the ascent, but should also offer stability on the descent and come as close as possible to an alpine boot - just as La Sportiva advertises the Vega. The skis used for this test (centre width 90mm - 108 mm) are fitted with a Tech binding.

First impression

Before the Vega, I used the La Sportiva Spectre 2.0 as a touring boot. I was very happy with this boot, as it already fulfilled the characteristics described above for me. 

Practical use

On the ascent, the Vega shines with its large shaft rotation of 60° and is therefore very comfortable to wear and walk, especially on longer flat passages. Personally, I leave the two lower buckles open and fix the two upper buckles in the flex grid. You have a stable and precise feeling in the boot, for example when making kickturns in difficult terrain. I personally can't recommend leaving the top two buckles open, as this significantly reduces stability (I tested this briefly to see if opening them had an effect on the shaft rotation, but then quickly fixed the buckles again). Unlike with the Spectre 2.0, you now have to adjust and fix the buckles again before the descent. Switching to downhill mode using the lever at the back of the boot was quick and easy at all times. During the test phase, I never had any technical problems when switching.

The boot offers a very pleasant flex behaviour on the descent (according to the manufacturer 125). It is particularly good at balancing out impacts or on hard ground. I found the Vega to be very stable on the descent. In my weight class, it is direct and controlled. The good fit supports the direct control of the ski. After about 20 days of touring, I still haven't noticed any signs of wear on the outside of the Vega. The inner boot also shows no signs of wear. This can also be seen in the attached pictures, which were taken at the end of the test period.

Conclusion

The Vega from La Sportiva delivers what the manufacturer promises and convinced me. It offers maximum comfort, lightness, flexibility and the necessary stability on the ascent. On the descent, it impresses with optimum power transmission and very direct control of the skis. In my weight class, it shows perfect flex behaviour on turns. For downhill-orientated ski tourers, it is a boot that is fun in all snow conditions and combines stability, lightness and good manoeuvrability.

Advantages and disadvantages

+ Stability in downhill mode even for wide skis

+ Light

+ Excellent shaft rotation in walking mode

+ Optimum adaptation to the foot possible

+ good workmanship

- Techinserts from Dynafit would be a tad easier to get into

Details

RRP: 529,00 €

Shell: Grilamid®

Shank: Pebax®

Spoiler: Marfram

Vertebra: Carbon Reinforced Grilamid®

Tongue: Grilamid®

Flex: 125

Closing system: 4 + Power Strap

Mobility: 60°

Weight: 1445 gr (1/2 pair size 27.5) according to the manufacturer

Feed angle: 10°, 14°, 18°

Sizes: 24 - 31.5˝ (mondo point in half sizes)

Foot width: 102.5 mm

Compatibility with bindings: Tech, AT

Sole: Vibram®

Here is the link to the La Sportiva website with further information.

The boot was provided to PowderGuide by the manufacturer free of charge for testing. You can find out how we test them in our test statement.