The Gignoux Mountain are exceptional carbon boots that weigh practically the same as trail running shoes, well almost, 740g… When you’re skiing you can’t even feel them, no inertia, like feathers on your feet.
You’d think they’d be limited in skiability, considering how light they are, but it isn’t the case. These are the best weight/performance ratio boots in their category. The outer sole is very stiff, when you walk you immediately feel the carbon effect, the feeling of being in a racing car cockpit – a carbon trip! Which could explain the stratospheric price.
Yet, these Gignoux Mountain are still comfortable. We didn’t feel any pressure points. The toe box is well designed because there’s space for your toes to wriggle. One strange result: you sweat a lot in these Gignoux Mountain!
The heel hold is perfect. Downhill you really appreciate the volume in the toe box, depending on your personal foot morphology you could lose a little precision. But angulation and forward pressure on the tongue releases all the Gignoux Mountain’s potential: it directly transmits the slightest propulsion. You can even carve sending your feet wide and measure the edge with absolute precision. It is really pleasant because the transmission is instant!
The other good point is the hard point, the moment when you flex forward, the boot stiffens to block the skier and transmit the pressure. This comes gradually with these Gignoux Mountain, it isn’t brutal. You flex, the boot starts to flex a little, it progressively stiffens until the hard point arrives and then all the energy is transmitted to the ski. This moment is very exciting! We didn’t notice any pressure or pain on the tibia.
Something else that we appreciated was the rear lever. It looks very basic, you push it, it goes downhill, you pull it and you’re ready to go up. Switching from one to the other takes half a second, all with great efficiency. You do wonder why other brands offer complicated contraptions that often get stuck and add unnecessary weight?
On the other hand, as we find ourselves projected into a racing-cockpit universe, a prototype to put it simply, you notice visible rivets and cords, parts that make up “small series”. We are in tailor-made, high-tech sports craftsmanship. It’s both beautiful and a bit DIY but the performance is completely insane.
We didn’t stop being amazed by these Gignoux Mountain: they are also easy to put on! There’s a system of straps, Velcro, quick-closing laces, the zip on top all that, and a little wheel to turn and close the collar. It takes time, but it works.
These boots get marked from ski edges pretty quickly. We wonder what the lifespan of this type of product is.
Uphill, here too (and especially!), the Gignoux Mountain are exceptional. You don’t notice them on your feet and the flex is staggering. In short, we dreamed of stunning boots like these! They won the Test4outside.com CORE Award, even if you need a mortgage to pay for them.
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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