How race skis, boots and bindings are changing

Whether it’s due to the constantly falling number of competitive amateurs, or the rapid changes in race format we’ve been seeing in recent seasons, or the high level of development reached by products currently on the market, the fact of the matter is that, after years of major innovation, we seem to now be in a sort of wait-and-see period. We aren’t seeing any major announcements by the leading brands, with the exception of a few minor changes or some restyling of skis and boots that had been released in past seasons.
Today, elite athletes looking to compete in every discipline find themselves having to race with the exact same gear on their feet in situations that range from groomed sprints of just a few minutes and giant slalom descents on packed snow to backcountry races on technical terrain and rocky ridges followed by descents through all types of snow conditions from altitudes above 2,000 meters (6,500 ft). Ski mountaineers who helped guide the development of materials over the years, working closely with leading manufacturers, are athletes who actually raced and were often on the podium in whole range of disciplines, such as Antonioli, Boscacci, Bon Mardion and Lenzi, just to name a few. As has already happened in almost every sport, in skimo, too, we should expect to see a great deal of specialization in disciplines over the next few years.
Given the average age of a large part of the leading figures in World Cup competition, this trend towards specialization will likely be accompanied by a passing of the torch to younger generations, and we may also see a shift in equipment from race to performance in the sprint and mixed-relay disciplines, which are significantly different in intensity, duration and type of terrain from the individual and stage-race disciplines. As we await the next big change in athletes, race formats and equipment, we may still be amazed by the responsiveness, the snow feel, the twitchiness, or the fun we get on a given outing in certain snow conditions from a certain ski or boot that weighs less than the full water bottle in our pack. And it also has to be said that, with every brand having reached the absolute minimum weight possible, the idea of minimizing weight at all costs has largely been abandoned. Nowadays, the primary objective is more about maximizing performance in every possible situation.