Alpina Alaska 75

Visuals inspire high hopes. User experience is a letdown.

I bought these online without trying them on first. The size was good but it was evident from the get-go that these were very soft and offered no or very little support both side to side, backwards, or forwards. They are comfortable on the foot but for a ski boot in this segment I don't see much use since they will only work on flat terrain. Forget crossing a hard slope diagonally or telemarking down a gentle incline.

Yes, they look exactly like this is what they will do well, but the looks are deceiving in this case. They are in fact very soft, like sneakers! This is true of both the cuff and the sole and is very disappointing. The best use for these is maybe long expeditions on flat ground only, but the nubuck leather will attract snow and ice which will melt and freeze and become a nuisance over longer periods in the field.

Reportedly  the area in front of the toes, where the lip is welded to the front rubber wall, has a tendency to crack and separate. This did not happen to me, although, from the look of it I can see how this very well might become a problem. I sold mine shortly after having bought them. I see how this might well become a problem though.

I have tried on the BC version of the Alaska boot which has a little more stiffness and torsion rigidity in the sole but not much. I later opted for the Alfa Guard Advance BC GTX, which in my opinion is a way better boot in every respect.

Background

I'm a lifelong skier with many years experience with nordic touring, telemarking, and alpine skiing and touring. I owned and used the Alpina Alaska 75 for two moths and used it mostly in untracked mountain terrain. I felt these boots were not up for the task since they offered too little support in varied terrain. Depending on your use I would opt for something else. Most people are better of with BC boot/binding system, but if you need 75mm there are other better models in my opinion. Lundhags has a serious winter boot for this although it too offers little support, so only good for flat terrain in forests and lake ice. Alfa also has great boots.

Good value for money. Good overall boots for rolling in fells.

Bought these boots to replace 20-year-old Asolo telemark boots. My usage is around 75% of skiing and 25% of downhill so the flex is perfect for my rolling in nearby fells. Now after <100 km of skiing these boots are breaking in properly.

Heel keeps in place quite well after switching to waxed laces instead of cotton ones. Coldest temperature of using these boots has been around -10° Celsius and no frostbites with one liner sock.

Sizing: My shoe size is normally EUR 42,5 to 43 but after reviews I ordered size EUR 42 and that's a perfect fit with one sock. Probably would fit also thin wool sock, but it hasn't been that cold so far. My foot width is D (ice hockey skates) but there's still some room left for wider width. Toe box has also quite much room and my toes aren not crushed in shoe.

Overall I really enjoy these boots and they are very good replacement for old Asolos. Flex is loose enough for skiing yet stiff enough for telemark turns. I ski with Madshus Epoch skis with Rottefella Riva bindings.

Mikko Leinonen

Rovaniemi, Finland

Great boot for all-around backcountry skiing. Fun with cable for telemark. Great comfort.

Great comfort, hot, some flex, but stiff enough, drive my Rossignol BC90 ski very well and are really fun for telemark downhill (with voile cable fix ). Not sure about the durability, mostly about all story about the sole and the duck bill (pre 2020 with about 75mm boots).

Have one season on and they are still good shape (about 30 days of backcountry skiing in mountain, up and tele down).

I use them on untracked small mountain (about 800~1000 meters) to go up and down.

Background

Lot of backcountry skiing in the mountain and telemark