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All the time the innovators, Armada Skis launched a brand-new line of ski boots this yr, promising a radical rethinking of how we connect our ft to our skis. The results of the previous few years of quiet improvement, Armada’s new AR ONE 130 MV boot is likely one of the most unique-looking boots we’ve ever seen.
It falls someplace between a standard four-buckle overlap design and a extra trendy cabrio/tongue fashion boot, and is stuffed with considerate options freestyle and freeride skiers will love. The boot is obtainable in varied flexes, from 90, 100, 110, 120 and 130 to fit your wants. We examined the highest-end AR ONE 130 MV mannequin, however match stays the identical all through the road.
Armada AR One 130 MV Specs
Dimension skied: 26.5Sizes accessible: 24.5-29.5 (extra sizes to come back in 2026)Said Flex: 130Binding Compatibility: GripWalk, tech toe insertsForward Lean: 13, 15, 17 levels (default)Said Final Width: 100mm
Match:
It’s no actual shock that Armada launched their new boot line with a medium-volume match first, since that’s going to suit probably the most ft proper out of the field. In actuality, regardless of being a medium-volume 100mm lasted boot, the forefoot is pretty slender, and our tester required a punch to the pinky toe space.
Likewise, the instep quantity isn’t notably giant, and we’d contemplate it a medium to low instep total. Within the again, there’s glorious heel maintain–one thing that Armada Ski Boot Product Line Supervisor Bransford Briggs, stated was one the principle targets: “to maximise heel maintain whereas delivering a progressive flex and direct energy switch in a boot that’s snug to put on all day, on a regular basis.”
The hybrid building makes it fairly simple to get the boot on and off, much like a cabrio fashion boot the place you may pull the tongue ahead and out of the way in which to slide your foot out and in. Some skiers may discover that the calf space can be too roomy, however our tester (with small calves) discovered that with a high-volume 15mm Instinct Energy Wrap liner, that area was taken up simply high-quality and added some additional cushioning to the shin space.
Hanne Lundin
Options:
On high of the widely pleasant match traits, there’s fairly a couple of nifty options inside that vastly add to the boot’s efficiency. First off is the revolutionary cable/buckle combo Armada makes use of to tighten the instep and safe your ankle into the again of the boot. The cable pulls in two instructions, centering the drive over your instep and locking you into the heel pocket. It’s considerably much like what Salomon does on their Shift Alpha BOA 130 boot, however sans BOA, and in our opinion, it really works higher on the Armada. Up high, the 50mm elastic energy strap does every thing a Booster Strap would, higher.
Carter Edwards
The highest and forefoot buckles are additionally very effectively designed and provide tremendous excessive leverage, requiring much less drive to shut. No extra sitting within the gondola making an attempt to crank your boots earlier than the highest station! Inside, the rubber boot board is designed to take the sting of massive landings, one thing freestyle and freeride skiers will actually get pleasure from.
Lastly, the boot comes with a tech insert in simply the toe (bro boot!) that permits compatibility with hybrid freeride touring bindings just like the Salomon/Atomic/Armada Shift, Marker Duke PT, CAST Freetour, and the brand new ATK HY bindings. There isn’t any stroll mode, so don’t count on glorious uphill efficiency right here, but it surely’s good to know there’s compatibility with these sorts of bindings out of the field.
Downhill Efficiency:
Unsurprisingly, this downhill-oriented boot is a wonderful possibility for aggressive freeride skiers on the lookout for their subsequent boot. The 130 flex is stiff, however feels pure and really progressive for a cabrio-style boot. We discovered it to be on the stiffer finish of the 130 flex spectrum, and it appears to be like attainable to make the boot even stiffer by including a second bolt into the backbone.
The exact match, and tremendous cosy ankle lock interprets to glorious energy switch in every kind of snow situations. It’s not fairly as exact as a extra conventional race-derived boot just like the Tecnica Mach 1 LV, however ought to do the trick for freeride and freestyle skiers. Armada’s rubber Kush boot board does a formidable job taking the sting off onerous landings, particularly within the park, and we haven’t seen an absence of energy switch in comparison with onerous plastic bootboards.
Photograph: Max Ritter
Lastly, it’s very nice to have a boot this highly effective that’s this simple to tackle and off. In an period of all of the bells and whistles being added to boots like a number of BOAs and whatnot, it’s nice to see a boot that doesn’t require superior yoga strikes to get out and in of.
What does the Armada AR ONE 130 MV’s excellent skier appear to be?
This may come off as a really specialised boot, however we’re satisfied it is going to be an ideal possibility for a lot of resort freeride skiers. After all, the proper skier could be a freeride skier on the lookout for a bit of additional consolation with out sacrificing stiffness and options. It’s attainable to go on brief excursions, so this is able to even be an ideal possibility for skiers seeking to do some mechanized backcountry ski touring, like sled snowboarding with a brief pores and skin to backcountry leap, pillow line, or the like, or those that frequent sidecountry zones like in Jackson Gap, Crystal Mountain, Kicking Horse, or the like.
