Powder Review: La Sportiva Vanguard

Oct 10, 2023

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In a Nutshell

La Sportiva's Vanguard forges a bit of an unconventional path on its way to excellent uphill and downhill performance.

Size Skied: 26.5

Weight:

Stated Flex: 130

Binding Compatibility: MN, Pin Bindings

Stated ROM: 63°

Forward Lean: 12-14°

Stated last width (26.5): 102.5 mm

The La Sportiva Vanguard is available now.

Intro

I think too many North Americans are sleeping on La Sportiva's ski boots. They’re a legitimate player in several important boot categories, but they do everything a little differently, with just a little unique flair that sets them apart. We recently reviewed their Skorpius CR II, which we really liked, and I’ve been spending time in their stiffest, beefiest boot, the Vangaurd. It's their 130 flex, 1500 gram crossover boot.

Just typing that phrase: "130 flex, 1500 gram crossover" gives me a little bit of PTSD. For several years, that felt like the holy grail for ski boot manufacturers, and they all tried different strategies to hit those two marks, generally resulting in boots that either walked poorly and skied well, or walked well and skied poorly. Occasionally they’d hit the holy grail of suck, and come up with boots that did both poorly.

But now, well, things have changed, and the Vanguard is a great reminder that it's possible to make a boot that does both well.

Features

To put this poetically, with the Vanguard, two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and La Sportiva took neither. This is one of the most uniquely designed touring boots on the market. I’ve theorized in the past that touring boots might look really different than they do now if we set performance goals, and then tried to attain them without really looking at traditional inbound boot design constraints and features. What would we produce if we shed our preconceived notions of what a ski boot should look like? Maybe something like the Vanguard?

The Vanguard has a pretty traditional silhouette, but its layout is anything but. In a world of two-piece overlap boots, and three-piece cabrio boots, the Vanguard is a four-piece boot. It has the clog and tongue you’d expect from a three-piece boot, combined with a split cuff that fully wraps the shin, and calf with uninterrupted but separate pieces of cuff, connected with pivots and cables. And on top of that, the top buckle is on a separate flap, with the power strap, instead of being bolted directly to the shell. I’m impressed at the sheer number of pieces La Sportiva managed to include into this boot at this weight.

That means that the Vanguard is easier to get into and out of than most three piece boots on the market, it opens all the way up for easy access. But, when you buckle it down, it feels even more secure and locked in than most overlap boots. This design is just plain cool.

The Vanguard's middle buckle runs on a cable, threaded through the shell that, I feel, lets you cinch down your heel better than any overlap boot I’ve tried.

Its toe buckle has a smart two stage design that lets you micro-adjust the fit, and slip your foot in and out without opening it all the way.

The Vanguard has a lot of cables routed to and from its buckles. That's a little worrisome, since cables are often a failure point in boots like this, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on them. So far so good.

The walk mode lever is beefy, and locks onto a solid rib, instead of a suspended bar. I’ve had less icing problems with this design.

The Vanguard uses regular tech fittings, and the sole is in the process of being certified for ISO 9523 MN bindings. I do think this boot is a great candidate for a GripWalk sole. It skis well enough that I’d love to be able to easily swap it into GW bindings, but I understand La Sportiva's desire to keep it walking more efficiently with a fully rockered sole.

Fit

As I’m prone to mentioning, stated last is a bit of an arbitrary number. The La Sportiva Vanguard has a stated last of 102.5 mm, but I’ve used 100 mm lasted boots that felt wider, and 103 mm boots that felt narrower. So, consult a boot fitter, and try boots on your foot, instead of trusting an arbitrary number on the internet.

That said, I do think it is generally a higher volume boot. Maybe not a true HV boot, but on the higher end of the MV spectrum, if that makes sense. My wide, tall feet fit pretty well in it, although I’ll need a small 6th toe punch to make bigger days more sustainable.

The Vanguard is not the tallest boot. I have very high arches and insteps, and had to adjust its lower cable out for more space. But, once I did, I appreciated how this buckle doesn't just push straight down, like some other boots with similar buckles. Instead, it also pulls the foot back, into the heel pocket.

So, while the Vanguard does have a slightly higher volume fit than some of its competitors, it also cinches down more effectively than other, non-BOA boots in this class.

Uphill Performance

With the cuff buckles and power strap open, the Vanguard walks very well. No, it's not the seamless stride of lighter boots like the Skorpius or Dynafit TLT X, but it's way better that you’d expect from a 130 flex boot. The Vanguard really highlights how much better it is than the "130 flex, 1500 gram" boots of yore on the up. It's got a nice smooth stride with a great range of motion.

Jonas Reeves

When it comes time to transition, Dynafit still rules the roost here, with their one-motion unlock and walk mechanisms. The Vanguard takes more faff to transition than simpler, lighter boots like the Skorpius, but it's comparable or faster to more direct competitors like the Atomic Hawx XTD.

Downhill Performance

The short version is that the La Sportiva Vanguard is a powerful, predictable, supportive downhill boot. I was happy driving inbounds skis in variable conditions in this boot. But, there's more nuance to be had here.

I’ve said in the past that quantifying a boot's performance with one flex number is like describing a high-end mountain bike fork by the air pressure it runs. It's just one part of the story. So, yes, when you flex forward into the boot, the Vanguard feels like a 130 flex boot. But, where it really stands out from some others in this class is its lateral support. The boot feels really powerful on edge, and never felt like it deformed when I was deeper into the flex. The flex ramps up smoothly, and has a nice controlled rebound.

If anything, the Vanguard feels maybe a touch over-damped on the rebound. Some lighter weight boots like this have a snappy rebound that borders on unpredictable. The Vanguard felt a tiny bit more well, wooden than other boots in this class.

Now, to be clear, that's a good thing. Skiing the Vanguard, I realized that I've gotten used to a less supportive, almost flimsier feeling from 1500ish gram boots. Whereas, the Vanguard feels more controlled, more locked in, more substantial. It's not quite as powerful downhill as the Atomic Hawx XTD or the Dynafit Tigard, but it's significantly more powerful than the Dynafit Radical Pro.

It's pretty impressive that La Sportiva managed to make a boot at this weight that walks and skis this well. I’d happily ski the Vanguard as my one, 50% inbounds, 50% touring boot.

For more comparisons to other crossover boots, check out our roundup.

What compromises does the La Sportiva Vanguard make?

The Vanguard skis well enough that I think it deserves a GripWalk sole. I understand why it doesn't have one, but I think the addition of that feature would open it up to more North American skiers. So many folks have a quiver of skis mounted with bindings that will accept GripWalk soles, but not the Vanguard's fully rockered ones.

Otherwise, Vanguard does a lot of things really well. It walks well enough for big human-powered missions, and skis well enough that I wouldn't be sad if it were the only boot available for a weekend of resort skiing.

What does the La Sportiva Vanguard's ideal skier look like?

The Vanguard will work well as one boot to do it all for a lot of folks. It also makes a lot of sense as a foray into more powerful boots for folks who typically tour on thousand-ish gram boots like the Skorpius. It won't ski quite as powerfully as a true inbounds boot, but it's plenty strong enough to drive most skis in most conditions.

The La Sportiva Vanguard is available now.