Atomic Backland XTD Carbon 120 Army Men's Lightweight Ski Touring Boots

Atomic Backland XTD Carbon 120 Ski Touring Boots.

Superb new lightweight ski touring boots with great ski supprt, touring functionality and fit.

Weight: 2.7 KG / Pair (M26.5)
Flex 120
Shell material: Carbon PA
Liner 3D Platinum Tour
Last width 100mm (M26.5)
ISO Norm 9523
Range Of Motion 74 degrees
Forward Lean 13 / 15 / 17 degrees
Sole: Sky walk touring

The Backland XTD 120 Carbon are the latest addition to Atomic's lightweight Backland ski touring boot family.

They are the most ski focussed boot in this class and give the best downhill ski performance of any of the Backland boots meaning that they bridge the gap between the Backland and the Hawx Ultra XTD. They have a stated flex of 120 and we certainly found that the Backland XTD carbon gave a surprising amount of ski support for such a light boot, having a nice progressive flex and easily able to drive wider skis than it was intended for.

They still boast many of the features of the super light Backland family such as an effortless 74 degree range of motion in the walk mode which makes them extremely comfortable to walk or skin in. They are also still very light at 1.35 KG per boot and these 2 aspect combine to make the Backland XTD a superb boot for long days or touring.

Perhaps the strongest feature of the new Atomic Backland XTD Carbon 120 is the fit. We found them to have one of the best out of the box fits that we have ecer tried and they worked for all of our ski testers each with quite different foot types. They have a very comfortable and satisfying closure around the top of the instep and mid foot which felt even, snug and gave good control.

Having had a chance to use the Backland XTD a few times now I would say that they would work well for many people as a one ski boot to do everything especially if you are a lighter skier or if you spend the majority of days out ski touring. Heavier skiers or harder chargers may still find them a little on the light side for resort based skiing but they would still make a great choice for the ski touring days.

At first glance we didn't expect anything too revolutionary, just another lightweight ski touring boot but in fact we found the Atomic Backland Carbon 120 to offer much more than most other lightweight boots out there. The increased ski performance and superb walk mode range are both big improvements on the 'average' super lightweight ski boots on the market but we found the most impressive aspect was the fit which seems to suit many different people straight out of the box.