Powder Review: Dynafit TLT X Wide

Cy Whitling
·9 min read

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In a nutshell

Dynafit’s new ‘Wide” version of the TLT X brings fast, light, and efficient backcountry performance to the wide-footed crowd.

  • Size Skied: 27

  • Weight:

  • Stated Flex: NA

  • Binding Compatibility: Pin Bindings

  • Stated ROM: 60°

  • Forward Lean: 15-18 °

  • Stated last width (26.5): 107 mm

The Dynafit TLT X Wide is available now.

Intro

I love lightweight ski boots. I love how they walk, I love the efficiency in each stride, I love the nerdery and science that goes into making them as light as possible, and I generally like skiing in them. But I really don’t like how they make my feet feel. Most brands make their lighter weight boots for elf-footed folks, flitting around the mountains with their dainty little trotters. I have decidedly hobbit feet. They’re wide, they’re tall, they’re hairy, they’re lumpy, and they’re tender.

So, generally, I leave the reviews of those dainty slippers to folks with the appropriate feet for them, and I tromp around the hills in my 1600ish gram crossover boots, lusting after the slimmed down options that will never fit my abominable feet.

Luckily, Dynafit heard my pleas and came out with a gargantuan 107 mm lasted “Wide” version of their TLT X. I spent time in the new TLT X Wide this spring and summer, and for me and my feet, this is the most game-changing product I’ve reviewed at POWDER so far.

Fit

Get your boots fit by someone who thinks about feet and skiing all day, and can actually see your feet. Don’t just take the advice of some guy (me) who thinks about those things all the time, but can’t see your feet. It’s worth it.

That said, the whole point of this review is the fit. In short, it’s wide, but not problematically so. My feet (right now) measure 105 mm wide at their widest point. Previously, the best-fitting boot I’ve ever owned was a 26.5 Dynafit Radical Pro (103 mm stated last). I sized up to the size 27 TLT X Wide because I was running into some length issues in shorter boots, and because an injury means my feet are even higher volume than they used to be. I take stated lasts with a healthy serving of salt, but if pressed, I’d say the TLT X Wide’s 107 mm last sounds about right.

That wider, higher volume fit continues throughout the boot. The heel pocket is a little wider as well, and there’s plenty of space above the instep. Initially I thought the heel pocket might be an issue, since I have pretty average heels, and hate heel lift. However, so far, I’ve felt plenty locked in both up and down, and can easily add foam butterflies if that changes. A friend with a much lower instep tried my TLT X Wides on, and was able to cinch them down without issue as well.

I felt like the Radical Pro fits wider and taller than the TLT 8—Dynafit’s previous high volume option—and the TLT X is wider and taller yet.

The TLT X Wide uses Dynafit’s TwistFit system over the instep. It’s not a BOA system, it just acts like one. It works really well, and I appreciate the floating shell under the knob. It does a good job spreading out the pressure it creates. I am a little skeptical of proprietary systems on boots meant to get you far from civilization, since that’s where those sort of systems tend to fail. However, so far so good. And it would be easy to rig up a make-do instep buckle with ski straps and bank line.  I have become spoiled by BOA’s H+i1 system. I missed being able to open the TLT X Wide click by click.

The TLT X Wide has a much wider and higher volume fit than the TLT 8, or Radical Pro. It’s a great option if you found yourself punching those boots, and it’s easily punched to fit your specific feet.

How does it go uphill?

So damn well. I used to ski in light boots. I did a season in Scarpa F1 LTs, and other than the whole “not being able to feel my feet, getting weird blisters and bunions, and generally hurting all the time” thing I loved the experience. Jumping from a 1400+ gram boot to a 1100ish gram one isn’t just about the weight savings. Lighter boots multiply their efficiency gains by not just being lighter, but also allowing for more effortless strides in the backcountry.

If, like me, you thought that, thanks to your misshapen feet, ultralight dancing slipper ski boots were not for you, you owe it to yourself to at least try on the TLT X Wide. They walk so much better than any other boot that I’ve ever tried that claimed to be wide enough for my feet.

The TLT X Wide allows for a smoother, more natural gait than the Radical Pro. Some of that is thanks to its toe fittings which are sucked in towards the ball of the foot. And the thinner liner accounts for a lot of that as well.

The boots have enough of a toe welt that you can still use regular crampons, and they don’t make an allowance for Dynafit’s Cramp-In.

Over longer days, the TLT X Wide has stayed comfortable and free of blisters and hot spots. That’s where I really think higher volume backcountry boots pay off. When you’re spending the majority of your day in your boots, they need to be able to accommodate your feet swelling and becoming more tender, and the TLT X Wide does that really well.

Last winter I had some frustrating foot issues that I felt were precluding me from the bigger alpine objectives I used to love. But, when I got into the TLT X Wide in the spring, they rekindled my fire to chase bigger days and more technical summits, confident that my feet wouldn’t be the limiting factor. That’s been game changing.

How does it go downhill?

Really well for a kilogramish boot. I think Dynafit has done a great job of figuring out the niche for each of their boots, and then engineering them to be competitive both up and downhill in that class. No, this does not ski like a Tigard 130, or even a Radical Pro. But it feels more like a “real” ski boot than anything else in this weight class I’ve tried. It feels more supportive, with better suspension and less of a twisting sensation, than the Scarpa F1 LT, or the new Atomic Backland XTD.

I ran into this same feeling of stability and power with the TLT 8—these are boots that let you know when you’re skiing above their pay grade, but still let you get away with it. I have no issues driving 184 cm, 112 mm underfoot skis, at my 200lb weight, with the TLT X Wide inbounds in variable conditions. It’s not my favorite tool for the job, but it can get the job done, complete with 360s off side hits.

It seems like it’s relatively easy to make stiff ski boots light. But that stiffness is often one-dimensional, and doesn’t translate directly to an ability to drive bigger skis, at speed, in variable snow. The TLT X Wide doesn’t feel like the all-out stiffest boot in this class, but it does feel the most like a “real” ski boot, complete with lateral and rearward support, and suspension for smaller imperfections in the snow. And that means that you can ski it with more “real” skis (I love the TLT X Wide with the new Moment Deathwish Tour 104), and with a more aggressive style, airing off things and hitting higher speeds. That makes skiing more fun.

What compromises does this boot make?

I’ve raved at length about how much I like Dynafit’s Hoji-lock system on other boots. And I like using the TLT X Wide’s Ultra Lock 5.0 system most of the time. However, I personally see less value in a one-swipe buckle and walk mode lock in my lighter boots. Hoji Lock is magical on the Tigard, because it takes four relatively time-consuming steps of the transition and simplifies them into one. The TLT X Wide takes two relatively quick steps of the transition and combines them into one, slightly fiddly one.

I like having the ability to run my ultralight boots with the top buckle tight, but in walk mode on icy traverses. I would be totally happy with a TLT X Wide that used a more traditional walk mode lever, combined with a more traditional strabuckle up top. I know, Dynafit isn’t going to change anything, but this is the only, sort-of compromise I could find with this boot.

This is a common theme from some of my other reviews, but I guarantee that someone, somewhere is asking “Will the TLT X Wide work with my Shift/Cast/Duke PT/Kingpin?”

NO IT WON’T AND IT SHOULDN’T.

Stop trying to pair wonderful, efficient, lightweight boots like the TLT X with big, clunky, heavy bindings that were designed for a totally different style of skiing.

The Moment Voyager 16 I’ve been on this spring is the absolute biggest binding I’d ski with the TLT X Wide. Otherwise, I’ll be on something brakeless that weighs around 200 g. There are so much better ways to spend your money than on the abomination that is a 1000 g boot jammed into a 900 g binding in a way that negates the release properties that make that binding worthwhile in the first place.

What would a perfect day on this boot look like?

Any day where you’re doing mental math for how early you need to set your alarm to summit at an appropriate hour is a great day for the TLT X Wide. Similarly, the TLT X Wide will be coming with me on any multi-day, objective based tomfoolery that pops up in the foreseeable future.