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I moved into these after wearing worn out T2s. Hucking rocks broke the wire heel lock and that was enough incentive for a new boot. I noticed a distinctive improvement in my skiing on the first day. Move power transfered to the ski and more control in turns and more comfort at higher speeds. These boots crank it up a notch. The two forward-lean settings are nice and I did plenty of skinning in the walk mode. With a great fit provided by the heat mold liner and a skilled fitter there was not much break-in time. A great pair of stiff boots for steep skiing up and down that made me a better tele-er.

I bought these boots to replace my faithful, but worn through, blue T2s. The new T1s felt like I had stepped back into alpine boots, too heavy and too stiff. I couldn't feel my skis, couldn't feel the slope, kept looking down at my skis so I could verify that they were still there and carving correct. With the higher cuff, the rear ski engaged much quicker and with considerably less effort than in my T2s, which was nice, but not worth the loss of tactile sensation. I couldn't feel my turns!! And the stiffer boot and lack of rocker made alpine turns cake, but this is not why I tele. My old T2s came up to the bottom of the bulge of my calves, which was perfect. These T1s compressed the bottom 4 inches of muscle, becoming increasingly irritating as the day progressed. And the reduced rocker made getting into the toes of my 3 pin CRBs a pain. Between the weight and the lack of rocker (I don't have/need a pivot tour mode on my binders), there's no way I'd take these beasts in the backcountry. I stopped alpine skiing over 10 years ago and switched to snowboarding because of the boots. When I found that tele combined the concept of a comfortable boot with all the advantages of skiing (namely not binding one's feet together), plus a turn more graceful and fun than either alpining or boarding, I sold by snowboards and never looked back. The T1s feel just like the boots that drove me from alpining in the first place, too heavy, too stiff, and actively taking away from the fun.