[Editor’s Note: In the interest of getting you information sooner on some of the products we’re reviewing, we’re posting here some of our measured specs and manufacturer details, and will update in the future. Take a look, and let us know in the Comments Section below what questions you’d like us to answer.]
Intro
Lange’s reputation was originally built on alpine ski-racing boots, and later on their downhill-oriented “freeride” XT boots that were also commonly used in a ski resort setting by people only wanting one pair of boots for both backcountry touring and resort skiing.
With the creation of the XT3 Tour Pro, Lange officially entered into the popular genre of versatile mid-weight touring boots, as we have seen many companies do in recent years — think of Tecnica’s Zero G boots, Dynafit’s Hoji (now Radical) iterations, Atomic’s Hawx XTD series, Scarpa’s Maestrales, or K2’s Dispatch line, to name a few.
Given their middling weights, moderate range of motion, higher cuffs, and progressive flex patterns, these mid-weight touring boots are typically suited to everything from mid-winter powder laps to springtime alpine ski-mountaineering descents, depending on your priorities. And while they won’t come close to feeling like notably heavier, fixed-cuff resort ski boots — or uphill-oriented, 1-kilo touring slippers — the downhill performance of mid-weight touring boots can be pretty impressive and unrestrictive in the right conditions.
For more information on the entire Lange ski boot lineup, please refer to our Deep Dive: Lange Ski Boots Brand Lineup.
What Lange says about the XT3 Tour Pro:
“Get up to get away for adventure. The all-new XT3 TOUR gets Lange’s legendary downhill performance designed into a lightweight Vibram full touring norm uphill boot.
Using ultra-lightweight Grilamid plastic and friction-free hinges for effortless hiking and skinning uphill. Dual Core technology and Active Power V-Lock ensure all the precision and power on the downhill. The XT3 TOUR is a new standard for touring boots that can go up with the best of them, but over delivers on the downhill.”
The XT3 Series
The XT3 series comprises Lange’s freeride-touring and touring boots, evolved from their popular XT series, which were some of the original downhill-oriented boots that also had enough range of motion to be viable on the skin track.
Currently, the XT3 series has an impressive range of weights, flex patterns, and lasts. Below is the full lineup (all weights listed are derived from a sample size of Mondo 26.5):
Touring:
- XT3 Tour Pro: 99 mm last, 130 flex, 1520 g, $950
- XT3 Sport: 99 mm last, 120 flex, 1525 g, $800
- XT3 Tour: 99 mm last, 100 flex, 1646 g, $n/a
Freeride Touring:
- XT3 140 Pro Model: 97 mm last, 1805 g, $950
- XT3 130 LV: 97 mm last, 1790 g, $900
- XT3 130: 100 mm last, 1790 g, $900
- XT3 120 LV: 97 mm last, 1770 g, $750
- XT3 120: 100 mm last, 1770 g, $750
- XT3 110: 100 mm last, 1750 g, $650
- XT3 100: 100 mm last, 1584 g, $650
While all models in the XT3 series use Lange’s Active Power V-Lock walk mechanism that debuted on the 20/21 XT3 series, they differ in nearly every other aspect of their design:
The XT3 100 through XT3 140 Pro Model are the crossover resort/touring (aka, “50/50”) models, which come in 97 mm and 100 mm lasts, use heavier plastics, have replaceable Gripwalk soles, use high cuffs, and burlier liners. The XT3 Tour, Sport, and Tour Pro are the dedicated touring models, which feature fixed Vibram touring soles, more breathable liners, lighter plastics with thinner walls, lower cuff heights, and only run in a 99 mm last.