Intro:
You know what they say: If you want stiff boots, just switch to skiing. Vans has always been an innovator when it comes to pushing the boundaries of what a snowboard boot can feel like and perform like. This linerless version of the popular Hi-Standard is no exception to that.
What Vans says:
The Hi-Standard Linerless DX is an innovative, one-of-a-kind boot like nothing you’ve worn before. Its slimmed-down, linerless design was developed for street and park riders seeking the freedom of closer contact and better boardfeel. Reduced volume in the upper results in a smaller overall boot, while the V1 Waffle Lug outsole provides a standard footprint for fitting into bindings. The lightweight construction ensures a more connected and skate-like feel, with critical cushioning and support features built directly into the upper.
Tech highlights:
- Linerless technology
- V1Popcush footbed
- V1 Waffle Lug Outsole with All-Trac cold weather rubber compound
- Powercuff strap
MSRP: $170
What Snowboarder says:
“I wouldn’t buy these boots unless you plan to shovel your driveway in them,” one shop employee from Vermont said to me over the phone, as I inquired about the Vans DX Linerless boots that were on sale on their website. Fair enough, I thought to myself, and figured that I’d let some other snowboard writer venture into the world of that gear review.
No matter how hard I looked, though, I struggled to find an adequate review on these boots. In theory, I loved the concept. I live in North Carolina, and some days, I find myself simply hiking the terrain park at smaller ski areas. Even when I’m back in the northeast, it sometimes feels silly to rock the same boots I would bring with me to the Colorado backcountry to a smaller ski area.
Then I saw a video of Mike Ravelson riding his skateboard and successfully kickflipping in these boots. So I caved. Call me a sucker. Call it great marketing. Whatever the reasoning, I decided to give the linerless boots a try.
I rode these boots at Sunday River in Maine, Waterville Valley in New Hampshire, and Pats Peak in New Hampshire. I rode them on a Brackish Resort Ripper with Union STR bindings, a Dinosaurs Will Die Maet-tier with Union Strata bindings, and a WNDR Alpine Shepard Tour with K2 Farout splitboard bindings.
For starters, if you’re exclusively riding hard charging stuff at bigger ski areas, this isn’t the boot for you. There was limited terrain open at Sunday River during my day there, and while at no point did I feel like the boots were limiting my riding ability on steeper terrain, I was incredibly conscious of just how free my ankles felt while charging ahead at 35 miles per hour.
But on easier lines, these felt great. It was easy to initiate turns, easy to stay stable while landing jumps, and most certainly easier to tweak grabs.
Vans advertises this boot as an opportunity to develop better board feel, and that holds true. Aside from being a more comfortable experience than normal walking from the parking lot to the chair lift, these boots truly offer deeper connectivity with your snowboard. The Popcush footbed offers one of the most comfortable experiences I’ve ever gotten from a boot.
My favorite feature, aside from the slimmed-down silhouette that comes when you eliminate the liner, was the powerstrap. You will definitely have to give these laces a bit of an extra tug when lacing up (it reminded me of tying my hockey skates as a child), but the power strap offers ultimate customability, not dissimilar to that provided with the two-BOA versions of boots companies are putting out.
The linerless Hi-Standard is billed as a boot for the streets and the park. While that holds true, I had the most positive experience doing some low-angle splitboarding with this boot. It offered extra flexibility that many big-mountain boots not specifically made for touring don’t offer, and when I needed to tighten up for the downhill, I simply tightened the powerstrap.