How Stiff Are Your Ski Boots? We Asked 2,000 Skiers

It’s Sunday, and you know what that means—we’re back with the results of another POWDER Weekly Poll, thanks to the Department of Polls and Skier Opinion.

The subject of this week's debate was ski boots. This time, we wanted to know what flex you all are rocking.

Keep reading to see what more than 2,000 skiers had to say when asked: How stiff are your ski boots?

POWDER Weekly Poll Results

• 130 or higher: 979 votes (39%)
• 125 or 120: 803 votes (32%)
• 115 or 110: 377 votes (15%)
• 105 or 100: 176 votes (7%)
• 95 or 90: 100 votes (4%)
• 85 or lower: 50 votes (2%)
• They don’t make stiff enough boots in my shoe size: 25 votes (1%)

Poll Highlights

• Total Votes: 2,510
• Most Popular Choice: 130 or higher (979 votes, 39% of voters)
• Least Popular Choice: They don’t make stiff enough boots in my shoe size (25 votes, 1% of voters)

Poll Observations

• As several commenters noted, ski boot flex isn’t standardized. What 130, or any other number, means can vary from brand to brand. Keep that in mind as you consider these results. Still, they provide insight into the general preferences of our readers—a 130 flex boot, whoever you buy it from, is going to be pretty stiff. A 100 flex boot, meanwhile, will be softer and more approachable.
• To state the obvious: respondents to this poll leaned on the expert or avid end of the spectrum. Choosing a 130 flex boot doesn’t mean that you’re the best skier on the mountain, but it does indicate, probably, that you spend a fair amount of time skiing. In contrast, if you managed to poll every skier on Earth, we’d guess that a more moderate flex, like 100 or 110, would be the most popular. But hey, it makes sense that a poll shared by a ski publication skewed more towards the diehard crowd.
• On that note, POWDER writer and owner of small feet, Izzy Lidsky, had a point she wanted to make about the least popular choice. She and other women often have a hard time finding high-performance, high-flex boots that are in their size. “For every article that I’ve written about this topic specifically, I’ve gotten certainly more than 25 messages, emails, or sent articles about other skiers, usually women, who wear a boot in the 21.5-22.5 range and cannot find boots with a flex index higher than 115. Our poll results likely aren’t fully representative of all of skiing’s demographics, but from anecdotal evidence alone, I’d dispute that a lot more than 1% of the population has this issue. Perhaps the swath of boots in smaller sizes and higher flexes released by brands this year has reached more folks than I think. But if I’m still stuck in a 115, I’d wager so are a lot of other 22.5 wearers,” Izzy wrote. Read more of Izzy’s thoughts here.
• After digesting this poll—and making that assumption that most people who responded are expert skiers—we’re still a bit surprised that 130 won out. Plenty of longtime, serious skiers rely on 120, 110, or lower flex boots. Maybe we’ve all convinced ourselves we need the stiffest boot on the market, just because? If you, too, are feeling skeptical about stiff boots, consider scoping our interview with Cody Townsend on the topic.
• Finally, this poll is hardly prescriptive. 130 was the most popular option. That doesn't mean it's the right option for you, whether you're a novice, intermediate, or expert. Pick the boots that feel right. Having happy shins and feet goes a long way. Preferences count just as much as performance, unless you're racing down a World Cup downhill course.

What We Could’ve Done Better

• This was another poll that went off smoothly. Still, we had one lingering question: should we have included specific flexes above 130? Even if they might be in the minority, there are people who wear 140 or 150 flex boots, too. It’d be interesting to see how the highest end of the scale broke down, more specifically. 

About the POWDER Weekly Poll 

We launch our weekly polls at 3 p.m. Eastern Time every Monday. They remain open until 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time the following Friday, with the results dropping on Sunday at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. You can participate and see the results right here on our website or by visiting our Instagram page.

While you’re at it, drop us a line or leave an Instagram comment if there’s a poll you’d like to see next. Skiers have plenty of opinions and preferences, and we want to know which ones might land on top of the heap.