2018-2019 Fischer Travers Carbon

Binding Compatibility

The Travers is only compatible with tech bindings, but it does have enough of a heel welt that it works with the Marker Kingpin, and should work with the Dynafit Beast heel adaptor as well. However, if you’re looking to get rowdy in your Kingpin 13s or Beasts, I would highly recommend a heftier boot.

Fit

Like any ski boot, we highly recommend going to a good boot fitter to see how well the fit of the Travers will work for you. That said, the Travers Carbon feels true to its stated 100mm last. It’s a touch roomier than some other touring boots on the market (like the Dynafit TLT series, or Backland Carbon) which my high volume feet appreciate. However, I’ve found heel hold to be excellent, due in part to the Boa forefoot system.

Going Uphill

I was not at all surprised when this boot excelled on the skin track. Its light weight, short BSL, and impressive ROM make uphill travel a joy. While I have yet to take full advantage of that 80° ROM, I have really appreciated it, especially when skinning on long, flat approaches in Grand Teton National Park, and when having to walk up a dry approach in Glacier National Park.

I’ve found that I tour most of the time with the cuff buckle unlocked, but I’ll cinch it down for added support in more technical situations.

I have also found myself locking the walk mode on the Travers more than any other boot. With it open, there is no rearward support—which is something I found out quickly when I tried to ski down a short downhill section of the skin track, and immediately collapsed. In fact, the walk mode and liners flex so well that I found it impossible to get up without locking the walk mode. It pays to be aware of this, especially on rolling, flowy skin tracks

Transitions

The Travers Carbon transitions quickly and easily. I can actually flip the cuff buckle (with my gloves on and through my ski pants) without having to pull the cuff of my pants up. The walk mode is similarly easy to activate, and then all that’s left is a quick twist of the Boa knob. It’s not quite as quick as the transition for the Dynafit TLT series — unless of course you factor in having to pull out or put in your tongues. Because if you are swapping tongues on the TLT’s, then the Travers Carbon wins.

Ski Performance

Unless you flunked out of high school, it should be pretty apparent by now that the Travers Carbon was not intended for those who want to huck their meat or ski like a World Cup racer in the backcountry. It’s an ultralight touring boot … and it skis like one.

That said, it’s no noodle. For the sake of science, I spent an afternoon skiing inbounds at Grand Targhee with the Travers Carbon on one foot, and the Fischer TransAlp on the other — with the same Intuition Power Wrap liners in each boot — and stepped into G3 Ion bindings that were mounted to my 189 cm K2 Shreditor 112’s.

The Shreditor 112s are neither light nor small, and the conditions that day were firm, chalky, tracked-out snow. So I braced myself for the worst … but I ended up impressed. Both boots did a fine job of driving the skis in these conditions, and I found myself skiing the same lines at close to the same speed I would with an inbounds setup. I even took a few laps through the park, and took the Travers Carbon through the big jump line.

The Travers Carbon is surprisingly stiff, though it is not a damp boot, and it does not have the most progressive flex. So most of the support is there, it’s just not as comfortable and well damped as a heavier boot.

I was finding that the cuff dug into both my shin and calf when I flexed the boot, so I put the spoiler from a pair for Full Tilt Konflicts in the back of the cuff, and this has helped. It also gives the boot a bit more forward lean, which I’ve appreciated. (The Travers comes with a spoiler spacer that velcroes to the calf of the liner, but I found that it didn’t do as much to alleviate the issue as the aftermarket one I installed.)

I’ve also experimented with running Intuition Power Wrap liners in the Travers Carbon, and while they fit easily (which is not the case with the Backland Carbon) I’ve personally found after a few days of skiing with the stock liner on one foot and the Intuitions on the other, that the upgrade in stiffness and comfort is not worth the loss of ROM.

The Travers Carbon easily supports my 200 lb weight (with gear), and I haven’t run into significant difficulties driving skis up to 116mm underfoot. That said, it’s not as easy or comfortable to ski as a heftier boot. I find that my ankles are significantly more fatigued skiing the Traverse, and they don’t feel as precise and grounded in firm, chopped-up condition.

When I do find myself really leaning into the Travers Carbon, I can feel it deform over the front of the ankle, in the gap between the Boa system and the upper cuff. There’s nothing holding the boot together there, and so the lower of the boot flexes out and bulges away from the foot which can feel a little disconcerting.

Who’s It For?

Paul Forward noted in his review of the Atomic Backland Carbon that:

“An increasing number of skiers will realize that boots like the Backland Carbon are a great choice for a large percentage of what many of us do much of the time we’re out ski touring, and that the extra weight of the more freeride-oriented boots will start to make less sense as this class of lightweight touring boots becomes more refined and more affordable.”

I’d say the same thing about the Fischer Travers Carbon. For the backcountry skier looking to score fresh tracks, boots like the Salomon MTN Lab or Dynafit Vulcan may be overkill. The Travers Carbon certainly doesn’t allow you to charge like those boots, but it makes uphill travel much quicker and more enjoyable, which in turn might encourage you to take more laps.

The Travers Carbon also has the makings of a very good ski mountaineering boot, and I’m excited to get into some more interesting terrain as spring brings the requisite stability. I’ll report back with a follow-up once I’ve logged more time with them in that application.

Bottom Line

Fischer’s first offering in the ultralight touring boot category is very impressive. The Travers Carbon offers a great blend of low weight, huge ROM, and adequate downhill performance that make it a legitimate challenger to boots in the Dynafit TLT series, or the Atomic Backland Carbon.