Walk Mode and Touring
The walk mode on the Shiva functions well and smoothly, and I never had a problem with the boot inhibiting my stride. While hiking up a bootpack or on the skin track, the Shiva offers a decent range of motion of 20 degrees. (If this doesn’t seem to be quite enough freedom, however, the 2013-14 Shiva will have 40 degrees of flexion in walk mode.)
On most tours this winter, I suffered from large blisters on my heels. This can partly be attributed to rubbing in the loose heel pockets, but I have resigned myself to the fact that blisters on my feet are unavoidable, even in my five-year-old hiking boots. I cannot foresee that blisters would be any more of a problem in the Shiva than in other AT boots.
Another problem I faced on several longer day trips and on a three-day hut trip was the boot’s weight. The Shiva is only 100 grams heavier per boot than the comparable Dynafit Gaia, but around 500 grams more than other touring-oriented boots. This past season I toured on the Shiva in combination with my Marker Baron bindings—not a light setup. On shorter ventures, the weight was generally a non-issue, but my muscles seemed to tire faster than usual after a few miles and steep climbs.
At the end of January, I spent three days at the Brian Waddington Hut outside of Pemberton, BC. We chose Waddington because skiers do not frequent the hut as much as some of the others nearby, which we soon learned was because of the very steep, six-mile approach. After several hours of climbing through steep, icy glades with a heavy pack, I (and my screaming hip flexors) was extremely envious of my friends who had lighter boots and bindings.
Despite my aching ligaments, the tiring ascent was well worth it, and I spent a wonderful three days exploring the easily accessible pillows and big lines around the hut.
The Shiva definitely falls at the heavier end of the AT boot spectrum. The decision to take more weight on the uptrack would ideally be offset by a very capable boot on descents in the backcountry and resort. Since most of my time on snow is spent skiing down, I am more willing to compromise performance on the way up.
So, how does the Shiva actually ski?
On Snow
For most of last season, I skied on the Dynafit Gaia, and while mostly happy with it, I never felt the same lively response through turns that I experienced in my Rossignol Radical race boots. Similarly, the Shiva, with a flex of 100 (both Black Diamond and the BD website both say it’s a 100 flex, even though it says 110 on the boot), predictably flexed softer than the 120 flex rated Gaia.
Before adding the Booster Strap, the Shiva did feel soft, but not unreasonably so. I was never able to completely overpower the boot, but it seemed to lack a bit of sturdiness when I was carving fast turns or pointing it through variable snow. And after a few runs, the stock power strap on the Shiva would loosen up, rendering it ineffective. With the Booster Strap addition, I was able to tighten up the top of the boot, ensuring a consistent, improved stiffness throughout the day, and was able to feel a smoother, fluid flex from turn to turn.
On groomers and in powder, the Shiva and Gaia performed pretty similarly despite their different flexes. Sometimes the Gaia, though, especially in cold temperatures, felt dull through even the most aggressive carves. The Shiva, on the other hand, would bounce back playfully from turn to turn. The softer flex might have enabled me to dig into the boot a little more than I did on the Gaia, but the Shiva felt livelier and was fun to ski in most snow conditions.
Before I sucked up some of the extra volume in the Shiva, I had occasional trouble skiing in variable snow. I often felt, especially when skiing with a large pack, that my feet were swimming and I would get rocked into the backseat, unable to regain a forward stance. Once corrected, however, the Shiva handled chop and low, icy bumps very well. Again, the softer flex was helpful in allowing me to recover quickly from the backseat, but it still offered enough stability to feel comfortable charging. I felt like I had a bit more control over the Shiva than the Gaia, and in deep, heavy chop could make dynamic and quick direction changes.
After spending most of my ski life in a stiff race boot, I still find myself hesitant to charge very hard in AT boots. I definitely have been able to push myself in the Shiva through challenging snow and steep, narrow couloirs, but I often feel I would benefit more from a plug boot (no surprise there). The Shiva can hold its own and inspire confidence in the resort and on big backcountry lines, but can’t claim the same rigidity and stability of a race boot. But of course, a race boot is significantly less fun to tour up in…
Bottom Line
If you spend most of your time in the resort, the Black Diamond Shiva is an excellent “one-boot quiver.” I personally place more importance on the downhill performance of a boot, and am willing to carry a little extra weight on the way up to ensure that I can feel confident charging down a big line or on my days in the resort. And although the boot did feel heavy on longer tours, I wasn’t putting in enough hours or days to feel that it would prevent me from buying the boot.
I would be hesitant to recommend a heavy AT boot that also didn’t rip. And while the Shiva isn’t going to be mistaken for an alpine race boot, it provided enough stiffness and responsiveness to make it a very good downhill boot, inbounds and in the backcountry. If I were someone who owned a dedicated alpine boot and was looking for an additional boot to tour in, I would recommend a lighter, touring-specific option. Conversely, if I already had a touring boot and wanted something for the resort, a stiffer, non-AT boot would be the way to go. But if I needed one boot to do it all, the Shiva is a fantastic option that is capable on the skin track, and even more fun on the way down.