SCARPA CEO, Kim Miller, Part 1 (Ep.79)



TOPICS & TIMES:

  • Kim’s storied career & backcountry adventures (4:00)
  • Scarpa’s approach to ski boots (23:35)
  • Kim’s one-boot quiver (32:25)
  • Maestrale XT (42:45)
  • “Frankenboots” (58:30)
  • Boot / binding compatibility (1:0235)

Earlier this week, I visited SCARPA’s (surprisingly large) North American headquarters to talk with SCARPA’s CEO, Kim Miller, and we had a great conversation that we’ll be releasing in two parts.

Here in Part 1, Kim and I discuss his impressive career in the outdoor industry; SCARPA’s philosophy of ski boot design; their position within the market; the specifics of the new Maestrale XT; Kim’s thoughts on boot/binding compatibility; and more.

We recorded our conversation in their beautiful showroom, so if you’d like to see the dozens of boots and shoes that we were surrounded by, subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the video of our conversation, which will be available soon.

Kim Miller talks on the Gear:30 podcast about his role as CEO at SCARPA and the SCARPA Maestrale XT
SCARPA Maestrale XT

5 comments on “SCARPA CEO, Kim Miller, Part 1 (Ep.79)”

  1. Please ask Kim about Scarpa’s current plans and or development of new Scarpa TELEMARK BOOTS.

    Telemarkers need updated boots… The time has come

  2. Something I have wondered about:
    Now that light boots are getting stiffer, and stiff boots are getting lighter and have a larger range of motion, should we be looking more at things like resistance to ankle movement and ease of transitions, when ranking boots on touring performance, and progressive flex, responsive fit, and good suspension for ranking descending performance, rather than, as we have done until now, simply looking at weight and range of motion on one hand, and stiffness on the other.

    • Yep, I don’t think any boot review is complete without looking at everything that you have listed. Simply looking at weight, range of motion, and stiffness does not tell the whole story.

  3. I think the boot/binding compatibility issues should be discussed more.
    It’s not just Shift or alpine vs touring boots. It’s also non-norm touring boots, Vipec toes, Tecton and Kingpin heels and such.

    And as far as the the effect of tech fittings in release of alpine style toe wings, it’s not just the raised Quickstep fittings that pose an issue, even standard flush ones do, according to Jeff Campbell’s research.

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