In the midst of hectic sale preparations, I got a call from Will, our "most excellent" Dalbello sales rep. The Virus boot will ship this year! The Virus is a boot that is designed for backcountry skiing. This is the first time that a major alpine boot company has entered into "backcountry" boots. They are different than Alpine boots in that they will be "hiked" in, with skis attached only to the toe for going uphill, as well as skied downhill with the heel held down. The boot needs to have some fore/aft movement to be comfortable during the hiking part of your day. Only a few small manufacturers of boots exist for this part of the sport. Primarily because of the lack of options available to the consumers, we have done a lot of boot fitting on this type of boot. Less boot shapes available mean less foot shapes are happy with a stock boot. Hence the flow of these boot owners coming in to have their boots modified.
Why do I care? I care for the same three reasons as Dalbello does.
1)There is a need for more boots in this category.
2)It seemed like there had to be a better way to build them. We always thought so anyway...
3)If you can build a better boot, you can sell a lot of them. And make people happy too.
So Dalbello has been working on this boot for some time. We have seen prototypes, Glen Plake has been testing them, and Allesandro Dalbello himself showed me the Virus' features and benefits and reinforced his companies commitment to building them. Still I was not convinced. I would believe it when I saw it. This was a revolutionary design that would blow the competition away. But the company would still sell a very small number of boots as the market for them was so small. Also the R&D costs would be racking up.
Well they have come through. A year and a half after Mr. Dalbello promised me they would ship when ready, they have indeed done so. Three models will be available. We will stock two of the three. They have a number of advantages over the rest of the competition. It is not our core business, but really aren't we the perfect shop to carry the boot? The backcountry forums have been buzzing about this boot for the last 18 months and people are going to find them and buy them simply based on their merit as a superior boot. Since they only come in one last (foot shape mold) many will need to be modified. Ready for that!
Even though we don't get heavily into this aspect of the sport, I applaud Dalbello for pushing the technical envelope wherever they see a need. Dalbello has become a cornerstone of our boot selection for good reason. They pay attention and they are quick to react. There is something to be said for being a family owned privately held company. Dalbello is the only big boot brand you can say this about. While this is a tough economy and a mistake on my part could be costly, I believe in Dalbello and I believe in the Virus. If you need one come on by...
Here is what I first thought: http://www.backcountrymagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=317&Itemid=64
Today the Virus was confirmed to be an editors pick after they tried it!
The Virus is spreading!!!
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