TLT5 Performance: PNW reviews requested

I've seen the excellent TGR thread, but I know several of you have them here and was hoping to get the region-specific low-down. How do they ski wetter snow? How do they compare on the down to other boots you've had (MegaRides,etc.)? Is the lower buckle issue a big hassle or minor inconvenience? Not interested in the less-stiff Mountain version. Thanks!

I have a pair of 5performances and I plan to do a comprehensive review eventually.  So far I've only skied them three times and never on a really big day, which is where I hope to take advantage of them.

They're amazingly stiff for how light they are.  I'd say stiffer than a Megaride in the fore-aft axis, but in other respects there's no overcoming the lack of inertia and material of the featherweight boot.  So it's a different ski experience.  They really can drive a lot of ski.  Yesterday I accidentally skied them without the tongues and they're still much stiffer than the old TLT4s that way and that makes the changeover really fast.

I'm not sure whether I understand your question about the lower buckle.  I'm keeping it tight the whole time and it works fine.  Of course, it's necessary to unbuckle it to insert the tongue if you uphill without the tongue and downhill with the tongue. It's not that big of a pain. Just a different procedure. 

Uphill, via boots or skins, is simply lovely.

I think your skis and your technique will affect your mileage in wetter snow more than the specific properties of these boots.  Perhaps that's not a useful comment.

I have 3 tele boots: brown t-3s, black t-3s, and 3 buckle t-2s and 3 AT boots:  Zzero 4 PU (4-buckle polyurethane) TF, Zzero 3 PB (3 buckle pebax) MF, and TLT5 Mountains TFX.  The walking and climbing is a world apart with the TLT5; not only are they lighter, but also they have the widest range of cuff rotation and that makes it easy to stand upright, lengthen stride, and kick and glide.  I have skied my TLT5s probably 15-20 days with 178 cm long 7 summits (80 mm waist) and 187 cm long Manaslus (95 mm waist) and found the boots to feel stiffer than all my other boots.  Part of that is due to the upper buckle locking in the forward lean, so you can't go forward or back.  This feature has taken me some time to get used to, as I have often skied my other boots without locking in the forward lean.  But, over time, I've found the locked in forward lean has actually made me a better skier on steep stuff, putting more over the center of the skis and keeping me a bit lower--I go a lot faster.   I've skied all types of snow with and without the "downhill booster tongue" in; not using the tongue makes transitions from climbing to skiing down very quick and from skiing down to climbing up a short pitch very quick.  Control is fine.  In deeper wet snow and heavy breakable crust I put the booster tongue in or at least ratchet the lower buckle up one click from the climbing position.  As far as steep skiing goes, the steepest I've skied these boots on are 9-1-1 in the back bowl both close left and close right of the andesite pillar in new powder and wind affected old powder with and without the tongue (didn't miss the tongue in the wind affected) and the slopes above the Paradise Valley Road in new powder and breakable crust (without the tongue).   The boot is so comfortable and non-binding/non restricting that I am using the TLT5s for all my skiing now except flat-track, including when I ski patrol on the MTTA.  I just ordered some Karhu Guides with Vertical STs for the low angle touring stuff.  On steep stuff with deep snow I marginally like the feel and progressive flex of the Zzero 4 PUs better than the TLT5, but not nearly enough to put up with the extra weight, limited aft cuff movement, 4 buckles loosened up on the way up.  When I go lift served again I will certainly use them instead of the TLT5.  BTW, I am a heavy guy, 230 lbs, and I often over-power equipment (blew cuff rivets on both my t-2s and Zzero 4s)--but not the TLT5s.

I've been skiing them since mid-December, and am a believer. Not sure I can add much that you haven't already read in the TGR thread or much that is PNW-specific, but I'll try to address your questions.

Wet snow, per se, is not an issue - as Sky suggests, if you're OK skiing it now the TLT 5 P will not be a hindrance. Skiing the TLT 5 P in combination with a light ski in heavy crust or over frozen debris can be a bit unnerving, not because of lack of power but simply lack of mass - a big, heavy, wide setup simply skis better in these conditions. To give you a point of reference, I'm 165-170 and use these with either 178 Manaslus or 169 Mustagh Ata SL's.

Relative to the first generation MegaRide (soft tongue) the TLT 5 P is substantially stiffer in the fore-aft axis; it's also stiffer than my Spirit 3's. Pure stiffness, however, isn't everything - I like a progressive flex that starts soft and ends ends stiff without the lower shell caving in.  I came to the conclusion after 2 days of skiing that the boot was too stiff too soon in the flex progression with tongues in and slightly too soft without the tongues for everyday skiing. My solution was to cut down the tongues just below the power strap and leave them in all the time, except maybe for a rando race or super light skis. This has the added advantage of making it possible to leave the power strap fastened behind the tongue(s) all the time, so transitions mean only opening or closing the buckle. The flex is now just right for my tastes; fairly easy at first but solid at the end of the compression cycle, much like my lift-served Endorphins with the top buckle slightly loose.

What lower buckle issue are you talking about? They come undone once in a while while booting in crust, but every boot does. The cable coming out of the slot happened to me once when the boots where brand new; since I've been using them and buckling the buckle fairly tight it has seated itself in the slot and hasn't come out.

I'll re-post some photos here so you don't have to wade through the huge TGR thread; I also modified some of my pants so you don't have to pull your cuff up to use the buckle:

Great feedback. The technique comments regarding wetter snow are completely valid. A better question might be, do you have to be completely on your game at all times for these to work for you? More or less so than previous boots? Perhaps it's more useful to stick to direct comparisons with other boots to avoid the "I ski Volkl Xplosives with F1s in big mountain comps and it's fine" situation.

Greg's description of the lack of mass makes perfect sense: sounds very much like my experience with DPS carbon skis: they work and are stiff, but the lack of mass definitely matters in some types of snow. It's a tradeoff.

The lower buckle issue, as I understand it, is that it flips open more easily than other boots when not tightly buckeled, and because it's relatively non-burly, is very exposed to damage when open. If y'all aren't seeing any real issue with it, that's great news.

A better question might be, do you have to be completely on your game at all times for these to work for you?

On your game? I'm not sure I'd describe it in those terms. It helps to be an adaptable skier, someone who can go out on any decent gear and get it dialed in a run or two. Or at least be able to analyze the gear and decide what you want different.

The difference in skiing "feel" is perhaps more than any boot change I've made in the past. For whatever reason, there have been an abnormally high number of people complaining about the forward lean angle (both too much and too little) - I'm of the opinion that the initial forward flex stiffness plays a role in this, but a number of people have already fashioned re-tooled lock mechanisms for theirs (see Lou Dawson's boots on Wildsnow.com as an example).  If you're sensitive to ramp angle, the heel of the TLT 5 P feels lower than either my Spirit 3's or F1's (same footbeds). I don't notice the metatarsal flex at all in downhill skiing, though it's a slight disadvantage in steep/firm bootpacking. The smaller footprint means you will sometimes break through crust when you don't expect to.

All this is balanced, of course, by the hundreds of grams you will be losing off each foot on the skintrack.