Scott Cosmos Tour Boots

The new Scott Cosmos Tour Ski Boots have an adjustable forwrd lean from 12 to 14 degrees depending upon your preference. Below you can see how to switch the forward lean, simply unbolt the walk mechanism grab bar plate, flip it around and voila you're done. With the grab bar positioned at the bottom of the plate you get a 12° forward lean and with the bar in the top position it is 14°.

Scott has incorporated a simple ski/walk mechanism into the Cosmos Tour Boots. It is easy to operate even with gloves on and there is a reaffirming audible "click" to assure you that your are indeed in ski mode. Below you can see the mechanism in ski and walk mode.

Scott has gone back to a double-action tongue that allows more movement in walk mode but can be locked down for a stiff ski mode.

On the bottom of the Cosmos Tour Boots you'll find full-length Vibram bi-density rubber soles which are provide optimal grip for a little rock scrambling to reach your favourite couloir perhaps. These ISO 9523 Touring (UNI) compatible soles make the Cosmos Tour Boots a great companion with the more aggressive freeride pin bindings such as the Salamon Shift and Marker Duke 16.

The buckles have a lock mechanism to keep them forward and tucked away under your ski pants which is great, however, it is a little concerning to hear them snap loudly when you disengage them to buckle your boot.

Scott has used a single forefoot cross-over cable style buckle to save on weight and buckling time. This buckle does the job of two buckles thanks to the integrated wire and seems to do an adequate job of keepign your foot snug.

• POWERLITE 2.0 Grilamid
• Rear Hook Ski/Walk Mechanism
• Cabrio Hybrid Construction
• Adjustable forward lean 12 to 14 deg
• Dual Action tongue for mobility
• Full-length Vibram® bi-density rubber<
• Wide last 103.5mm
• ISO 9523 Touring (UNI) compatible
• Dynafit® certified tech inserts

You may think that once you've skied one alpine touring boot you’ve skied them all—well, not so with the new Cosmos Tour Boots as Scott has has gone to great lengths to improve theses boots when compared to their older brother the Cosmos III. Some of these changes are fairly obvious by just looking at the Cosmos Tour Boots while others are more bakes in under the hood.

One of my favourite new features is the ski/walk mechanism with its simple to use design and built-in locking feature that ensures you are engaged in ski mode. Thanks to this clever design, you can be confident that you are not going to come out of ski mode mid-slope.  The ski/walk mechanism in my old Scott Cosmos II failed and I had to get it replaced which cost me around $250—ouch! This new mechanism design seems less like to fail and hence fewer costs down the road.  Another subtle change, but a nice one for mountaineers is that the contact bar for the ski/walk mechanism has been raised so it is more compatible with crampons.  The old Cosmos III boots had an issue with compatibility with heal-style crampons and with this new higher bar position on the Cosmos Tour Boots my BD Sabretooth crampons have no issues attaching.

Scott's new 'Cabrio hybrid construction' is made of three separate pieces to create the overall boot shell, there is the lower shell, upper cuff and tongue. This design is not as common as the alpine influenced overlap design that can be found on boots such as the Tecnica Zero G Tour Scout.  Scott's three piece shell design allows for better buckle placement, facilitates an easier entry and exit as well as allowing the boot to open up more for the uphill touring.

Some of the complaints on the older Cosmos III Boots were with its single-piece tongue which made for a stiffer boot that reduced some of the stride potential in tour mode. To fix this issue Scott has gone to a dual-action tongue which increases your mobility on the uphill. And, now with the new buckle placement thanks to the cabrio hybrid construction, you can lock down the boot for a stiffer downhill ride.

The Cosmos Tour's new adjustable lean is a nice feature to customize the boot to your desired forward lean. It took me a little time to figure out how to adjust it, but it is actually quite simple to change from 12° to 14°deg. Personally I prefer more forward lean on resort days and less lean on touring days, so it's nice to have this feature which is easy to switch from one to the other.

The fact that the Cosmos Tour Boots have an ISO 9523 Touring (UNI) compatible sole means that I can ski these boots with my Shift bindings. Not all AT boots have the proper sole to work with these binding which is important to know as it can hamper the boots release.  This ISO 9523 Touring (UNI) compatible sole means these the Cosmos Tour Boots can be used with confidence in both of the new school tour bindings like the Marker Duke 16 and  Atomic/Salomon Shift MNC 13.

Since I have wider feet, the 103.5mm last found on the Cosmos Tour Boots provided an ideal fit for an older skier like me. This wider boot will not be for everyone but if it fits your feet all the other bells and whistles will be just icing on the cake as a good fitting boot is first and foremost on my checklist.

Overall Scott has done an admirable job creating the Cosmos Tour Boots as the changes for 2021/22 are functional and easy to use for the most part. These changes elevate this boot from a touring specific workhorse to a boot that holds its own at the resort. If you are looking for a great all-around boot with all-day comfort or just looking to upgrade your current setup, you can't go wrong with the  Scott Cosmos Tour Boots.