I was out in Colorado the past couple of days getting new boots dialed in with Diana and Harald. I am now in the WCR 1 boot. I thought I would put this up, more as an explanation about this boot vs the old Raptor B line which I have been skiing in some iteration for 15 years or so. Let me also state, that I will rave about this boot at some point in this post, but as should always be said, boots are first about fit, foot shape, skiers level etc, and no one should decide they need to be in XYZ because one person says they ski great in that boot. I think this commentary will be most relevant to those that have skied the previous Head raptor line and I will attempt to outline the differences in both fit and performance.
First off the WCRs are longer inside and they are a lot longer inside. I pretty much fill up lengthwise the Raptor B2 shell in a 27.5. I am now skiing the WCR 1 in a 26.5 shell. Diana thought that we would need to punch the toe box to make room in the 26.5. But the heel pocket in the WCRs is very tight. Once we created enough room for my heel to fully enter and sit in the pocket, we didn't need any additional toe room. So size wise, WCRs inside, (again once the heel pocket is ground and enlarged so the heel can go all the way back), are around a CM longer than the Raptor B series. Because we went down to the 26, my last width went from 95 on the 27s to 93 on the 26s so the WCR was thinner than my B2s. If you don't go down a size, it will be of similar width.
The liner is different than what I am used to. I have been in Intuition Pro Tongues for years. The Pro Tongues have a wide hard heel, and there is no way they will fit into the WCR boots. Even the Head stock liner called Liquid Fit, has a lot of trouble fully fitting into the heel pocket until they break in. On my right foot, it went in no problem each time. On my left, it would not fully enter the pocket until I had skied 2 runs. I would call the cramped nature up front before my heel moved back, rather uncomfortable, but I probably could have skied 4-5 runs that way. Luckily I didn't have to. Diana says after 5-7 ski days, the liner break in enough and molds around the heel so that it goes in right away. But for those that are very sensitive to pressure, this might be something to think about. If you are not going for as tight a fit as I am looking for, this issue might not arise. Diana could certainly have ground more back there, but we both decided it was better to go through some discomfort rather than having a boot that has too much room.
I also thought that the liquid fit is basically a newer version of the old foam liners. Its not. In fact, Diana told me to ski my boots for 30-40 days and let them pack out before we ever consider adding the liquid. The liquid is designed to fix a packed out liner and restores it to they way it was when new (which by the way, is a great idea). Adding the liquid is also a delicate affair. In a tight fit like mine, if you add too much, the heel will never be able to get back into the pocket because too much space has been taken up by the liquid. But again, done right, you can make a packed out liner, like new, permanently once you add the liquid.
So initially, I did not love the softness of the Liquid fit liners vs my very hard and firm Pro Tongues that I have been used to. I also needed to tighten my buckles more than I usually do. But once I cranked them down some, I started arcing turns better and tighter than I ever have. And this was my first day on snow this year, so its not like I all of a sudden over the summer jumped to a new level with my skiing. My turn to the right, on my left foot has always been less tight that my other one. Turns on my left foot were every bit as good as turns on my right. On both sides I was getting to higher edge angles earlier in every arc, and I was able to increasing tipping easily through the apex of the arc. I could do this on my B2s but it always felt like work.
I also noticed that brushing was really easy, way easier than in my previous set up. And here is where I think I have found some limitation to the pro tongue liners. I think they are kind of digital, either on edge or off edge and finding that medium edge angle for brushing was harder in those liners. In the new liners and boots, I was easily finding the exact right edge angle and pressure the whole way through the arc. I would call these liners very analog and I guess we should call it "snow feel" is super high in these liners and boots.
All my arcs yesterday were tighter, with much higher edge angles, all coming with a stance that seemed to naturally narrow some, and all feeling super easy, with no tension anywhere in my feet, ankles or legs. That's pretty remarkable. Although none of this should be too surprising. Harald has been raving about his WCR boots for 2-3 seasons (he is in the WCR 140S in a size 26.5) and he absolutely loves these boots.
Is there a little trade off. Maybe some in feel, as I have loved that super firm feel of the Pro Tongue liners. But its obvious to me, that from a performance perspective, there is no trade off and for me, these boots and liners are superior in both arcing and brushing. Am I excited about my right big toe being squashed for two runs over my next 5 ski days? No, but again, I am not sure everyone will have this issue especially if you are getting a less tight fit than what I go for.
The WC athletes mainly in tech are raving about this boot. I can now understand why. It is a great design and it is clearly helping all types of skiers ski better.
Hopefully some of this is helpful to the army of PMTS skiers who are in the previous generation of Raptor race boots and want to better sense of what the new ones are like and how they fit.
Lastly, I have to give a huge shout out to Diana. She is the best bootfitter on the planet, with precision and an attention to detail like no one else. 7 hours of bootfitting on Monday, followed by on snow analysis on Tuesday and another 90 minutes of touch up work on the boots after skiing. You will never get this kind of service and focus anywhere else!