Skip to main content

If Iron Man Designed a Ski Boot, It Would Be the Dahu Écorce

Dahu

Imagine if Tony Stark designed an alpine ski boot. That’s Dahu’s Écorce, a completely Iron Man-worthy design that might be the biggest ski boot innovation in the past 50 years.

Recommended Videos

Dahu is calling it a new “species” and we aren’t arguing. This boot allows the wearer to easily slip out of the structured alpine boot skeleton and walk around in the comfortable and stylish liner.

Made in Switzerland, Dahu is the only alpine ski boot to be produced from this notoriously powder-rich country. The brand is headed by snowsports industry veteran Clark Gundlach, a former executive of Quicksilver and Burton who worked beside Jake Burton in the ’80s to essentially create the sport of snowboarding (no big deal).

“After thousands of days on the mountain, I know what an uncomfortable [ski] boot feels like,” says Gundlach. “They hurt and it takes a lot of time and effort with a boot fitter to make a ski boot comfortable. We strive to eliminate the need for custom fitting by making a performance-oriented ski boot that’s supremely comfortable right out of the box.”

So, how is Écorce special?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s all in the hinge. The standout feature of Écorce is the front and back hinge structure that opens completely, allowing the wearer to easily slip the lining boot in and out. This means no more awkward walk from the slopes to your après ski plans.

The outer plastic shell is made of a Grilamid polyamide composite that provides great flexibility at all temperatures while remaining stable. This shell is jotted with strategic cutouts that eliminate pressure on the foot without sacrificing rigidity. Aircraft-grade aluminum power beams support what Dahu calls “an idea stance and power transfer.”

Anatomically contoured for men and women, there are five total Écorce shell design variations with varying flex and degrees of forward (three for men, two for women). “The shell design is different, of course, and totally unique, with the added beauty of the inner boot,” adds Antoine Massy, senior research and development and production manager at Dahu.

The inner boot, dubbed the Cambium, fits within the Écorce shell and is designed to act as a stand-alone piece. Made of Italian-leather, the Cambium is warm, waterproof, and feels like you’re wearing a reinforced Ugg. Unlike most liner boots, this one has a lugged rubber sole so you can actually walk in the snow and  Primaloft insulation to keep your dogs toasty.

At Outdoor Retailer Snow Show 2019, Dahu dropped a hint that they will eventually make interchangeable boot styles that you can fit into any of the bindings, blending style with function and making your winter footwear alpine-ready 24/7.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen true innovation in the ski boot business,” says Gundlach, who also enlisted former renowned Burton designer Maurizio Molin to beef up the Écorce, which has been in development for over five years. “It’s an innovation that the industry deserves. I’m excited about that. A pain-free ski experience will bring joy to every vertical foot of your day,” Gundlach adds.

The Écorce will be available for the winter 2019-2020 season.

Jahla Seppanen
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Born and raised off-the-grid in New Mexico, Jahla Seppanen is currently a sports, fitness, spirits, and culture writer in…
onX and Toyota join forces for nationwide trail cleanup and revival project
Our national public lands are under unprecedented threat. Now you can chip in to do something about it.
Three men clearing a trail with the onX/Toyota Trail Revival Project.

Our public lands face unprecedented threats right now. Massive funding cuts have fueled staff shortages at every National Park Service, and the trails and backcountry roads of every NPS unit are suffering. Thankfully, onX joined forces with Toyota to do something about it via a nationwide trail cleanup and revival project.

Beginning next month and throughout the summer, the two brands are rallying local communities to work together at five (for now) events in California, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The goal is to address some of the biggest threats to our favorite outdoor spaces, namely the loss of access to trails due to overuse, deterioration, and under-resourced land management organizations. onX and Toyota will provide the resources, including trucks, safety gear, clean-up equipment (think chainsaws), and whatever other tools volunteers might need to clear out trail debris and trash. Volunteers will bring the brawn to get it all done.

Read more
Going to the Great Smoky Mountains? The upcoming dates you should avoid
Great Smoky Mountains to have road maintenance in May
Great Smoky Mountains National Park sunset view

Great Smoky Mountains National Park just announced a series of road maintenance projects to take place throughout the month of May. These initiatives will particularly affect the road along the Spur, which is the roadway that connects Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge. In order to ensure as little disruption as possible for visitors to the park, the National Park Service are implementing a series of temporary single-lane closures.

This maintenance is routine, and will include activities like mowing, ditch cleaning, fallen tree and branch removal, and litter pickup. This way, the Sur will remain safe and scenic for the 2025 season. Here are the dates:

Read more
27North unveils the Venture X campervan built for luxurious off-road adventuring
With more creature comforts and tech than most studio apartments, you'll never feel like you're "roughing it"
27North all-black Venture X adventure campervan parked in a garage.

For hardcore overlanders who can't bear to be without their creature comforts, we're living in a Golden Age of high-tech, off-road-ready rigs. Missouri's 27North has been at the forefront of the modern overlanding movement, and it's all-new Venture X campervan is a testament to that.

The Venture X joins 27North's line-up of ultra-modern and downright "luxurious" overlanding vehicles, including the Ascender and RexRover pickup truck campers. It's a tech-forward adventure van designed for all levels of overlander, from first-timers to families. Underpinned by the industry-standard Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 170 platform, powered by a 4-cylinder high-output diesel, it rides and drives easy on-road, while the standard AWD system and all-terrain tires ensure it can tackle off-road trails, too. The company's Adventure Package adds a 50-inch light bar, ditch lights, a rooftop tent, and more to the mix, making this a seriously capable go-anywhere campervan.

Read more