Better Than the Fan-Favorite Original: Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro Boot Review

You’re lucky if you show up to a foot or more of blower powder, blanketing the jagged peaks and tumbling glaciers around Chamonix. So I didn’t squander the opportunity. I pushed my jet-lagged body into the backcountry to bounce and slice through the powder lap after lap, stopping only to gape at my surroundings. 

But even in this Eden of big mountain backcountry skiing, the powder wore off after a few days. A crunchy suncrust grew on the solar aspects, and the freeride terrain started icing. Of all the boots I’ve jammed my feet into this season, I was glad to be wearing a barely big enough pair of Tecnica’s Zero G Tour Pros ($900).

Most touring boots could have thrived in the fluffier half of the week. But only one or two could have kept me jazzed when the snow quality took a nose dive, and we started mixing in resort laps. 

The Zero G Tour Pros were heavily revised for winter 24/25. But like “The Empire Strikes Back,” it’s a sequel that gives its fans more of what they love and adds a few new tricks. Even so, the Zero G Tour Pro is inevitably a polarizing boot because it reaches so far across the skiing touring boot spectrum, spilling into a variety of boot classes.

I’ve developed a few strong opinions of my own after many days in two different sizes, a big quiver of ski pairings, and about a million different snow conditions.

In short: Tecnica’s new Zero G Tour Pro boots still reign supreme as the best skiing touring boots below 1,500g. A few key improvements only solidify its hegemony. I was able to bash through bad snow with big skis, dance through powder, and even ski full throttle through the resort. But like their predecessors, there’s a tradeoff when it comes to touring performance compared with touring boots in this class. Regardless, this lightweight four-buckle boot is worth a look for powerful skiers who aren’t willing to dial back the send factor or who want impeccable control on the downhills.

Tecnica Zero G Pro Tour Review

I don’t envy Tecnica’s quest to improve upon a boot that core backcountry skiers have loved for years. Instead of redesigning the Zero G Tour Pro from the ground up, they tweaked the original design’s elements and held onto what was working. The new boots improve on fit, touring, and skiing performance. And they did all that while dropping the already impressive weight by ~100g to 1,387g in size 27.5.

Tecnica makes three different versions of the Zero G for both Men’s and Women’s fits. The top-of-the-line Zero G Tour Pro (tested here) clocks in at 130 flex and has a $899 price tag. The slightly softer 120 Flex Zero G Tour Scout is $100 cheaper. It shares most of the Pro version’s design elements.

Then there’s a 100-flex version, the Zero G Tour, which costs $699. It retains most of the design elements of previous generations in a softer package. 

Donning the Zero G Pro Tour

The Zero G Tour Pro retains a relatively narrow last (99mm). The shell is low to medium volume with some adjustments over the old version. A friend described the fit of the new Zero G Tour Pro boots as a punched-out version of the old boot. There’s a little bit more room in the forefoot. My tailor’s bunions were thrilled about a little more room in the tailor’s bunion zones.

Dialing the Fit

The heels are relatively narrow, and the heel hold is quite good. The C.A.S. shell is more amenable to punching, though. So there’s hope for folks that were right on the edge with the last version. Even still, they’re narrow for touring boots, and they won’t work for all feet.

They surprisingly work for my feet, though. After chatting with the bootfitter pros at Cripple Creek Backcountry, I ended up downsizing from my typical touring boot size to a smaller 26.5. After a painful break-in period (my big toenails are as good as gone), the addition of thin shims under the footbed, and snipping a hole in the big toe of each liner, the fit is dialed.

Yes, it would have been smart to break in the new pair before showing up in Chamonix. But now, I feel like I earned the comfortable fit every time I’m able to get the Zero G Pro Tours on my feet.

‘Quick’ Instep

My main beef with these boots is that they’re incredibly challenging to put on, mostly due to my unreasonably high arches. I basically need to rearrange my ankle bones every time.

At first, my method was to take a deep breath, slide my foot in 50% of the way, spread the lower shell with my fingers to squeeze my foot in a little bit further, grab and pull the loops on the back of the liner and tongue, and stomp hard three times to force my foot the rest of the way.

My downstairs neighbor was not thrilled about this method. But then I figured out that rotating the cuff fully rearward and out of the way was monumentally helpful and allowed me to slip them on with only a little stomp. Getting them off is much simpler, though the liner comes out with my foot every single time. Slippery, tight-fitting socks like my X-Bionic Ski Touring Expert OTCs helped a lot. 

So, despite the challenge, I’m glad Tecnica added the Quick Instep feature to the updated Zero G Tour Pro. It’s a softer plastic over the instep that’s more pliable and friendlier than the Grilamid shell. Without it, I’m not sure I could get my foot in there at all. 

The Uphill

I’ve spent a lot of long, uphill slogs in the Zero G Tour Pros. I’d say the uphill performance is somewhat polarizing. On the one hand, these boots are insanely light for how big and beefy they are. Truly, no other boot beats out the Zero G Tour Pro in that regard. 

Walk Mode Range of Motion

The Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro’s cuff’s range of motion, however, isn’t equally best in the show. Their officially listed 65-degree range of motion is 4 degrees more than the new Scarpa Maestrale, which has perhaps the best range of motion in this middleweight boot class.

But in practice, the Maestrale has a much bigger range of motion on the skin track. I can confirm that the Zero G Tour Pro’s cuff articulates that far sans foot. But the minute you stuff an ankle, leg, and foot in there, the articulation is limited.

There’s plenty of forward ROM for steep uphills. That’s where Tecnica managed to improve the newest iteration of the boot. It’s the rearward articulation that isn’t stellar. It’s similar to the Fischer Transalp Carbon Pro in that regard. The only place that gets annoying is when you’re skinning on flats or slightly downhill. It doesn’t let you reach out with your leading leg to extend your stride and maximize your glide.

I rarely encounter this type of terrain in my day-to-day ski touring in Colorado. But folks who find themselves skinning extensively on roads should take note. 

Compared to Standard Hybrid Boots

That’s all coming from someone who skis on a lot of sporty, ultralight boots like La Sportiva’s Kilo. The Zero G Tour Pro isn’t in the same league in terms of touring range of motion. But skiers coming from the heavier end of the boot spectrum — the hybrid resort/backcountry boots and alpine boots with an “après” walk mode — will be thrilled with the Zero G Tour Pro’s wildly better touring mode and range of motion.

They strike a middle ground in the diverse field of ski touring boots that spans skimo race boots to full alpine boots. And I can’t say it enough: most backcountry skiers would be thrilled to trade a few degrees of rearward ROM for the downhill performance these boots offer.

The Downhill

I won’t bury the lead here — the Zero G Pro Tours are the most powerful ski touring boots below 1,500g.

I skied the Zero G Tour Pros for several days at the resort and many more in the backcountry. They were tested in every snow condition that I’d typically run into over the course of a year.

Unlike most other lightweight ski touring boots, they’ll push basically any ski to its limit in any snow conditions. They were virtually never overpowered by burly or wide skis.

The tall Grilamid and Carbon Co-injected cuff is very supportive. It’s closer to an alpine boot than most, if not all, of its lightweight touring boot competitors. I noticed that the most when the snow was challenging and inconsistent. Through crusts, bumps, sastrugi, and mank, the Zero G Tour Pros pushed big skis through without flinching, folding, or twisting. 

It’s not a damp ride like a true alpine boot. The Grilamid and carbon are too thin for that. But I will say that the Zero G Tour Pros are progressive for touring boots, which again, is on a different scale than a true alpine boot. When you push into the tongues, they push back. The deeper you get, the more they push.

There isn’t the support dropoff deep into the flex like some light touring boots suffer from. That aspect is improved from the previous iterations thanks to the new Power Frame, which adds more control to the shell’s bulge.

Compared to Standard Alpine Boots

Compared to a true alpine boot, they’re a little bit softer off the top and feel significantly less plush because of the thin liner. But they’re stiff, especially when they’re cold.

Some lightweight skiers may even feel a little bit harsh (I’m 190 pounds, for reference). But I think Tecnica found the right balance between stiff and light for these boots’ intended use case. There’s also the softer Zero G Tour Scout for skiers looking for a friendlier ride.

Forward lean is advertised as 14 degrees or 16 degrees with the included Velcro spoilers installed. I ended up skiing with the spoilers attached throughout the test period. That was sufficient and comfortable for my needs.

Some skiers might find them a tiny bit upright for such downhill crushers. But they’re an improvement over the previous version (which even inspired aftermarket angle-adjusting hardware from Raide Research).

The bottom line is that the Zero G Tour Pro boots set the standard for light but powerful. 

Buckle Layout

Nearly unchanged from its predecessor, the updated Zero G Pro Tour sports four somewhat traditional though lightweight buckles: two on the shell and two on the cuff. It’s one of the few dedicated touring boots that still sport that traditional layout. But here’s the thing — it works.

Each of the buckles adds tension and offers adjustability. The lowest shell buckle gives the boot great torsional support. The instep and lower cuff buckle kept my heel locked in. The upper cuff buckle provided a snug, responsive fit.

Like all other boots in this class, the Zero G Tour Pros include a camming power strap that adds to the performance fit. It’s not elastic like a traditional Booster Strap, but it’s ultralight and it does the job.

The tradeoff with all those micro-adjustable buckles is that they take forever to transition. I find myself constantly adjusting to get the exact right fit on all four buckles. I preferred to loop the buckle wires through the keeper hooks while touring to maximize the range of motion, which added some fiddling. Fortunately, once I find the sweet spot, the fit is dang near perfect. 

The Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro sports a full touring sole (ISO 9523), so its intention isn’t exactly a mystery. They’re not Gripwalk compatible like the similarly intentioned Scarpa 4-Quattro and Tecnica’s own Cochise. That means they won’t work with a standard Gripwalk alpine binding.

However, they will work with hybrid bindings like the Salomon Shift and Marker Duke. At first, I thought it would have been really nice if I could simply click into a pair of alpine skis instead of hauling my alpine boot around.

But as soon as I started scrambling around in high-exposure terrain, I was happy to have those extra lugs and a full Vibram sole underfoot for grip. The Zero G Tour Pros are purebred touring boots, not hybrids. 

Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro: Who Are They For?

Tecnica’s new Zero G Pro Tour boots were the right choice for a week in Chamonix, where changing snow conditions and massive vertical drops introduce a lot of variables for skiers. They’re also an excellent choice for day-to-day backcountry skiing in Colorado and other places like it. And while they can be overkill for meadow skipping in low-angle powder and long spring tours, they never feel underpowered, nor are they heavy. 

The Zero G Tour Pro are high-performance boots aimed primarily at expert backcountry skiers. However, more novice skiers will appreciate the supportive ride and wide margin for error that they provide. On the other end of the spectrum, these same boots are one of the few true touring boots that don’t force hard-charging skiers to dial it back in big terrain.

Folks who find themselves in the middle of that spectrum have a lot of options. The Zero G Tour Pros are downright solid boots that ski at the top of their class. There are also lots of boots out there with significantly better range of motion that walk and tour with a little more pizazz and can transition between uphill and downhill in about a third of the time.

But when they ski this well, it’s pretty easy to see past those minor shortcomings. So I’ll again come back to the bottom line: the Zero G Tour Pros are the best skiing touring boots under 1,500 g — if you can get them on your feet.