Are SCARPA boots really compatible with Atomic/Salomon Shift bindings?

For retailers getting questions from shoppers about whether SCARPA boots are compatible with the popular shift bindings, the answer is yes.

Spurred by numerous inquiries, SCARPA released information to clarify that its Maestrale, Gea, and Freedom series ski boots follow the design specifications required for compatibility with Salomon’s S/Lab Shift MNC 13 and Atomic’s Shift MNC 13 ski bindings.

SCARPA CEO Kim Miller told Outside Business Journal that he doesn’t know where the confusion came from, but he’s most interested in getting the facts straight. He even successfully tested SCARPA boots with Salomon’s Shift bindings at the On-Snow Demo in January 2018.

“It’s almost like if you have a metric nut and a metric bolt,” Miller said. “It doesn’t matter who makes it; they should fit together.”

Miller said SCARPA follows the standards developed by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) for alpine-touring and alpine ski boots and bindings..

“It’s paramount for retailers, consumer, manufacturers, ski technicians, and others to understand the compatibility of systems especially now because we have advanced so much in the last few years in innovation,” Miller said. “With this innovation have come a number of new boot and binding innovations that don’t meet current ISO or DIN standards, mostly in Ski Mo systems. This does not mean they are not compatible or totally functional, but it does raise the questions of how does the retailer and consumer get all the information they need to make an informed decision and purchase.”

The caveat is that like with any kind of boots and bindings, SCARPA’s may not function properly if they’re not installed, adjusted, and maintained “by a qualified competent ski technician, who should inform their customers if their boots and bindings are compatible and functioning properly.”