The Vans Verse and Infuse have inserts that allow you to adjust the stiffness so you can play around and figure what you like best.

Other than walking I have never thought a boot was too stiff.

 

Watch "Snowsurf" on RedBull TV. They carve. Surf influenced. And the Taro Tamai boot from K2 is high end soft. I mostly just rip carves and lay it over, and I ride soft boots. Rome Libertines and my "stiff" boot is the Nidecker Rift Lace. At best right out of box a 5, will likely break in to a 3.5. Numbers are subjective, but that gets the point across.

 

I had the Maysis a decade ago and I don't know how much it has changed... I loved it new, but it really did soften up. So while it didn't last for me, it may actually work for you.

Then I went for a couple DC T-Rice that were stiffer and really liked them (though the fit of the second pair was too loose). Tried the Ride Insano, too stiff. Tried the K2 Thraxis but the liner sucked.

Back to DC this year with the Transcend. Hopefully this one sticks again!

I would like to try the Van's Verse. It has the tongue stiffners you could take out, but it might still have too much lateral support for you. That's might be the opposite of what you want.

What bindings?

 

I had the Maysis a decade ago and I don't know how much it has changed... I loved it new, but it really did soften up. So while it didn't last for me, it may actually work for you.

Then I went for a couple DC T-Rice that were stiffer and really liked them (though the fit of the second pair was too loose). Tried the Ride Insano, too stiff. Tried the K2 Thraxis but the liner sucked.

Back to DC this year with the Transcend. Hopefully this one sticks again!

I would like to try the Van's Verse. It has the tongue stiffners you could take out, but it might still have too much lateral support for you. That's might be the opposite of what you want.

What bindings?

Arbor cypress

 

I did ride my Café Racer with both my Verse and my Nidecker Tracer (almost identical to the current Rift) and vastly prefer the Tracer. The verse are too stiff lateraly for a board that require to move that much front/back and I was fighting that a bit, either overpowering the board or not moving enough. Maysis or Dialogue should be just fine, so would the Rift or most all mountain workhorse really. You can go quite a bit stiffer if you want but with boots that retain some lateral play too. But it's really not a board that require super stiff boots. You kinda lose the flow the board has if you can just overpower it.

 

I prefer a mid soft boot. I really like some lateral flex. Been riding ride fuse for a few seasons. I like the urethane spine and tongue that maintain front to back response while allowing for that lateral flex. Stiff boots restrict your range of movement from the nose to tail.

 

thanks for the replies. Initially I wanted a stiffer boot due to the carving aspect but I think something right in the middle (5/6) might be better overall

 

Yeah it's a fine line between lateral flex and support for me. I need the support for a bad ankle, but do like to shift my weight from nose to tail.

This year I'm trying the Salomon Highlander on my Soul Shift. It looks like the base should be responsive edge-to-edge, but the shadow fit will allow some nose to tail movement.

Along with my posi-posi stance up to +21/+12, I really dislike canting as well... more so with a stiffer boot.

 

Agree with all above. I started soft, then went with stiff boots. Now in the middle on Salomon dialogue. They’re like a 6 flex. It’s a perfect blend of support and flexibility to move around the deck.

 

I want to progress my carving as I really just started trying to make clean carving lines last season. Carving/reverse turns are my go to, and euro/laid down turns look cool but lets be honest that may never happen for me… I also really enjoy doing surfy/slashy style turns on snowbanks.

I know with carving you want a really stiff boot, but will that hinder the bank slashes/surf style turns I enjoy?

Stiff boots hinder ever so slightly, but they are worth it IMO. I value quick response and putting power down over tweakability so take it with a grain of salt.

Softer boots spook me when I tell the board what to do and it responds with a half measure.

I think your concern is a bit of a non-issue though if you are riding a setup for snowsurf style. For me it's the board and binding which determine the slashes available on snowbanks.

 

To me boots are just there for padding. The issue is finding something that fits.