Northwave Hardboots 1993 - 1999(by Gerald Staltner, 2016)

This is a short introduction to Northwave hardboots for alpine snowboarding.They were produced between 1993 and 1999 in Italy.

They are a legend among the World Cup riders, extremecarving people and also a lot of other alpine snowboard enthusiasts. One can say that they are the holy grail of alpine snowboard hardboots. Unfortunately the molds were destroyed after the last production and it seems that Northwave wasn´t even able to provide the original CAD data.

In November 2014 a .950 model of the very last production year was sold for 3210,99€.In 2016 another .950 model is supposed to have sold for 3700€.Even the .900 model is reaching a market value of roughly 1500€ and it seems that both modelsare still rising in value.

There have been rumors about a new production of the boots for almost as long as back when theproduction stopped. So far nothing has come up. But somebody will bring them back to life.This will lead to a big change in the Northwave landscape.

Before talking about all the models which were produced, I would like to take a look at the advantages of the Northwave boots.

(All the pictures in this paper are from snowboard message boards, eBay, Facebook, old snowboarding magazines - Snow and MBM Snowboarder Product Special, my private collection and from a very good friend - I hope that nobody is offended for using his/her picture!)

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What is special about the Northwave hardboots, especially the Point series (1997 to 1999)?

- Natural rubber outsole - the best thing for a snowboard hardboot - provides certain dampening, not much snow sticks to it, enough grip on the board (when going up ground lifts), very good for walking, lasts very long!

- Outer sole - the outsole is designed pretty short - the heel part, which is recessed pretty strongly, sits under your real heel (which also raises your heel a bit) - the sole is one piece, so you cannot

use step in adapters with this design (this was a huge factor why the boots were not successful when they came to the market. It was exactly the time of the rise of the step in!)

- Shell - a very stiff plastic is used - the feet are kept in place very well, the shell doesn´t bend to the sides when the boots are flexed forward (like many boots from other manufacturers), the top models (.900 and .950) are reinforced with nylon which makes them almost indestructible, the .950 uses more nylon than the .900 - while the .950 has the stiffest shell, there is not that much difference in stiffness to the .900

- Shell design - the boots have a symmetrical design, which helps to create a very neutral and centered feeling inside the boots

- Spring system - the whole boot is controlled by an excellent spring system which allows movement to the front and the back - using springs in different length and stiffness, you have

almost unlimited possibilities - forward lean is also controlled by the position of the springs, the whole character of the boots can be controlled by this system!

- Ankle joints - for the Point series, the ankle joints have been moved up a bit from previous models and so they are at a perfect place - natural motion of the ankles is encouraged

- Buckles - using cable buckles on the lower part allows a perfect positioning of the buckles, especially the ankle buckle - it is positioned at the ideal 45° angle, pulling directly down and back into the heel

- Tongue - the construction of the tongue with its flex grooves at the top helps to distribute pressure at the shin (shin bang) more evenly

- Liner - not many serious riders will be using the stock liners, but they were really good in comparison to most other brands, in the .900 and .950 a small velcro prevents the tongue from sliding from side to side (still a problem for some brands today, already solved all those years ago)

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The early models

The first Northwave models were known to be pretty high, especially at the back (the calves).For the Point series the shafts were lowered a bit, but the .950 was released with a special spoilerat the back, which made it even higher in the back than the previous models.The ankle joint position was a bit lower than for the Point series. The outsole pattern was a bit different to the Point series.The spring system of the top models only allowed for forward movement.The shell looks a bit different from the outside (having these rows of rectangular shapes), but they are actually from the same molds.The tongues also had a different shape (no flex grooves, only a little denture at the front).The buckles were no cable buckles, so the ankle buckle was moved a bit forward and did notpull exactly into the heel.The top models Nexus and Xanthus used metal buckles, while the cheaper models (X-Man and later Revenge) used plastic buckles.The ankle joints could be moved up and down on the inside and the outside. With time, sometimes they started slipping (small plastic teeth on the inside were ground down). With the Point series only the outside joints can be moved.The Nexus had a liner which used a Gel system to adapt to your feet.The Xanthus had a foam liner, which could be formed to your feet.

Season 1993/1994

The Northwave hardboots were introduced to the snowboard market with a special ad campaign - „The better they ride, the harder they come“

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Three models were sold for 1993/94.- X-Man (entry level, 3 plastic buckles (zip-tie system), green shell, different tongues)- Nexus (competition level, 4 metal buckles, red shell, different tongues, gel liner)- Xanthus (competition level, 4 metal buckles, black shell, different tongues, foam liner)

(actual picture of X-Man model)

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Season 1994/1995

Again three models were sold. The entry model was renamed Revenge and got different buckles.- Revenge (entry level, 3 plastic buckles, blue shell)- Nexus (competition level, 4 metal buckles, black shell, heel position could be raised)- Xanthus (competition level, 4 metal buckles, black shell, heel position adjustment, foam liner)

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Season 1995/1996

Yet another three models. Colors were changed again.- Revenge (entry level, 3 plastic buckles, dark green shell)- Nexus (competition level, 4 metal buckles, dark grey shell and yellow shell, gel system liner)- Xanthus (competition level, 4 metal buckles, yellow shell, foam liner) (note that the transparent shell in the picture at the bottom seems to be from a pre production model and was not sold in this form) (actual photo of the Xanthus (yellow) and

Revenge (dark green))

Season 1996/1997

Northwave was completely revamping their hardboots lineup. That year they didn´t offer a new range of hardboots!

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The Point Series

Northwave made a lot of small changes to their hardboots models. Some were pretty astounding and important. Northwave played around with the right plastic mixture for the boots. There are some extra stiff race versions of the .950 (XX) floating around. Even in the production models there are some slight differences. The Point series is still the pinnacle of the hardboots development after so many years. All models have ordinary liners.

Season 1997/1998

They sticked to three models. Names were changed to numbers.- .350 (entry level, 4 plastic buckles, no spring system, egg colored shell, liner had no velcro on

the tongue, but otherwise the same as the other models, no velcro strap)- .900 (competition level, 4 plastic buckles, grey shell)- .950 (competition level, 4 metal buckles, yellow shell, black spoiler in the back)

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Season 1998/1999

It seems as if production numbers were already lowered and Northwave had troubles distributingthe boots to the dealers. Models from this production year are extremely rare.

Again we have three models.- .350 (entry level, 4 plastic buckles, no spring system, grey/blue shell)- .900 (competition level, 4 plastic buckles, black/grey shell)- .950 (competition level, 4 metal buckles, yellow/red shell)

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