When SCARPA revolutionized telemark skiing in 1992 by introducing the Terminator, the world’s first “plastic” telemark ski boot, free-heel skiing was the primary way that skiers accessed the backcountry in North America. As alpine-touring gear came more onto the scene through the 2000s, a tongue-in-cheek bumper sticker soon proliferated at backcountry-skiing trailheads — “No one cares that you tele.”

Despite the fact that rapid advancements in AT gear soon made telemark skiing a relatively small niche within backcountry skiing, a vocal minority has kept the sport alive and well. And, along with creating a wide array of AT boots, SCARPA has also remained committed to free-heel skiing — the last ski-boot manufacturer to produce telemark boots at scale.

With new boot technology long overdue in the category, SCARPA is here to announce — by releasing the world’s most advanced telemark boot to date — that someone does indeed care that you tele.

Following many years of product category research and direct engagement with the telemark-skiing community, SCARPA will introduce in fall 2024 a completely new version of the TX Pro — the most innovative, lightweight and efficient telemark boot ever created. Testament to SCARPA’s commitment to the telemark community, the development of the new TX Pro involved extensive collaboration with telemark skiers, athletes and binding manufacturers.

“Telemark is all about style and flow — it’s just got a very different vibe about it,” said Kim Miller, CEO of SCARPA North America. “And that’s the case with the telemark community as well. It’s quirky but it’s very soulful. People are heavily invested in the different kinds of gear they use and want to share their knowledge around that. We’ve always been connected to the community from the start, which is why I think we got the response we did when

The new TX Pro is very lightweight — a 12 percent weight reduction compared to the previous TX Pro. It also features friction-free walking in touring mode, with a huge increase in range of motion compared to its predecessor, matching the weight and function of modern AT boots like SCARPA’s Maestrale and Gea family. SCARPA also reduced the volume of the boot to improve fit and performance. Moreover, the TX Pro is compatible with all modern telemark bindings on the market, including NTN and Tele Tech bindings, making these versatile boots equally at home at the resort and in the backcountry.

Miller — a skier with a long history in telemark himself, and someone who was deeply involved with the original effort more than three decades ago to develop the Terminator — has been one of the key people at SCARPA helping drive the effort to develop the new TX Pro. Others are Massimo Pellizzer, ski category manager for SCARPA, and Davide Parisotto, one of the members of the family in Italy that has owned SCARPA since 1956. Parisotto has led innovation for the brand in a variety of categories, including the effort to develop the original Terminator, the T2 in 1994, and, later, the groundbreaking TX Pro in 2008.

Like the original project, Pellizzer said the feedback from avid users was key to creating the new TX Pro.

“A prototype works for the people who developed the prototype, not for the whole range of skiers who will ski it. And that’s especially true with the diversity in telemark,” Pellizzer said. “So we created a test and feedback team for this project that included the best telemark skiers we could find, along with four different binding manufacturers. And each of those manufacturers brought in some of their athletes for input. We also had focus groups in North America and Europe. Our motto has been, follow the sport and the right design will come through.”

In the new TX Pro, SCARPA employs a triple-injection technology that it developed specifically for a telemark boot, making it the most complicated ski that SCARPA manufactures. The use of materials of different densities in the shell, bellows and toe — combined with a Torsion Bridge Frame that places stiffer material in a frame that wraps from heel to toe and across the forefoot — makes it possible to create a boot that is lightweight and flexes easily, yet at the same time provides superior torsional support. The liner boot also perfectly mirrors the shell in the bellows area for an extremely smooth, comfortable feel when flexing. SCARPA’s Cabrio-Overlap closure provides a gradual progressive flex, allowing volume adjustability, impulse transmission as well as ease of getting in and out of the boot.