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When Raichle went out of business in the late ’90s, rumour had it Seth Morrison snatched up as many pairs of the legendary Flexon Comp boots as he could. Whether Morrison has a stockpile of dusty old boxes under his bed may or may not be true, but last winter his prayers (and the prayers of many others) were answered. The Flexon Comp is back. Sort of. Full Tilt, a new division of industry behemoth K2, purchased the molds for the boots and has put them into production for the 2007-08 season.
Introduced over 25 years ago, the Raichle Flexon Comp was one of the more revolutionary designs in three-piece boot technology. Designed by Eric Giese, a former NASA employee who developed articulated hinges for spacesuits, the floating ribbed tongue of the Flexon eliminated overlap and allowed the boot to flex without distortion in the lower shell. This translated into better control and, in the process, gained a loyal following of skiers. Whether it was Bill Johnson winning the gold medal in 1984, or Nelson Carmichael dominating the mogul circuit in the three-piece design, Flexon boots were omnipresent in the performance ski community.
Following the tragic death of one of Raichle’s owners, Peter Werhan, in the late ’80s, the company struggled to regain its hold on the marketplace. A series of corporate takeovers and questionable business decisions ultimately led to the company’s demise in 1999. Since that time, advocates of the boots (including Mr. Morrison) have been reduced to hunting the flea markets and Salvation Armies in the hopes of finding a good set of secondhand Raichles.
The search, however, is over. After three years of extensive testing and a few modern modifications (like an FT Intuition Liner, some new-millennium colourways and a ladies’ model), the Flexon is back. No longer do you have to pull over at every pawn shop you see, lusting like a boot-hungry crack addict. Full Tilt will be available at retailers near you. Available in five different models, the Full Tilt line ranges in price from $350 to $500 and comes in sizes 5 through 13. Check them out at fulltiltboots.com. |