Ride Report: My Converted Atomic Backland Pro

I received my new Atomic Backland Pros on April 17th, 2025. With a low snow year behind me and not a lot of potential ahead, this testing window required a full send. Fortunately, I had the incredible stoke and support of this community cheering me on. I was able to go ride almost every day in April and got blessed with pow, ice, corn, dust on crust, and deep slop. When is deep slop a blessing? When you’re desperate to understand how a boot will ride in all conditions! 100% of my days were in the backcountry so I was able to asses climbing and downhill performance. I am a men’s 10.5 US shoe size and ride a size 27/27.5 Atomic Backland Pro. This is the same size that I ride in the Phantom Slipper HD. I ride a 27.5/28 in the Disruptive Boot.

I would optimize for pow day performance when choosing your spring weight. We are, at the end of the day, in the backcountry to chase soft snow and I spend easily 70% of my season chasing pow. I would err on the side of softer for most all riders. Interestingly, 100% of the pre-order Backland Pros we’ve sold so far were optioned with a red spring, which is the softest spring available. The Phantom Link Lever is a drop-in replacement for the boots walk-mode lever. No modifications to the boot or lever are required and you can do this mod in five minutes or less.

Option 1: The Phantom Pivot Buckle Mod Kit

This mod is a fantastic addition to any backland, but especially for those who need improved comfort or heel hold. This ankle strap replaces the forefoot strap and provides better ankle contact and far stronger clamping pressure. This is an easy and reversible mod that works great with the new Backland Pro.

Some riders have a hard time with this promise. We really do switch to hardboots for their climbing prowess. My thinking has progressed from climbing being “as good as skiers” to “climbing in a hardboot is, at times, better than if you were on skis.” This is because you can climb with the Backland Pro completely bucked. This delivers fantastic, instant, and effortless ski control. Because the upper cuff is buckled, the Backland Pro delivers lateral stiffness in the upper cuff so that the ski does not lean downhill and lose traction. Most skiers have stiff, two-piece boots that they have to unbuckle completely for climbing. This creates “slop” in the upper cuff where they have less lateral stiffness and, for many, their foot can slide around inside of the boot, causing blisters. Unfortunately, you have to unbuckle the Disruptive Boot when climbing, one of it’s major drawbacks.

The Backland Pro climbs much like the Phantom Slipper which is to say excellent. I had great traction in challenging, spring skintracks and enjoyed the 72 degrees range of motion. 72 degrees of fore and aft travel is actually more than my anatomy allows. This means that my naturate stride is completely unencumbered by the boot. The yogis and flexible might have a chance at finding the end of their travel, but not while touring normally. I found that I had fantastic foothold in the lower boot once the above mods were made.

In on-snow performance, I give the Backland Pro a 9/10 rating in climbing. Interestingly, I would give the Phantom Slipper HD a 10/10 because that boot has even more lateral stiffness. The carbon fiber upper cuff of the Slipper HD benefits from the torsional stiffness of carbon and is thus an even better performer on the uphill. Read on to learn why carbon fiber is actually not what you want in the Backland Pro.

The Backand Pro descends even better than the Phantom Slipper HD! I was thrilled when a commenter on Instagram quickly picked up on the Backland Pros winning design and correctly identified the main reason I chose it over carbon options. The upper cuff of the Backland Pro is made of PU, or plastic. This plastic upper cuff has less lateral stiffness than the carbon cuffs of the Slipper HD and others. This allows for WAY more side to side flexing and repositioning while riding downhill. Subtly, you shift your weight closer to the tip of your board when initiating turns and slide towards the rear when finishing turns. Many of us had to learn how to nail our carves with less repositioning and now you don't have to. The Backland Pro has a softer upper cuff which allows it to ride much more naturally compared to other hardboots.

People love to tout how much more stout the Disruptive Boot is compared to the backlands. This stoutness comes from a thicker, stiffer plastic construction which, you guessed it, means it has more lateral stiffness when riding. More is not better when it comes to lateral stiffness.

I rate the Backland Pro downhill performance a 9/10. Your dream softboot, the one you spent years searching for, is the 10/10 we all seek. I’ll settle for the best performance I’ve found and enjoy all the other benefits along the way.

No comments. The boot still looks brand new. The gaiter has zero rips or holes and the shell is unblemished. The upper cuff shows no sign of wear from the link lever and the lower shell connection point is the same. Shell durability gets a 10/10 where the Slipper HD scored a 4/10 due to laughable durability of the old gaiter. Those woes are behind us.

I remain impressed with the liner in the new Backland Pro. I was warned to keep an eye on its durability and knew that Atomic liners in past boots packed out almost instantly. This made me acutely aware of cushion and ride feel changes over the course of my testing. I noticed immediately that after 4 years in “wrap” style liners, I still do not like the feel of tongue liners. I felt less protected from the shell, felt a curious lack of dampness in the flex, felt faster/easier flex, and disliked the plastic pinching my foot when getting out of the boot. I also have skinny shins so the volume of an Intuition Tour Wrap is a must for a tight fit.

I did share some of those downsides to lessen the blow of the overall durability story. I packed out the stock liner at about 15 days and 50,000 feet. For many, this would be a full season of touring! For others, their pack out would happen in different spots than mine. I have a bone spur on my heel that eats up liners. I feel confident that the stock liner will deliver a season of good riding for the average splitboarder. And I’m glad that aftermarket options lead to better fit, flex, and longevity.

I’m feeling very lucky. I was incredibly nervous about the new platform and had a long list of things that I was only going to be able to de-risk on snow. My ride report delivered as-good and better performance across all the most important variables. I am grateful that a pinch of experience and a whole lot of good luck got us into a platform that delivers such good performance. I was relieved when commenters and community shared similarly positive experience with the boot. I anticipate a good run at this!