Burton Ion Step On 2027 Snowboard Boot Review

An In Depth Breakdown of the Burton Ion Step On Rides Review by The Good Ride

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How The Burton Ion Step On Was Tested:

I spent hard-earned good ride dollars to buy this. I’ve ridden this with a wide variety of boards, including the Burton Grill Master 160, the Capita Powell Glider, 162 Stranda Tree Surfer, 162 Yes Standard Uninc 156, Capita BSOD 159, and the Amplid Singular 158, to mention a few. I also tested a lot of bindings with this, including my primary, the Union Atlas Step On, the Burton Genesis, Step On reflex, the Burton Genesis EST Step On, the Nitro Step On, and many others. I’ve also done the same-day test with the Burton Ion on one foot and a competing boot on another, and often. After testing my Burton Ion Step On boots, along with a wide variety of Step On bindings, I would get back on my Union Force bindings and Nitro Team boots to see how they felt, the same day.

Size: 9 US Regular Width

Days: 6+
Conditions: Mostly varied groomers
Riders:  James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards, over 180 bindings, and 100+ boots
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers and Kingfoam Orthotic Elite Insoles
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
lass=”yoast-text-mark” />>Jacket: Jones Mtn Surf Anorak, Skyline Fuse Jacket, Jones Shralpinist Stretch Jacket
Pant: Jones Mountain Surf Pant, Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant, Skyline Faze Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout, Smith Maze
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

Bindings:

Union Atlas Step On, Genesis Step On EST, Genesis Step On Re: Flex, Nitro Step On, and others as well.
Boards:

Capita Spring Break Powder Glider 162, Stranda Tree Surfer 162, Amplid Singular 158, Burton Gril Master, 160, Capita Black Snowboard Of Death 159, YES Standard Uninc 156, and a few others

Similar (but not the same) Boots: Nitro Team BOA, Nitro Team TLS, Nidecker Rift Pro, Bataleon Acid BOA, Bataleon Salsa BOA,  Ride Torrent, Ride Fuse, Ride Deadbolt, Burton Ion, Burton Photon Step On, Burton Ion Step On, Vans Infuse

James’ Foot Specs

Foot Size: 9 US
Foot Width: E
Arch Length: Right 9.5 and Left 9
Instep: (left and Right) 10.5.”
Calf Circumference: Top of boot 17” & Bottom of boot 12”

Ethics Statement

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Weight

The Burton Ion Step Ons are 2 pounds, 9 ounces. It’s only a few ounces more than the regular Ion. So, when combined with the Burton Genesis Step On at 1 pound 14oz, which is super light, and the Union Atlas Step On at 1 pound 15oz, also super light, overall it’s a lighter setup than your average snowboard boot-binding combo.

Fit

The Burton Ion Step On fits fine lengthwise, but was very tight for a 9 E, which is on the border of being wide. Some regular boots fit me, some don’t, and Burton is a little narrower in Step On. I had to get these heat-molded to press into the side of this liner to create space for the width of my foot, and the liner heat-molds really well. But if I had just to put these on and go riding, my feet would cramp up, they’d hurt. It was hard to wear these around the house until I heat-molded them. Once I did, this liner is very heat-moldable, and it worked perfectly.

So if you’re a C or a D in width, these will fit great, most likely right out of the box. If you’re an E, you need to get them heat-molded, or just buy the wide version. Now if you’re a double or triple E, you need to get the wide version of this.

If you are very narrow, like an A or a B, you might greatly benefit from J bars like these that Burton provides, which have Velcro that attaches to the inside of the boot. They do a great job at preventing heel lift, and you can sand, cut, or shave them down a bit if they are too much.

Adjustability/Lacing System

The Burton Ion Step On has a strap that laces around the liner. The liner has a really cool double Velcro thing going on for it right here that really holds well, and it works with a wide variety of calf sizes, so you can go really wide or really narrow, and this Velcro is pretty much going to hold. I’ve never had one of these come loose on me.

Then you have dual-speed lace, just like a regular Ion boot, with nice places to fit the speed lace holders. And then you have a single boa here that emulates basically the ankle strap of a traditional binding, and it’s slow on, but very fast off, so getting in and out is convenient, but there are much faster boots for getting in and out.

Flex & Response

The Burton Ion Step On is a pretty stiff boot. When you’re set in here and connected to the high back like this, you have such exceptional leverage and response that it outperforms just about any other boot-binding setup out there, no matter how stiff or responsive. This is almost there with hard booting; that’s how responsive it is. So I found I had to loosen the top a little bit, and I really didn’t need much response.

As this boot gets softer and breaks in, I might be able to tighten the top a little more, but it was so responsive that it made mid-wide boards like the Standard UnInc., and the Amplid Singular turn like they were made for size nines. When I got out of these, got on my Union Force and Nitro team TLS, and took the same run with that boot-binding combination, after riding this, it was mind-blowing how much less responsive that very responsive binding-boot combination was compared to this. Suddenly, the board felt like a mid wide again.

<h4>How to pair this up

So if you’re pairing up with a board that’s a little too hard for you to turn because your boots are too small

, this is going to be great. But if you already have a board that turns well with your boot bindings, you might want to look towards something that’s a lot less responsive, because the Ions could overpower it. Even with this top loose, it sometimes made the board feel a little too twitchy; it was overly responsive.

The only thing, though, is that when you’re connected to that high back, it really limits your tip-to-tail movemen

t, and I feel too locked in. I feel much more stress on my joints from the hip all the way down to the ankle, so I had to go from 21.5 to about 21 for it to feel comfortable again, to feel more normal. But I still don’t like that locked-in feel. Some will be okay with it, but some of you, like me, won’t be and won’t like that feeling.

Flex Retention

The Burton Ion’s flex retention technology is not really there in comparison to, let’s say, like the slacks or a lot of other boots like my Nitro team tools that have an articulating cuff here to prevent shell distortion and retain the flex, along with a very stiff spine that retains the flex of the shell as well. This has rubber in the spine, so that helps a little bit, and it’s well built.

But you can see there are already some indentations from forward flexing from just a few days of riding. And over time, let’s say at 100 days, these are going to be really soft. I know this because I’ve had the regular Ion with almost the same design; very little has changed over the years, and Davey owns these as well. In the last few years, they have lost their flex. But if you ride 30-40 days a year, these will last you a few seasons.

Traction & Shock Absorption

Now let’s talk traction and shock absorption. You have a Vibram insole here, and it just works well in any type of weather. It has excellent traction. This tread is going to last a long time, and there’s ample cushioning from heel to toe without feeling too cushy. You still have some board feel underneath you here, but the shock absorption goes further than just the insole. Look at this liner, they put a nice soft Eva foam bottom, you really feel this.

Insoles

If you add a good custom orthotic other than the one that Burton gives you, which isn’t that great, like the footprint insole technology, King Foam, Orthotic Elite, or the fluid X versions of these, or the Game changers in comparison to this thin little thing, if you don’t have a high instep and you can handle a little reduced volume inside, like I can, it drastically improves your shock absorption and makes it a better overall experience underfoot. So pretty impressed with shock absorption overall, especially when paired with most of the Step On options. You have all this soft Eva foam, and even though the Atlas is stiffer Eva foam in the back, it’s still very shock absorbent. like the footprint insole technology, King Foam, Orthotic Elite, or the fluid X versions of these, or the Game changers in comparison to this thin little thing.

Footprint

The Burton Ion Footprint is about 29.7-29.6cm from the front to the heel. But you can see it tapers in pretty well, and Burton is one of the best when it comes to having a reduced footprint in the sizes that it’s most needed in. For example, a 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 12.5, 13, etc., they reduce the footprint, so there’s less chance of toe and heel drag on the mountain, and Burton was the first to do this.

When Burton first started doing reduced footprint technology, most of their competitors were a full size bigger, so you were drastically reducing the chances of toe and heel drag, which absolutely sucks, can put you in the hospital, break wrists, break shoulders, ruin your day. Nowadays, the rest of the industry has caught up to Burton, and they’re getting pretty close, so oftentimes now these are about the same size or a half size smaller on the outside than a lot of other competitors out there, but it’s a great thing to have, and they’re still the industry leader. Burton Ion Step On

Final Thoughts

So overall, I feel that Ion Step Ons are incredibly responsive, incredibly powerful. They’re incredibly easy on and off, that’s why you get them, I don’t even need to talk about that shit. But they do have some issues, they make you feel really locked in to some, like me, they’re two responsive for most boards out there that you’re going to want to ride, and as far as the whole quick release thing goes, I think this is one of the best options out there. But it’s proprietary tech, you have to buy boots, you have to buy bindings, none of the bindings have adjustability, but man, you can just step in and go.

Vs. Highshot & Waverange

And even with the addition of the Waverange and Highshot, Step On line, I still feel that the Burton Ion Step On and Photon Step On are the best option in Burton’s line. They provide more symmetry in terms of response, they also provide more ankle support, and for the Ion, better adjustability. I’m also recommending the Nitro profile Step On and Venture Step On a lot because they offer excellent adjustability, ankle support, symmetry of response as well, and I find, along with the Ion, those are the best for Step On boots I’ve encountered in my testing.

My Personal Choice

For me, I’m sticking with my Nitro Team and Union Force. I like that better. But as this technology evolves and as the bindings get more stance with and boot to binding, adjustability, if they can figure out a way to make this feel less locked in to the high back, you have more range of motion like you do with a normal boot and binding combination, this could work because you still get that same amazing flex underfoot that you do with real bindings, and you don’t with Clue and Supermatics and you get that extra response. This could be amazing. So there you have it. Burton Ion Step On