The hot new thing in ski boots this year is vibram soles. Ski boots such as the new Lange Banshee are using the rubber compound to give their ski boots more grip and less impact while walking and hiking. Another nice feature of vibram sole boots is that the vibram components are fully replaceable. By replacing the toes and heals of the boot the life expectancy of the shell should drastically increase. Thanks to Vibram-®’s advances in rubber compounding, it is now possible to maneuver in alpine ski boots without constant fear of serious injury. Many alpine ski boot manufacturers including Head, Garmont, Lange, Rossignol, Scarpa, and Tecnica have seen the light, replacing some of their slippery plastic soles with a grippy Vibram rubber product. “Traditionally, plastic was the best solution for ski boots soles because it easily met binding release standards,” explained Vibram USA CEO and President Tony Post. “But safety was sacrificed whenever skiers encountered slick conditions underfoot. Vibram met this challenge by designing rubber alpine ski boot soles that met DIN standards.” snewsnet.com

Wikipedia tells us that, Vibram is an Italian company based in Albizzate that produces rubber outsoles for footwear. The company is named after its founder, Vitale Bramani. Bramani is credited with inventing the first rubber soles for shoes. These soles were first used on mountaineering boots. The soles produced by Vibram are called Vibram soles, Vibram rubber, or simply ‘Vibram’.