my boots down the years

Sun, Aug 31, 2008

This month’s TGO has an article by Chris Townsend on that ever debatable subject of lightweight footwear in the hills. Chris is an aficionado of walking shoes as opposed to walking boots and I’ve come to think the same way, although only fairly recently. I don’t normally blog about gear in the eBothy but I realised that, being an ML, I should know about gear, not in as much depth as someone like Chris but I should be able to give advice to the people I lead, in both summer and winter. I can only say what’s worked for me over the years but the gear scene has certainly come on leaps and bounds since I started walking in the mid eighties (I’m still a spring chicken you see!). So I thought I’d perhaps start a new category in the eBothy for gear tips and advice, in my capacity as an ML. I’m not a gear reviewer but I’ve used a fair wadge over the years so hopefully I’ll be able to pass on my experience. With that, I thought I’d add my tuppence worth to the lightweight boot debate and here is the fashion parade in which my feet have variously been spotted over the years.

As you can see, they cover a broad spectrum of sizes, from the big and cumbersome winter boots such as the Asolo and Meindls down to the Walshes and Tevas. In his article, Chris says to get good ankle support, you need very stiff boots. I can agree with that. The difference between the Asolos (winter plastic mountaineering boots) and the Meindl (winter walking boots) is instantly apparent.

The Asolos are very difficult to walk in outwith snow but once on steep snowy and icy ground, they turbo charge your feet. You can literally walk uphill on your toes and the rigid boot shell keeps your feet stable and transfers all the power to you legs and you literally walk up what feels like a staircase. They are very efficient at this and they are very warm in the wildest of winter weather. The inners are difficult to dry but if you wear Yeti Gaiters with them, you shouldn’t have any problems with water ingress. You can see these boots are ancient (I don’t actually use them any more) but the principle of plastic boots today is the same. Rigid shells for superb support, especially for kicking steps in hard snow and ice. As I’m doing my Winter ML, I’m thinking of investing in a new pair of Asolos this winter.

The Meindls on the other hand, are winter walking boots. The Asolos are good for low grade winter climbs (although I’ve climbed a Grade IV in bendy walking boots, though not to be recommended!) whereas the Meindls are excellent for general winter walking. They’re warm but impossible to dry if they get wet as they have a Goretex lining. I once went in up to my knees in boggy snow in Strath Nethy and spent the entire night trying to dry them in front of the fire at Ryvoan. The first time I put these on each winter, the day on the hill is just the pits, until I get used to them again. I feel so tired it’s unbelievable. Walking most of the year in lightweight boots doesn’t prepare you for the rigours of a Scottish winter and the heavy boots I tend to wear. I go out in all weathers in winter and these boots are good for Grade I, at a push, if the snow isn’t too hard. Going between the two summits of Blaven last winter was rather painful as you can’t kick steps with these boots. You need plastics to kick steps without trashing both your feet and the boots.

There are a couple of things to be wary of with plastics though. The UV light can degrade the shells and I’ve heard of people kicking steps in hard snow, only to have their plastic boot explode into shards. It takes years to get to that stage though and as I’ve had the Asolos for well over ten years, I don’t use them any more, mainly for that reason. Another problem is the lack of snow and Yet Gaiters. Yetis are great for keeping the wet out of your boots but the stirrup under the instep gets trashed on the walk-ins, where there’s no snow. They’re designed to be used above the snow line and rocks just make mincemeat of them. So a lot of folk tend to glue them to the boots.

Next in the lineup and decreasing in weight, are the Karrimor KSBs. I had a pair of these for about 5 years and they were superb. Absolutely brilliant. They never leaked and they were always dry inside, thanks to a good Goretex liner. On really hot days in the Cuillin, my feet could get really hot and sore but the vast majority of the time, these boots were a revelation. Comfortable out of the box, reliable, a good ankle cuff to ward off Cuillin Gabbro and they went on and on and on. Eventually they fell apart, after a walk from Coirehallie to Poolewe over the Fisherfield Big Six and I invested in a new pair. However, the new ones were eVent rather than Goretex and they are rubbish. A few walks in the Cuillin soon trashed them and they started leaking after about two weeks. They are just rubbish. The originals were made in Britain. The new ones are made in China. Don’t know if that has anything to do with but they are just junk and I’ll probably never buy another pair.

I was down in Oxford for a meeting a couple of years ago and wanted to do some walking along the Ridgeway, so I got a pair of Karrimor KSB Dartmoors, with an eVent lining, which is cooler than a Goretex one. I then walked twenty miles in them and trashed the backs of my heels as the heel risers at the back are like iron initially. I persevered as they were really comfy otherwise and they’re now my footwear of choice. They’re great at fording burns as the lining keeps the water out and they’re not too hot on baking rock, especially this year in the Cuillin with three months without rain. The tough rubber bits are great for scrambling too plus the fact they’re shoes really makes scrambling a joy. You can feel the rock and you feel much more secure on small holds, compared to what you’d feel like in the KSB 300s and I’ve used both for scrambling in the Cuillin. So you can imagine how I feel when winter arrives and I pull on the big Meindls. I wouldn’t walk in the Dartmoors in the depths of winter as that would be asking for trouble. You can’t kick steps in them and I wouldn’t want to try using them with walking crampons as the sole is a bit too flexible. You’d probably also get very cold feet as the metal crampons conduct the cold very efficiently. However, the Dartmoors, without gaiters and with SealSkinz socks are my favourite footwear most the of the year now.

The Walshes I’ve had for a long time, about 12 years and I only use them for running on forest trails these days. My feet get soaked in them and although it didn’t used to bother me, I much prefer dry feet now, as provided by the Dartmoors. I did run across the Mamores in the Walshes once and I’ve walked with just a bumbag in the Glenshee hills in them and the freedom they give is just amazing. You need strong ankles though and a good sense of balance but if you can get used to really lightweight shoes such as these, hillwalking becomes an extension of your everyday life. You don’t have to go through the booting up ceremony of lacing up heavy boots, strapping on gaiters, stamping around to see if you’ve left a stone in the boot and then tramping off from the car. With Walshes (and Dartmoors), you just fall out of the car, pull on the shoes and away you go.

Last but not least, we come to my lightest footwear in the fashion show. The Tevas. These are my original ones, which lasted over ten years. I now have new ones, which I wear all year round, yes, winter too! There’s something about the rubber in these that keeps your feet warm no matter what the weather’s like. I walk in them in snow around the house and on low level walks if the snow isn’t too deep, forest trails and suchlike. My toes can get very cold if there’s a wind blowing directly onto them, otherwise the rubber compound maintains the heat and I don’t have a problem with the cold. That probably means I walk warm! Considering I can walk in a blizzard in a t-shirt, it probably does mean I’m well adapted to the Scottish weather! Chris mentions in his arcticle walking up Ben Nevis via the Carn Mor Dearg Arete in sandals and I walked up Helvellyn in these Tevas over ten years ago. Through ankle deep mud on the paths, which was easily cleaned off by a few steps in the burn. These ones aren’t that good at coming downhill though as my feet slide forward, especially if they’re lubricated by a film of water or mud but I do very much like them.

There’s one more in the lineup I though I’d include as I have walked, not in them but on them. Up Beinn Dorain to be precise, on a very warm summer’s day, from Bridge of Orchy. I had boots with me but once off the path, I put them in the sack and wandered barefoot up the grassy ridge just before you enter Coire an Dothaidh. You really do need very strong ankles and soles like leather to do this though and these days Walshes are about as light as I’d like to go!

So there we have it, the evolution of one man’s footwear. I think, without a doubt, I’ll stick to lightweight shoes for hillwalking in summer. Depending what you want to do in winter, you really need a pair of heavier boots. Much heavier if you’re planning on covering graded ground, in which case I’d recommend plastic boots. They’re much lighter than they used to be, although the Asolos are very light. Lighter than the Meindls in fact. I couldn’t find my really old pair of boots I used when a student for year round walking. They had real stitching round the soles and they weighed a ton but I have fond memories of them.

What next, I wonder. Should I tackle the soft shell debate? Paramo vs Rab vs Buffalo? I’ve used them all and I have very strong opinions on the best of the bunch!