Salomon Mission GTX Boot

I've had these on a few times now and so far they are just what I've been after to get me through the winter for most of my days out. Salomon describe them as being perfect for "light hiking" - take that whatever way you want ;-) They come in at 1210g for the pair and feel fairly easy on the feet.

They've handled saturated grassy stuff without me applying the famous arse plant (so far!!). They even seemed to be OK on rocky stuff too. Where I have been really impressed with them is how they handled the snow on Na Gruagaichan. It was hard enough that we were kicking steps. This was easy enough for Steve in his Scarpa SL's and Iain in his La Sportiva Nepals. Initially I followed their steps then decided to give it a go myself. I occasionally had to kick a couple of times on some of the really hard stuff, probably more down to my poor technique than the boot, but they managed well on the cover we had for the ascent. As my balance is rubbish I decided to apply the Kahtoola Microspikes for the descent. This was a good combination. Depending on the snow conditions I suspect they will get used a lot.

I'd bought these to replace my Keen Targhee Mids which had sprung a major leak. As they were just a year old I contacted the shop where I had bought them from to see what the score was. They had been badly affected by the floods in the Lakes, and advised to contact Keen direct. Within 24hrs Keen had sorted out where I could pick up a replacement pair. Fantastic customer service from Keen.

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