For those adventures well above the snowline in this little country of ours look no further than the Garmont Mountain Guide Pro GTX. This four season, full shank mountaineering boot will keep your toes warm and your feet firmly on terra firma on your next trip.
I purchased a pair of these back in 2015 to use on a technical mountaineering course. Prior to that my mountaineering boots were a pair of La Sportiva Trango S Evos - a significantly lighter but less rigid boot. My Sportivas were nearing the end of their usable life so I decided to upgrade to something a little more capable. At the time I agonised between buying these or a pair of La Sportiva Nepal Evos (the most popular leather 4 season mountaineering boot in NZ by a country mile). At the time I choose the Garmonts as I managed to get them for a bargain but the La Sportiva is undoubtedly a great boot and excellent choice. The Garmont Mountain Guide Pro GTX features a full wrap-around 3mm leather construction, a primaloft insulated footbed, B3 crampon compatibility (i.e. can take strap-on, semi-automatic, or fully automatic crampons), and a vibram titus outsole. In practice this means the boot is warm enough for mid winter missions in New Zealand and solid enough to be as at home traversing a glacier as it is on the final pitch of that epic face climb you’ve always dreamed of. My first outing in these was 10 days of climbing at the top of the Tasman Glacier in November of 2015. During this time my feet were toasty warm and the boots seemed to fit my foot well. After the ten days I didn’t have a single blister or hot spot on my foot - winning. Since then I have done many climbs in these and have found them to be durable and they certainly seem to be holding up well to the relatively long approaches that are common in NZ. I pair them up with my BD Serac crampons and find the fit to be snug and secure.
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