Lifestyle | 14er Season Is Coming

Our new and lovely La Sportiva boots with GORE-TEX Surround technology.

Our new and lovely La Sportiva boots with GORE-TEX Surround technology.

 

Poor Colorado. We’re trapped in the hellish purgatory between snowboarding season and hiking season. A season that’s plagued with waiting indoors and polishing kayak oars while we cry for summer’s warm embrace. This awkward tween season has inherited the name of mud season from Colorado natives and “locals” alike. Mud season is a wonderful time when Coloradans drive around in their Subarus, ride indoor bikes and fog up windows waiting for the rain to stop. We can still hike...but is it worth ruining your hiking shoes and/or risking blisters or other complications associated with hiking around water?

Don’t worry, there’s hope! Enter: GORE-TEX Surround technology. GORE-TEX makes a lot of products, but in our circles, they’re better known for making a kick ass hiking boot. Their boot technology has helped people summit peaks like Mount Everest and complete the Pacific Crest Trail. When it comes to hiking, they’re the boots that you want on your feet. Which is why we were thrilled when they asked us to review their latest GORE-TEX Surround technology and boot collaboration with La Sportiva. The boot boasts being durable, waterproof AND 100% breathable....Crazy right? We had to put this to the test.

Whelp. We’re stumped. I was very hesitant to try this, as I have grown very fond of my new boots, but I put them on and dunked them into a bucket of water. NO water got in and my feet stayed dry and airy. We suspect magic, but it may just be #science.

Since then, they have accompanied me to Alderfer/Three Sisters Park and a couple of romps around the city. And in a week they will accompany me to Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia for a backpacking, camping and hiking trip. That’s how much I trust these puppies.

We’ve compiled a list of pros and cons to further assist your consumerism:

PROS: Waterproof, Breathable, Light weight, Hike longer and brave more elements, Comfortable

CONS: No ankle support in the La Sportiva model we received, but other modes and brands with the technology carry them.

Shop now: http://www.gore-tex.com/resources/goretex/static/en_US/surround/index.html

Hope to see you all on the trails when I get back. Surely by then it will be 14er season. Stay tuned for a list of our favorite hikes and our 14er monologues this summer!

 

Me on top of Mount Missouri last summer. We plan to hike around 10 this summer and chronicle our journey and provide tips for each mountain!

Me on top of Mount Missouri last summer. We plan to hike around 10 this summer and chronicle our journey and provide tips for each mountain!

GORE-TEX provided us with a pair of La Sportiva boots. All of the opinions in this article are my own.

Words: McClain Morris