For easy hikes, easy access and for everyday life in winter, my La Sportiva mountain boots are really not suitable. Especially at longer distances on gravel or tar roads I notice the stiff sole clearly in the knees. My old, "light" Hanwag got recently given a couple new feet, so there was a shoe gap, which was to be filled.
A light, comfortable, inconspicuous lightweight hiking boots for easy to moderate hikes and approaches and for everyday life in autumn and winter it should be. After some research, I decided to do an extensive test of the Haglöfs Crag Hi GT, which met my theoretical requirements quite well.
The theory: my requirements
An old rule says: 100 grams of weight savings on the feet cause about as much as a lighter by 500 grams backpack. The approximate difference of 400g between the Crag Hi GT (1440g) and the LaSportiva Trango Alp (1850g) adds up to 2 kilograms, which I do not need to lug around with me. Of course, there are also lighter outdoor shoes, such as the popular Trailrunners or Approach Shoes, In these "sneakers" I would not feel very comfortable in the mountains, because I do not trust my ankles or the ligaments to cope with a sudden kinking. Here, for me, the safety of a high shaft.
Much has been written about the sense and nonsense of using watertight but water vapor permeable membranes. But just the point that such membranes can only work at a certain temperature difference is particularly important when buying shoes. For a summer shoe or desert boots makes a membrane makes no sense and you are much worse off than in my chosen area of application "autumn and winter" - here, a membrane can show their strengths and promises warm and dry feet.
The practice: first impressions, workmanship and fit
processing
The shoe is clean, all seams clean and straight, nowhere to see splices. The upper made of polyamide fabric and suede is water-repellent and permeable to water vapor. The rubber-reinforced scree protection on the heel and toe area protects the upper material in the most stressed areas.
fit
The first time I got dressed the quite big toe box surprised me. After a few steps, however, my fears were relativized: nothing slips, nothing pushes. The lacing can also be adapted quite well to my pretty high instep, so the shoe fits like a glove and the toes still have enough space - which is especially important when going downhill.
The half-high boots are tight around the ankle and thus just enough protection against the kinking. However, the short shaft also has the disadvantage that it comes along a bit stiff when walking and - presses on my feet - above the inner malleolus. After a few days of wearing time, however, the initial unpleasant pressure completely disappeared.
The sole is a little stiffer than used by light-hiking boots and offers quite good control in light climbs, but the roll-off does not suffer.
footbed
After unpacking immediately falls on the special insole: the SOLE footbed, By heating, either two minutes in the oven at 90 ° or while walking, the footbed adapts to the foot to help, for example, optimize weight transfer to the sole of the foot and correct minor misalignments and avoid associated pain.
My impression: comfortable is such a custom footbed in any case, but whether it actually holds what it promises, I can not really judge. I'm afraid that a direct comparison test with normal insoles would be leveled by other factors such as the current day shape.
Conclusion
Conclusion after one Weekend in the Alpstein: actually a good shoe, but: of the advertised "excellent slip resistance by friction rubber" of the rubber sole is unfortunately not much left in the combination of cold and wet. Compared to the La Sportiva and also to my old Hanwag the traction under these, on the mountain but quite normal, conditions significantly worse! After several fortunately safe slips on wet rock at about 10 ° outside temperature was the joy of this otherwise immaculate shoe but very clouded.
If I want to rely on something in a shoe, then these are two points: stabilization support and excellent grip under (almost) all conditions.
Unfortunately, the Haglöfs Hi GT is unusable due to its sole for more demanding undertakings from T3 - and actually oversized for everything under it.