The Ultimate Apres Ski Boot

Nov 06, 2007  ·  12:06 PM  ·  permalink

These comfy-looking Vans shearling slip ons recently mentioned on the Goat got me thinking about one of my long-standing quests: the ultimate après ski boot. I don’t mean a boot for wearing to the lodge and impressing the ski bunnies. I mean a boot which, after seven hours of grueling work on the slopes, will make my feet happy. I have a few criteria which I’ve yet to see embodied in one boot:

• Slip-on: numb fingers fumbling with laces in a muddy parking lot will not fly.
• Warm and snuggly: when released from their prison of plastic and foam, I want to slide my feet into a hobbit hole of comfort.
• Suitable for walking in snow: should après ski munchies necessitate food-ambulation.
• Presentable: I would prefer prefer not to look like my feet were drawn by a child with a crayon.
• Flexible: I do not want vehicle operation to be hindered by feet straightjacketed in unwieldy galoshes of iron.

Is that too much to ask?!?

Here, then, is an overview of 18 boots I found surfing on the web which seemed to satisfy some of my criteria. I have “reviewed” them by the highly scientific method of, where possible, using factual information (such as weight and price) and, where impossible, just taking a wild-ass-guess and assigning a rating of between 1 and 5.

Camper	Pep Repelo (leather lining)	15	5	2	2	$193.95
Clarks	Kamet	16	3.5	3.5	3	$93.95
Columbia	Cascadian Crest (400g Thermolite insulation)	27.8	1	4	4	$73.95
Crocs	Mammoth (Faux fur lining)	100	-10	3	3	$45.95
DKNY	Nile	100	3.5	2	4	$161.06
Helly Hansen	Elg 2 (Profleece insulation)	100	4	2.5	3	$99.95
Hush Puppies	Pavilion (Sherpa lining)	23	4.5	4	3.5	$93.95
Kamik	Lunar (Faux fur lining)	100	1	3	3.5	$45.95
Keen	Dakota (Primaloft 200 gram insulation)	18.8	2	3	4	$120.95
Land’s End	Trello Boot (400-gram insulation and faux shearling lined sockliner)	100	2	4.5	4	$49.50
The North Face	Nuptse Bootie (700-fill down insulation)	23	1	4	3.5	$73.95
Puma	El Roo Mid (Faux fur lining)	16	4	3	1	$88.95
Salomon	Snow Clog 2 (Textile lining material)	18	1	2	4	$78.95
Sorel	Arapaho (200g Thinsulate insulation)	22	2	3	4	$73.95
Sorel	Timberwolf Pull-On (200g Thinsulate Insulation)	18	2.5	3	4	$88.95
Timberland	Winter Park (SmartWool lining)	9.8	3	4	4	$103.95
Tsubo	Warra	14	4	2	4	$143.95
Ugg	Beacon (Genuine sheepskin sockliner)	100	3	4.5	4	$178.95

Disagree with my evaluations? Got some info I missed? Did I miss the perfect boot? Tell me!

posted by: Jason Swihart

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