Great solid boot for serious hiking/mild to moderate mountaineering. Construction and materials are well made and excellently assembled - so far both rubber sole and leather uppers are proving very durable. The half shank allows a little flex around the ball of the foot but otherwise semi rigid. Most synthetic boots I've tried seem to flex around the ankle a lot more and are not as supportive so any weight disadvantages are outweighed by the increase in support. I do NOT have the GoreTex version but the rubber rand and the thickness of the leather uppers have prevented my feet from ever getting wet. Coupled with good gaiters which are worn in many situations anyway helps. If you are planning on using this for more than mild mountaineering, get a proper mountaineering boot with a waterproofing system incorporated and that can handle more crampon options as these do NOT have a front welt for crampon bail, although the rear DOES.

Great boot, good for back packing and can handle some serious scrambling. the only drawback is the weight. I have put almos 800 miles on mine and there still going strong.

great all-around mountaineering boot, very light.