The shoe business

One of the major problems of an Arctic expedition is keeping the fingers and toes warm. In cold conditions, blood circulation to these parts is severely reduced, often leading to frostbite. That’s the last thing we want to experience on this trip, and that is why we paid much attention to securing the most suited shoes for us.

Among the five bi-pedal expedition members (our dog Andree doesn’t wear shoes) we will be using three different approaches. One is Ulli’s monster boot from Alfa (with a shoes size over 50), made famous by Borge Ousland and the 3 girls from Jenter-pa-langs. Mats and Hella opted for the traditional Varg Polar approach, a leather skiing boot with a woolen inner sole. The youngsters on the trip, Lucas and Kim, became shoe brothers by using Crispi’s Top expedition boot. The newer model that Kim will be using was kindly lent to us by Acron, the importer of Crispi products in the Czech Republic. Thanks!

The Crispi Top expedition boot fits firmly into our telemark bindings, is super-warm (we’ve both been walking around the town with them and it’s as good as a skidoo boot in terms of insulation) and provides good ankle support when kiting or downhill skiing. After the expedition, a comprehensive test of the boots will be available through our media partner Svet Outdooru.

Kim