This is the second pair of Vasque boots I’ve reviewed and I’m quickly becoming a fan.
The Eriksson GTX has all the elements I look for in an all round tramping boot. Great high ankle support, a rubber toe rand to protect the leather from all that broken Southern Alps greywacke and a Gore-Tex liner that means by the end of the day your socks aren’t swimming in sweat.
According to Vasque, the sole is a three part midsole that ‘utilises EVA, PU and TPU to strike a balance between underfoot comfort and stability’. It sounds like Vasque employs NASA to write their marketing literature. All I know from testing in numerous up and down jaunts around the Wanaka hills is that this boot has the best ankle support, cushion and heal strike of any boot I’ve worn – by quite a large margin. It makes a huge difference in managing loads on your joints during a hard day’s tramping. For this fact alone, the Eriksson GTX will be top of my list when looking for a replacement pair of boots.
The leather upper is 2.2mm. Minor complaints of the upper boot are that the laces are only just long enough (3-5cm short of ideal) and I wasn’t a fan of the top three lacing hooks that didn’t seem as well matched to the laces as other systems I’ve used. On a boot of this quality, it should be something that Vasque take a second look at, as they are 98 per cent there to attaining perfection.
The Eriksson GTX is a boot that is suited to all but the hardest trans-alpine tramping trips. It’s not stiff enough in the sole for harder trips involving extended crampon use, but it’s not designed for that.
What it is designed for is to be the best on-trail boot around in a market where there is no shortage of choice. I think it just might be, but I’m going to keep wearing these a little longer to find out.