Berghaus Explorer Triplicated For Spring '09

More newness for spring/summer 2009 with a recap on the news that Berghaus has updated its classic Explorer boot with the current single model becoming no less than three Explorers for this year.

The old fabric Explorer was one of Berghaus's biggest selling walking boots and the new ones take the same out of the box comfort and spreads it around a bit. That means there's a leather version, a fabric and suede version and a lighweight version for gramme watchers.

Explorer Ridge - SRP £100

The new Ridge uses a high quality leather upper with a Gore-Tex membrane handling waterproofing duties. It has the same cushioned Asylum sole unit as the current Explorer making it ideal for walking on all sorts of surfaces, but Berghaus has made the last 3mm deeper so the fit should work better for the classic high volume British foot.

Explorer Trek GTX - SRP £90

Berghaus describes the Trek as 'a classic fell walking boot, engineered for optimum performance'. It's a Gore-Tex lined suede affair  which uses the EHS - erm, Ergonomic Holding System - to keep the foot in place on uneven ground.


The Trek and the Ridge both weigh in at around 600 grammes for a size 42, so really you have a choice between leather and fabric / suede.

Explorer Light - SRP £85

Finally there's the Explorer Light, which as the name suggests is lighter than the other two variants. It uses the same sole unit and PU cushioning but has an XCR liner to cope with warmer conditions and weighs around 70 grammes per pair less than either the Trek or Ridge.

Men's And Women's Versions

All three models come in men's and women's versions with fit designed to suit different gender characterics - women generally have slimmer feet and narrower ankles. We've found the fit on Berghaus boots has improved immeasurably over the past couple of years thanks to revised and more sophisticated lasts.

The new Explorer range of boots hits the shops in March 2009 and should be well worth a look thanks to the increased internal volume. We also rather like the neat tongue embroidery, so call us shallow...