Garmont Pinnacle First Look

Garmont Pinnacle First Look

Price: £120.00

Weight: 1776 grammes (men's 42.5)

Features: Boot grade C1, 2.8mm heavy suede upper, Tesivel lining, Nylon with fibreglass insole, Dual Frame fibreglass frame, Vibram Duo Mont sole, Nylon crampon insert at heel.

It's a boot testing nightmare - grabbing a pair of stiff, four-season boots straight out of the box, then being dragged onto the hill by Plas y Brenin's finest for a three-hour scramble / walk up the North Ridge of Tryfan. And by the end of it, my feet were blistered, bleeding stumps...

Flexier than it looks, but with great lateral stiffnes making for reassuring stability

Erm, except that they weren't. In fact the OUTDOORSmagic test foot was still in A1 condition, which was pretty impressive really, given that Garmont's Pinnacle is part of their 'Mountain' range and designed for crampon compatibility and heavy duty backpacking use.

The Pinnacle uses a fibreglass insole and stiffener designed to give enough stiffness for crampons and a high degree of lateral stability - Garmont's stiffer technical mountain boots have a totally rigid carbon shank by the way. Uppers are thick suede, and this year's model also gets beffy protective rubber rands at toe and heel. Lacing uses ball-bearing fittings for slick tightening, but also give under pressure when the lace can slide more easily, say Garmont.

Which is all very well, but they did feel stiff at first acquaintance. Good for scrambling, not so hot for comfort we reckoned. Which made the rapid break-in a bit of a surprise. Decent internal padding - including asymetric ankle bone pads - helps, but the key was a combination of the soft, high ankle cuff and a sole that flexed enough lengthways to minimise heel lift and - for us - had an ideal flex point in line with the main toe joints.

On Tryfan's wet, slippery rock, the Vibram sole did it's usual reliable rock gripping gig, while tremendous lateral stability made edging on smaller holds a doddle. Very impressive, albeit stiffer than we'd usually bother with for a grade one scramble.

Descending the South Ridge of Tryfan - rocky ground puts stability and grip at a premiium

Also positive was the walk off via Llyn Bochlwyd down to Ogwen. The torrential rain had given in for the afternoon, but on wet, boggy grass and rocy paths both stability and grip were good. The boot stayed watertight too, even without a liner - there is a GTX version, but it's not being imported to the UK, but the combination of rand and treated leather works well, at least when new.

There's not much forefoot cushioning, but that's par for the course with this type of boot, though there is some built-in impact absorption in the heel. The proof is in the wearing and, on first impressions, this looks like an excellent workhorse winter all rounder.

Verdict: Well made and comfortable virtually out of the box, the combination of longitudinal flex and great lateral stability plus a supportive ankle make the Pinnacle a very stable mountain boot that will take a C1 crampon and should cope well with heavy backpacking loads. On first take, water resistance and grip both seem excellent and overall build quality feels great too. Fit is slightly lower volume than Karrimor's UK-friendly KSB last, but worked well for the typically British OUTDOORSmagic test foot. Would also cope with scrambles and easy grade winter mountaineering, though not with sustained front pointing. Full test to follow.

Garmont web site

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