Montrail Comp XCR

I chose these boots to take with me for my one pair of shoes/boots to Argentina. I replaced the insoles with green surefeet insoles (which I always do on any boots). The trails in the Andes were rough, muddy, deeply-muddy, a lot of rock talus slopes and on both dry days and wet ones, the boots gripped adequately even when shimmying boulders with packs on in rainy/snowy weather.

I would have preferred a Vibram sole but I am here, writing this review instead of there, rotting under a tree or a boulder, so that says something. I also wore the boots with strap-on crampons -- they worked fine for glacier-walking -- and I wore them through deep snow (with gaiters) and they stayed dry. I will add through knife like talus slopes and a couple days of volcanic pumice, not only the soles held, but the design of the boots kept the rock from piercing the fabric.

I had a backup pair of lightweight, Gore-tex fast trail-hiking boots (another brand) and they lost their waterproofness after one day on the talus slopes. The Montrails held up the entire trip and seem to be ready to go again!

Only comment: Montrail, please stick a Vibram sole on these and they would be MY perfect boot, and secondly, for crawling out of a crevasse with ice-axes and crampons, nothing beats a rigid boot/plastic boot. But for everything else, no complaints.