The older I get, the more I appreciate simplicity. At least simplicity that works. This appreciation is intensified immensely during family ski outings when the prospect of getting all of the required gear moved from the car to the lodge, and onto each of the children, becomes a daunting task for even the most experienced Sherpa. By the time the kids hit the powder, I’m already eyeing the upstairs bar. This is when the beauty of simplicity is most appreciated.
Muck’s Arctic Pro boots are a study in simplicity. No laces. No standing on the wet floor of the lodge in stocking feet. No hassle. Just slide the Mucks off and shove your feet into the ski boots. Nothing could be simpler – well, except for the ski boots part.
Don’t let that simplicity fool you, though. These boots are a far cry from your daddy’s rubber barn boots that you had to wear with four pairs of wool socks to prevent the onset of frostbite before you were halfway down the sledding hill. Designed to be worn in extreme conditions, the Arctic Pro models were created to handle temperatures of -60 degrees Fahrenheit. While most of us have enough sense to not test the limits of that temperature rating, the Arctic Pro’s 2mm of thermal foam and a fleece liner all wrapped with an insulated 8mm Neoprene upper don’t just create a warm foot, but a unbelievably comfortable one too. And while they might feel a little clunky while you get used to wearing them, the boots’ rubber outsole grabs onto the ice like nothing I’ve ever seen, delivering a much-appreciated level of confidence as you’re hauling all that gear across the frozen parking lot.
Available for $174.95 at muckbootcompany.com, the Artic Pro boots might just be the most overlooked, and undervalued, piece of skiing equipment that you’ll ever come across.
And Muck didn’t leave the ladies out in the cold, either. Available for $109.95 – in a seemingly unlimited assortment of colors and patterns – the women’s Hale Boots deliver the same warm, dry, comfortable feet in a package befitting the fairer sex. The Hale boots don’t have the same extreme level of insulation as the Arctic Pros but they are 100 percent waterproof, lightweight, and breathable, which means that they’re just as well suited for the garden as they are the ski lodge. Which is nice, because the only thing not simple about Muck boots is figuring out how to wear anything else.
