My light trail runners have taken me everywhere lately, and in suprising comfort considering. But there are some tasks where I push them into work they are not designed for and I could use an upgrade. When snowshoeing, they dont protect my feet from the heavy snowshoe straps and the light mesh lets alot of snow build up inside the material. On moderate angle snow slopes, I need lateral ankle support for snowshoeing and light crampon work. When scrambling and canyoneering I need stickier lugs for wet rock. In the desert, the light mesh and low profile design lets in a ton of dirt.
Now this might sound like alot for a single shoe to do, but I'm pretty good about compromising (easy when you're broke), and after some thought, I think the following changes will do the trick.
mid height (keep snow/dust/scree out. support/protect ankles for crampon/snowshoe work)
tight weave fabric to shed snow/dust (decent breathability required, not waterproof)
sticky lugs for slippery snow and wet class 4 rock
Still light, not a stiff boot
The inov-8 286 seems perfect but I cant find it anywhere. Salomon XA also good but they dont come in size 14. Most everything else I see is "breathable" with a very open mesh, or "waterproof", but I'm not finding a good in-between.
