Over the years I have tested many different Hi-Tec hiking boots. To date I am yet to try a pair I didn’t like. When I booked my November 2022 trip to Nepal, I asked Hi-Tec if they would like me to test a boot for them on this route, and they sent me a pair of Hi-Tec Altitude V Ultra 1 WP Wide to try out.

I usually would opt for trail shoes on a trip like this, but decided to use boots for two reasons:
1. Boots are better for keeping your feet warm.
2. Snow was always possible, and trail shoes don’t perform well in snow.

As it turns out, the 15 days over which my 275 of hiking was spread all included perfect weather – but I’d rather be prepared for bad weather and get perfect weather than be prepared for perfect weather and have 15 days of rain!

Testing completed in the boots

I have used the boots on three different hikes to date, aside from wearing them in around town beforehand:
1. Baneiseng (3360m) in Lesotho
2. The Three Passes Circuit in the Everest Region of Nepal
3. Annapurna Basecamp

With 300km of testing, including over 18km of elevation gain and loss, and altitudes above 5500m – I would say I know these boots pretty well by now!

Comfort

One of the most important aspects of any boot, especially for a long hike, is comfort. This is best quantified in number of blisters. Over the duration of these hikes, I only had one blister, which was on the bottom of my foot. Usually with longer hikes you will accumulate the odd blister due to wear on the feet more than anything else – so this not a major concern. It formed near the end of the hike, on one of the longest days.

Overall I was very happy with the padding the shoes provide.

One comfort related aspect, which is common across waterproof shoes, is that breathability isn’t great. This means your feet to get sweaty after a long day. This is easily remedied by simply taking your shoes off once or twice a day and allowing your feet to breathe a bit – which is usually a good idea in any case.

Weight

At 650g per shoe (size 9), the shoes are slightly lighter than their predecessors. Hiking boots are always heavier than trail shoes for obvious reasons – a good comfortable trail shoe would be around 350g per shoe, although a weight comparison between a non-waterproof trail shoe and waterproof hiking boots is meaningless. I didn’t feel like this bit of extra weight constituted a hindrance, the shoes never felt heavy.

Durability

To date I have never managed to wear out a pair of Hi-Tec hiking boots. This is partly due to the fact that I have been sent so many pairs that I generally have given them away before they get too old, and also partly due to the fact that I don’t primarily use boots for hiking – but over 300km in this pair is still looking great. I’d imagine I would easily get over 1000km out of a pair like this.

The shoelaces on my pair do require replacement, as one has become partly desheathed. This is not a major problem, the laces still work fine – and is easy to fix.

Grip

There are times in the mountains where your life might depend on how well your shoes stick to the surface you are on. There are certain surfaces where no shoe has grip – mud or ice, for example – but I found these shoes to grip really well on rock and general trail.

On Cho La Pass I had to cross a glacier. This required roughly 650m of walking on ice. I had brought some micro-spikes for the purpose, and the shoes performed perfectly to get me across this technical ground.

Waterproofing

While I had about an hour of rain during my Baneiseng hike, I had perfect weather without a drop of precipitation during my Nepal travels. As a result, I haven’t had a proper test of these shoes in wet conditions and therefore can’t provide feedback on their performance in wet conditions.

Overall

I was very happy with my shoe choice for this adventure. I first tested a pair of Hi-Tec Altitudes in 2014 and they were great boots at the time. In the 8 years that have followed, the reduction in weight and minor modifications to the design and improved soles for better grip have all come together to create a really good hiking boot!