Ed and I are in Toronto for the Christmas holidays, and today we ventured out for a walk south along Etobicoke Creek, through Marie Curtis Park, east along Lake Promenade Drive, north up 32nd street to Horner, then back up Westmead to where we parked the rental car.
Our walk was about 9 kilometers in all, and it would have perfect had Ed been wearing boots that weren’t so darned dangerous on the slippery sections.
Most of our route was covered with snow and ice. Every so often one of his feet would suddenly dart out from under him, and there would be a mighty flailing of arms while he struggled to remain upright.
These epidsodes gave me visions of broken hips, cracked ribs and bloody noses while I wondered how the heck I would manage to get help to the ravine quickly if he landed on and broke his cell phone in the fall.
Fortunately, nothing got broken and help wasn’t necessary, but you gotta wonder why all boot manufacturers don’t (or won’t) make all winter boots with soles that actually stick to snow and have a little bit of traction on ice.
I say ‘all boot manufacturers’ because the Rohde boots that I was wearing are perfect in slippery conditions. Not only do they stick like glue on slick snow, but they’re enormously comfortable too (as is all Rohde footwear)!
Interestingly enough, the Rhode boot that I wore is called “Crash” and is a style that has been available for a few years… i.e. it’s so good they keep making it. The description of the Rohde Crash boot (Style: 2862-64) is as follows:
The PU outsoles are Non-slip and durable. The comfortable lining maintains warmth, and provides comfort. Uppers are made from durable textile materials. Features the Rohde water-resistant Sympatex technology. Constructed using the PVC Direct Injection system, which maximizes durability.
Rohde footwear is manufactured in Germany and sadly isn’t available at Zappos. It is available however in Toronto at Walking on a Cloud at Cloverdale Mall, which interesting enough, is the second site that shows up when you search for ‘Rohde’ on Google. The ‘stocklist’ feature on the main Rohde site which should provide a list of distributors apparently does not work — but my German is so slecht that I can’t be sure if that’s actually the case, or whether they’ve given that particular feature the boot. 🙂
We don’t get much snow where we live now, but your article brough back many happy memories of walks we used to do in when we lived in England.
Those boots seem to be just the biscuit for walking on slippery conditions.
I’m going email your article to friends we have over in Britain.. I’m sure they would love to have great footwear like that.
Hi Dave,
Good to hear that you enjoyed your snowy walks… I love them too, and right now it’s snowing to beat the band in Toronto. Hurray! 🙂
I hope your friends can access the Rohde boots easily where they live.
Cheers,
Ros
Rosalind – thanks for this. My daughter is going skiing this month and I need to get her some boots. Hopefully these will be readily available here in the UK.