Vasque Coldspark Ultradry
Best value boot
Our take If you don’t want to decide between cold feet and pricey insulated boots, go with the Coldspark Ultradry. Its cost-to-warmth ratio is best in test. Vasque ditched standard lofted insulation in favor of a reflective barrier that acts like a space blanket (and helps lower the cost): “Everyone else in my party had freezing toes, but mine felt great,” one tester said after summitting Washington’s 5,747-foot Mt. McCausland in 15°F temps. In milder weather, the Coldspark Ultradry proved breathable up to around 55°F.
The details Thanks to the EVA midsole and an arch-only TPU shank, our tester easily humped a 30-pound pack on a three-night trip in Olympic National Park. The flexible leather-and-mesh upper molded to our feet, but one tester felt the toebox lacked stiffness: “I got hot spots on my toes when I cinched down my snowshoe bindings,” she says. Ding: We experienced some slight peeling on the rand after only 85 miles.
Trail cred “This boot is so light and nimble that I felt like I was snowshoeing in trail runners,” our Washington tester says.
2 lbs. 4 oz.; m’s 7-14, w’s 6-11