Scarpa Moraine Polar GTX Mids are Primaloft-insulated winter hiking boots compatible with all types of traction aids and snowshoes. They’re waterproof with Gore-tex liners and nubuck outers, a rigid toe box, and a toothy outsole that provides good traction on rock and snow. While they’re warm and great for winter hiking, they lack the “technical” features found on mainstream winter hiking boots such as gaiter rings or heel ridges to help secure snowshoe straps. Despite that, they are quite solid boots and will appeal to hikers who prefer a more rigid midsole and outsole than is currently available on popular winter hiking boots.
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- Gender: Men’s (Women’s available)
- Insulation: Primaloft Pure
- Upper: Nubuck
- Weight: 2 lb 12 oz /pair (size US 10.5M, EU 44)
- Wide Widths: No
- Sizing: True to size, slightly wide
- Made in: Vietnam
Insulation
The Moraine is insulated with Primaloft Pure but Scarpa doesn’t provide any guidance on how much insulation is in these boots and they don’t provide a temperature rating for them. This makes it hard for consumers to know how warm they are or compare them against other insulated winter mids that use more mainstream insulation like 200g Thinsulate. I’ve raised this issue with Scarpa, but I don’t have any hope of getting a useful response. Here’s what I can tell you based on my experience using these boots: they are warm as soon as you put your feet into them, even without hiking for a while. They’re also warmer than many 200g Thinsulate boots I’ve used, but that’s a very subjective observation.
Most insulated winter mids are good down to about 10 degrees (F) if you’re actively hiking and not standing around. This is as much a function of the height of the boot as the thickness of the insulation used in it (it’s why 400g Thinsulate boots that extend much faster up the calf are so much warmer.) Since it pays to be conservative for cold weather hiking, I’d treat the Moraine Polar GTX as equivalent to 200g Thinsulate insulated mids, if you’re trying to compare them to other alternatives.
Rigidity – Outsole and Toe Box
Scarpa makes a lot of boots, including mountaineering boots with rigid outsoles and toe boxes that are suitable for full mountaineering crampons. The outsoles and toe box of the Moraine Polar GTX boots are considerably more rigid than the outsoles and toe boxes of other popular insulated winter mids from Oboz or KEEN. But they’re not as rigid as those found on true mountaineering boots and I’d still treat them as soft-soled boots. This has ramifications for the traction aids you’ll use them with.
Traction Aid Compatability
If you need traction on a winter hike, you’re going to be carrying and using one or more of the following traction aids that are compatible with soft-soled footwear.
The Moraine Polar GTX works very well with all of the traction aids you might use with soft-soled boots.
- Hillsound Trail Crampons: The rigid Moraine Polar GTX toebox is not compressed by the elastomer harness. That’s optimal.
- Kahtoola K10 Crampon. The K10 rear binding works best with a perpendicular-shaped outsole, like those on the Moraine Polar GTX. The front binding also works well over the toebox.
- Hillsound Trail Crampon Pro. The fit of the rear binding of Trail Crampon Pro is slightly better than the K10, because it’s taller. These are also optimal.
- Grivel G1 Crampon: Fully compatible, for the same reasons as above.
Technical Features
As noted above, the Moraine Polar GTX does not have a gaiter ring or extended heel ridge to hold snowshoes in place. Neither of those are must-haves if you like these boots and they fit you. They do have an arch to run a gaiter strap, which is something many other insulated mids lack.
The Morraine Polar GTX also has a RECCO reflector, which is a rescue device used to help locate avalanche victims and lost skiers on ski mountains, primarily in Europe. It reflects search beams broadcast by search and rescue helicopters but is useless if you’re someplace where the helicopters aren’t equipped with emitters (which is most places).
Comparable Winter Hiking Boots
Recommendation
The Scarpa Morraine Polar GTX is a warm insulated mid-hiking boot suitable for winter hiking and snowshoeing. It has a more conventional and rigid outsole and toe box than comparable 200g Thinsulate insulated mid-hiking boots making it well suited for use with winter action aids. If you want a warm winter hiking mid that performs like a cross between a soft-soled insulated mid and a mountaineering boot, the Scarpa Moraine Polar GTX is a good choice.
Disclosure: Scarpa donated boots for review.
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