Slightly less than 35 years ago, Lou Whittaker climbed the North Face of Mt. Everest in New Balance Rainier Boots. It’s likely that his ability to do that was predicated on years of training and physical exertion and this wasn’t a Like Mike situation, but Rainier boots are nice boots and they come with some history, two things we have a hard time passing up. Since the first boot worked so well, New Balance didn’t feel a whole lot of pressure to make drastic changes. They made a few modern upgrades, so now the Rainier features things like lightweight leather, a running shoe style EVA wedge and midsole, a padded collar, and completely waterproof Gore-Tex lining, but anything that’s different is more an improvement on technology rather than a foundational change. At their sole, these are still the boots that reached the literal top of the world.
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