On a recent visit to Camp de Souge I was able to examine the new French Army Chaussure de Montagne Cramponnable (CdMC) from LOWA, writes Bob Morrison.
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The Chaussure de Montagne Cramponnable (literally Cramponable Mountain Shoe) model, produced by Bavarian footwear company LOWA for the French Armed Forces, is a mountain combat boot designed primarily for long periods of wear at high altitude in ice and snow. At time of writing it is not available for private purchase and so a civvy spec sheet is unavailable.
[© Bob Morrison]
When I first spotted this boot I presumed it to be a derivative of LOWA’s commercially available and popular Tibet Evo GTX mountaineering boot but, although there are certainly some similarities, this is definitely a completely different design. Of leather and textile uppers configuration, the leather portions of the CdMC are a little more skeletal than those of the Tibet and the adjustable lacing system has a different combination of eyelets and closed / open hooks to provide the required foot and ankle support for those wearing crampons. To allow the latter to be worn, the toe rise is less pronounced and also the substantial protective rubber rand is much higher at the heel. As is to be expected, the Vibram outsole chosen for this boot has wide tread blocks to allow self-cleaning of snow and ice, and naturally a Gore-Tex insulated waterproof lining ‘sock’ is part of the construction. Both collar and tongue are well padded.
At present I have no immediate plans to go on assignment to either the Alps or the High North (though I never say never) and I suspect this particular design is only likely to be produced for specialist Alpine military users, so I have not tried to blag a pair for review. Although I haven’t worn it, everything about the LOWA CdMC suggests it has been well designed and I suspect it will prove popular with those users lucky enough to receive it as an issue boot.
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