Clothing

Steger Mukluks

Very warm feet

Ya-shure, winter in Minnesota is cold and dry –and sometimes sunny and lovely. It can be a blast if you know how to get out and tromp around. As a non-native it took me 30 years to learn what to wear up here. Don’t wait that long. Here’s a key to Minnesota winter survival: Steger Mukluks. I cry when I think about the first time I put on a pair of these. Lightweight, warm, and comfortable — at minus 20F! It’s an incredible feeling of winter freedom. Like wearing your favorite bedroom slippers as you hike over the tundra, all day long. I rarely take them off once I hike to the office.

Steger and company, and the original Inuit designers, should be blessed by the Pope for finding a cure for frozen feet. The secret is in the soft (moosehide) sole which allows nerve endings in the feet to be constantly stimulated by movement, so more warm blood goes to that area.

My favorite style is the Arctic Weathermate which has “traveled to both the North Pole and South Pole on the feet of expeditioneers and others.” At $180, they’re well worth it. I’m thinking of getting a shorter, moccasin style, too. Get the right size by sending a tracing of your foot up to Ely, MN. The crew there is fantastic.

-- Ann Potter 02/17/04

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