WHAT BOOTS TO BUY FOR YOUR NEEDS?

The Outdoors today covers everything from leisure time and travel, to hiking and walking, to long trekking trips and the broad spectrum that is mountaineering. Alfons Meindl started classifying his boots into a series of categories, A–D, in 1975. The aim of this classification is to ensure that you get the right boot for your needs. This system has been refined over the years and a number of intermediary categories have been introduced.

Category	Activity		Trail
	leisure time daily use travel		good paths parks and daily walks
	easy hikes on level ground or low level hills		marked paths and low level routes
	demanding hikes in the low level mountains easy trekking trips in the major mountain ranges of the world		marked mountain paths
	demanding trekking extended hikes in the high mountains		poor mountain paths scree fixed rope routes
	trips to the high mountains glacier walking		glaciers unmarked routes scree climbing routes
	fully crampon compatible boots		trackless areas glaciers ice ice climbing