Picture a traverse of the Brenta. This range above Madonna di Campiglio is a world of its own – rock towers, scree gullies and small glaciers. And right across the Brenta runs one of the oldest protected climbing routes: the Via delle Bocchette. If you want to cross the whole range from north to south, it'll take you at least 4 days, during which you never drop below 2,200 metres, with climbing on rock and ladders, steep descents over scree and several glaciers and snowfields along the way.
You could set off in ankle-high hiking boots. They'll be fine on snow and scree. But climbing the via ferrata up to 3,000 metres on Spallone dei Massodi in them gets tiresome. So do the 150 metres of ladders on the Sentiero Oliva Detassis. Then again, you're hardly going to carry a second pair of shoes for four days in the mountains. And that's exactly the kind of trip the Asolo Freney Low GV is made for.
These low trekking shoes – or approach shoes, or via ferrata shoes if you prefer – are derived from Asolo's featherweight mountaineering boots, the Freney XT. In fact they share almost the same construction; they just lack the high cuff and the rear crampon welt. Otherwise they keep the beefy rubber rand all the way round and the maintenance-free Kevlar fabric from Schoeller.
And it's these two things that turn the Asolo Freney Low GV into a tank that scree fields or sharp limestone certainly won't hurt. Add a waterproof Gore-Tex® membrane and you can move straight onto a snowfield and carry on to the seemingly unreachable Bocca d' Ambiez pass at almost 2,900 metres above sea level.
Before you reach the pass, though, there are several protected climbing sections. Naturally, this is home turf for the Asolo Freney Low GV. The soft Vibram® Mulaz sole grips even on small footholds, and thanks to lacing that runs right down to the toe you get a completely different feel for the rock than in heavy hiking boots.
But what the soft sole gives you on rock, it pays for on strolls through the streets of Madonna di Campiglio – walking on tarmac shortens its life. That's simply the price of grip.
Next comes a steep descent down a glacial moraine. In early summer it's usually still under snow, which you can happily slide down. But by August and September there's often just ice covered in stones and fine scree. You have to pick your line carefully, but the hiking-boot tread and sturdy construction of the Asolo Freney Low GV will keep you steady in these neck-breaking moments. Then it's just a matter of hopping across boulders that the glacier diligently dumped here over thousands of years, and soon you're kicking off your shoes on a little meadow above the Rifugio Brentei hut. And tomorrow morning, heading back down to the valley, you'll skip over roots and rocks as nimbly as a chamois – 490 grams is a breeze.
The Brenta is behind you. Without a single pang of longing for high boots. So where next in the Asolo Freney Low GV? A similar trip springs to mind – crossing the Julian Alps from Vršič to Triglav. Or climbing the Johann via ferrata up the Dachstein. Really, they suit any trip that promises genuine mountain conditions – rugged paths, climbing sections, protected routes, the odd snowfield or small glacier. That's why I also took them for two weeks in Kyrgyzstan.
