We all know the old hiker’s adage: look after your feet, and your feet will look after you. Yet, how many of us have stubbornly pushed through a hike with a nagging blister, a crushed toe, or aching arches, convincing ourselves that our boots just need a little more “breaking in”?
Recently, I found myself in the market for a new pair of hiking boots. Instead of just picking my usual brand off the shelf and hoping for the best, I decided to do it properly.
I headed into the Ellis Brigham store in Keswick, I had seen rave reviews and made it a stop on my latest trip in the heart of the Lake District, to try their specialist boot fitting and podiatry service.
To say it was a revelation really would be an understatement. It was excellent from start to finish.
The Science of the Step
When you walk into an outdoor gear store, it’s easy to be distracted by the aesthetics of the boots—the rugged leather, the vibrant synthetics, the promise of Gore-Tex.
Call me old fashioned, but I have been stuck for years in the loop of wanting good old leather boots, knowing my size, and buying a pair, a great pair perhaps, off the shelf. I could easily of done that again…..
But the team at Ellis Brigham immediately shifted the focus from the boots to the biomechanics of my feet.
The process didn’t start with me pointing at a wall of footwear. Instead, it started with a thorough assessment.
Before I start, one of the things I loved about the experience is, yes the customer knows their budget and needs, so the system here is not to push to buy the expensive or flashy boots, but to give you a big choice for the boot you need for your feet and to give you so many miles of comfortable hiking.
The staff took the time to do a series of tests, carefully looking at my natural stance and analyzing my gait. It felt less like a retail experience and more like a consultation with a specialist.
I stood on what I could see was a magnificent machine and it went way beyond measuring the size of each foot and mapping its contours.
They looked at how my weight was distributed, how my arches behaved under pressure, and how my foot naturally moved through a walking stride. It turns out, there is a lot going on down there that a standard “sit-and-measure” simply doesn’t catch.
The image of how I apply pressure on my feet explains a lot. I walk on the outside of my feet and the inner part does not touch the ground. Explains why the outside of my soles take a hammering faster than most people.
I enjoyed hearing the explanation of why this then has a knock on effect to my legs and thighs and why I get strains. I didn’t need extra leg days in the gym.
I needed the right boots, the right insoles and the right depth of heel lifts to get the whole of my feet doing the work and the benefit will be to my whole body not just my feet.
Trial, Error, and Expertise
Once they had a map of exactly what my feet needed, the fun part began. Armed with the knowledge of my gait and stance, the great experts here brought out several options.
This is where the expertise of the Ellis Brigham staff truly shone.
They guided me through trying various types of boots, explaining why certain shapes and rigidities were reacting the way they did with my feet.
We went up and down the rocky test ramps, around the store, up and down stairs, checking for heel lift and toe-strike.
The Unexpected Perfect Match
If you’ve been hiking for a while, you naturally develop a bias. You think you know what brand works for you, or whether you prefer a stiff leather boot over a lightweight synthetic one.
As I said I was always stuck in a leather boot mindset myself.
The biggest surprise of the day? The boots I ended up walking away with were the Scarpa Zodiac TRK GTX.
Left to my own devices, I would have bypassed them completely.
They are a highly technical, B1-rated trekking boot that looks like it belongs on a rocky alpine ridge rather than a standard trail.
But once they were on my feet, paired with a custom set of insoles the fitter recommended to support my specific gait, the difference was night and day.
Thanks to the boot’s adaptive sole system—which they explained allows the heel and toe to adapt to uneven ground for incredible stability—and that snug, sock-like upper, they felt like an absolute extension of my foot.
They are supportive in all the right places, incredibly secure, and surprisingly comfortable despite their ruggedness.
They felt like an absolute extension of my foot—supportive in all the right places, secure, and incredibly comfortable.
Like I said earlier. The brand and looks and choice of boot came after looking at the choices that were right for me specifically.
Final Thoughts
Investing in a new pair of boots is a big decision for any hiker, and having a pair that works seamlessly with your natural biomechanics makes every mile on the fells infinitely more enjoyable.
If you find yourself in Keswick and you’re in the market for new footwear, I highly recommend taking the time to use the boot fitting and podiatry service at Ellis Brigham.
Step away from the brands you think you need, trust the experts, let them analyze your stride, and you might just walk out with the best pair of boots you’ve ever owned.
Now, time to get these dusty on the fells!
