User Review: The North Face Jasper Canyon GTX

The North Face Jasper Canyon GTX
Above: The current Jasper Canyon GTX, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed March 12, 2008 by Don Bedrick

Rating:
Materials: leather, nylon
Use: hiking
Break-in Period: 1/2 day
Weight: unknown
Price Paid: $128

As with other North Face products, I'd give their idea people 5 stars and their construction and quality control 1.5 at best.

The Jasper Canyon is a good lightweight yet supportive boot with excellent fit (roomy toe box, the heel can be snugged up nicely, moderate arch support), good traction and good water repellency (in my experience there's no such thing as waterproof Gore-tex).

As for quality, it has weak stitching, bad gluing and the fabric tongue gusset tends to wad up in uncomfortable lumps. They could save money by deleting the silly little logo in the window and spend it on stronger thread and double stitching more seams. The sole on my pair wasn't glued all the way to the edge in places. The lace hooks don't line up (not really a durability issue but it looks cheap).

In short, I could get a boot that lasts longer from Wal-mart for $30. They're designed for scrambling around all sorts of rough terrain but a walk in the park might wreck 'em.