Snowboarders across the country are already starting to salivate at the prospect of the coming season, especially here in Portland where Mt. Hood looms tantalizingly in the distance.
In preparation for the coming season, Portland’s own Danner Boots has teamed up with two names that have become major fixtures in snowboarding world: Burton and Mountain Dew.
The Burton X Danner Snowboard Boot ($399.95) channels Danner’s iconic leather upper and traditional lacing with the high top ankle support of a snowboard boot. Match it with some denim snowboard pants and you’ll look like you stepped off the construction site and couldn’t spare the time to change before hitting the powder. The boots also feature a Vibram Ecostep Rubber Outsole to keep your grip even on the iciest of walks. Inside, reflective foil uses your own body heat to keep your toes toasty.
For those who’d rather stay on their own two feet, Danner teamed up with Mountain Dew and pro-snowboarder Danny Davis to create the Mountain Pass Danny Davis boot ($380) as part of the Mountain Dew Green Label Exclusives (GLX) series, which brings together artists, athletes, and brands to create one-off lifestyle products you won’t find anywhere else.
For being a Mountain Dew collaboration, the Mountain Pass boots are surprisingly restrained. There’s no “Do the Dew” or irradiated green color scheme: a traditional, raw leather upper is combined with a dark sole, while hunter green laces provide just the right amount of pop. Danner also embossed “Danny” on the tongue for a subtle nod to the legendary snowboarder. The boot liner is made from waterproof and insulated GORE-TEX, which is exactly what you want for a day in the snow.
Danner has been making top-notch boots here in Oregon since 1936 and their commitment to quality products is what has kept them in business so long. Burton hasn’t been around quite as long, having been founded in 1977, but the company is responsible for guiding the burgeoning extreme sport of snowboarding to the level it has attained today. When it started, snowboarding was mostly seen as a pastime for broke hooligans. Today, riders compete on the world’s most prestigious athletic stage: the Winter Olympics.
Mountain Dew has curated an extreme sports image for years, but they really put their money on the table by founding the Dew Tour in 2005. In 2014, the event served as the winter qualifier for the Olympics in Snowboarding.
With three brands as diverse as these coming together, these Danner and Burton boots were never going to be anything if not unique. These limited edition looks are bound to get picked up fast.
