Winter Boot Review: LOWA Alba III by Lisa Ballard

Did you know that frostbite is, ironically, similar to a burn? There’s first degree, in which the skin turns red and tender after the stinging subsides; second degree, in which the skin blisters; and third degree, in which the skin turns black, similar to getting charred.

I’ve suffered through the third-degree kind on the side of my right foot thanks to a particularly unkind day on the ski slopes. I had to sacrifice one of my Lowa hiking shoes, cutting out the side of the injury.

Nine months later, as winter approached again, my foot looked normal, but it remained extremely cold-sensitive. “If you frostbite it again, you’re gonna lose parts,” pressed my podiatrist. This was serious.


While there’s no danger of my becoming a foot model after a lifetime of winters cramming my feet in ski boots, I want to keep all of my appendages attached to the rest of me. Part of that goal requires warm, everyday winter boots. However, I travel a lot, so the boots can’t be clunky. I need to wear them on airplanes, scraping off rental cars, to and from ski areas and to dinner.

Lowa’s Alba III GTX is that boot. It’s the footwear version of a luxury SUV. It’s got style and good traction. It also smoothly handles the snow and cold. It immediately became my go-to boot as soon as I took it out of the box. It goes everywhere with me in the winter.


Take this morning. It was a frigid -18(F) at Holiday Valley in western New York at 3:00am, when I had to leave for Buffalo airport. I cleaned off the rental car, then started driving in the dark. My body was cold on the frozen car seat, and my gloved hands went numb on the cold steering wheel, but my feet stayed warm and happy.

Would I hike up a mountain in Lowa’s Alba III? No. Would I go snowshoeing in them? Maybe, but my feet sure slip happily into them after a day on the slopes, and I’ll gladly show up at an après-ski party in them.

If you see me buying groceries before the snow melts, you can guess what will be on my feet, keeping them cozy, because I’ve got no Plan B when it comes to keeping my feet warm during the winter.

Content and images courtesy of Lisa Ballard and Jack Ballard.