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Boots Worth the Trek

From: Todd Bookman
Length: 03:16

Tucked in the woods of Intervale, New Hampshire, the Limmer Boot Company has been handcrafting custom hiking boots for 91-years. Despite a steep price tag and an 18-month waiting list, the durable boots are worshiped by avid hikers around the globe. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Boots Worth the Trek
From: Todd Bookman

320669573_75de8feb7a_small INTRO: As the weather turns warm, hikers are flocking to places like the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Those in need of some new boots may want to stop off in the tiny village of Intervale, nestled on the eastern edge of the range. There, you'll find Pete Limmer more than happy to make you a custom pair. Producer Todd Bookman has more on this modern-day bootmaker.

Voices come from:
Peter Limmer, Proprietor
Ken Smith, Shop Assistant
Jack Tracy, Customer

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Piece Description

INTRO: As the weather turns warm, hikers are flocking to places like the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Those in need of some new boots may want to stop off in the tiny village of Intervale, nestled on the eastern edge of the range. There, you'll find Pete Limmer more than happy to make you a custom pair. Producer Todd Bookman has more on this modern-day bootmaker.

Voices come from:
Peter Limmer, Proprietor
Ken Smith, Shop Assistant
Jack Tracy, Customer

Broadcast History

Aired on New Hampshire Public Radio during local block of Morning Edition/All Things Considered: June, 2010

Transcript

Spend some time in the Peter Limmer & Sons workshop and you'll hear a symphony of sounds.

SOUND: hmmmmmmmmmmmm, Crash, boom, tick tick tick, ssush ssush, BANG BANG, whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, pwwoo pwo pwo pwo. Ha ha ha.

That last one is the laugh of Peter Limmer.

Standing in his 200-year-old barn in the valley of Mt. Washington, the fourth-generation bootmaker has a lot to chuckle about.

His boots—widely celebrated in hiking blogs and Facebook Fan pages—continue to sell as fast as he can make them.

In fact, he’s got an 18-month waiting list.

Pete: I average what comes out to be about three-quarters of a pair of boots a day over the course of a year. I'm fond of saying that what I do in a year is what Nike does by coffee break...but I'd like to think we do it a little differently.

Another difference is that his boots start at nearly $700 a pair.

So, clearly, th...
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

As the weather turns warm, hikers are flocking to places like the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Those in need of some new boots may want to stop off in the tiny village of Intervale, nestled on the eastern edge of the range. There, you'll find Pete Limmer more than happy to make you a custom pair. Producer Todd Bookman has more on this modern-day bootmaker.

OUTRO: