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“I knew instinctively that it was the very hardness of life in the desert which drew me back there – it was the same pull which takes men back to the polar ice, to high mountains, and to the sea.” – Wilfred Thesiger

Inspired by great explorer Wilfred Thesiger’s adventure through the Empty Quarter Desert 60 years ago, explorers Leon McCarron and Alistair Humphries recently retraced their hero’s route. They trekked through 1000 miles of desert, 30 miles a day for 5 weeks hauling a large cart containing equipment, food and water. The Empty Quarter is the largest sand desert in the world, covering 250,000 square miles and containing ranges of dunes 100 miles long and 1,000ft high. At noon, the temperature of the surface of the sand reaches 80C.

Leon and Alistair’s journey was to create a short documentary film about Wilfred Thesiger, their own expedition, and the “underlying motivations that see men seeking adventure in exactly the same way, generation after generation”. “Dragging a heavy cart through sand in 40°C heat is tiring,” said McCarron, “so everything had to be exceedingly minimalist”, including his shoes. McCarron put his faith in two pairs of ECCO shoes, the BIOM hike and BIOM trail, to see him through this extreme test of endurance and will.

Here is what Leon had to say about the performance of both the BIOM Hike and the BIOM Trail;

“The boots, as predicted, fared fantastically well. I ended up wearing the Biom Hike boots for the majority. They were resistant to everything the desert could throw at them – gravel, sand, rocks – very, very durable. They kept the grains of sand out very well, which was a real bonus. Aside from that they were comfortable and reasonably cool, considering the temperature was above 40C. Overall, I think I prefer them even to the boots I took to China! I would heartily recommend them to anyone and everyone for hiking – long or short distance.”

“I usually wore the Biom Trail for the last hour of each day, to give my feet a bit of a change and a rest. Occasionally, about once a week, I would wear them for a full day. They too, were extremely comfortable, and increasingly more so with time. They were also exceedingly resistant to the desert terrain. They were slightly less forgiving when my feet were bruised, but that is to be expected as they have less cushioning. Overall, they are capable of doing extremely long distances as well. Since returning I’ve taken them on a couple of 5 or 6 mile trail runs to test them for that, and inevitably, they work perfectly.”

Leon chose the shoes from ECCO’s BIOM collection because of their unique attention to the natural motions of the foot. The BIOM Hike has an impenetrable Gore-tex® lining which is designed to keep your feet dry and cool in wet conditions. Leon found this lining incredibly useful as a barrier against sand. The BIOM Trail’s flexible, lightweight but durable design ensured Leon could walk with comfort and ease, whilst the Yak Nubuck created a breathable and cool condition during his adventure.

McCarron said that by roughly retracing the route of Thesiger’s 1947 crossing, they were “seeking some of the same escape, fulfilment, joy and ascetic misery he was searching for in the largest sand desert on Earth”. Although it was tiring work, “it was certainly rewarding, and gave us access to some of the most beautiful and desolate landscapes I’ve ever seen. I cannot imagine a better use of two months of my life”.

See a sneak preview of the documentary here

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