It's all I've used in the randonee market, so I can't really give good comparisons, but it definitely is not like climbing in plastic mountaineering boots. It is very stiff and locks your whole lower leg. It is not that much heavier than a lot of plastic tele boots though. I'm intrigued by the scarpa f1 but have not seen one yet. that might be a great climber, or could be rotten at both skiing and climbing. unfortunately skiing and mountaineering are opposing goals. You want to roll your ankle to french on steeper ice, but that is exactly what you don't want when skiing.