undermind

dbconlin, thanks for the tip, I'll try it tonight. I tried my foot in the shell, but didn't measure. Couloir, Moosejaw has 10's in the Verticals right now on sale for $314 plus 5% off that. If you want to try them on in person, I would try Feathered Friends in Seattle.. There is a member here on the boards from FF named "featheredfriends" of all things. You could PM him. But it seems like not a lot of people are carrying the Verticals right now. You might want to call Marmot Mountain in Bellevue WA also. But then you wouldn't be in sales-tax- free Oregon anymore!

See, that actually makes sense! So Dru, if you take out the liner, your shell actually says 10.5 as well?

Well, I know that Koflach uses the same shell for the half size below. (11.5 and 12 liner both use the same shell) But doesn't make sense to me in this case. But I don't know, maybe it's perfectly normal... I tried to call Koflach today but the # on the website doesn't connect you to a live person. What seems the most peculiar is that I tried on last year's pair (new old stock) at Marmot Mountain that were 11.5's and they fit me perfectly. That IS my normal size, so that makes sense. I just find it disturbing that I ended up getting 13's. Now I question if I truly am getting the right fit. The liner is so snug it's hard to tell. I'm going to start a specific sizing thread..

Thought I might stir up this topic again... So did you get the Trango Extremes? Also, dirtwigle, you referred to them as "Trango". Do you have the Yellow ones? Just making sure we are truly talking about the Extremes. I'm looking for a good "leather" mountaineering boot. I have plastics, which will be good for multiple days on the glacier. But if I'm doing an overnight summit on Rainier or other 14ers for example, am I going to freeze my toes? And how about waterproofness? Thanks

Well, I got the Degre's. The weight and slogging comfort influenced that decision. I got size 13's US. I normally wear 11.5/12's. But the 12's felt way tight. Not in length necessarily, but all around my foot. I wore Smartwool Mountaineer socks with liners when trying on the boots. I couldn't believe I was trying on 13's, but they felt better. They are still quite snug around my foot. One thing I noticed is that the liner tongue says 12.5 UK / 13 US. But when I took the liner out, there is a 12 stamped on the inside of the shell. Is this normal? A size 13 liner and 12 shell?

Hey, I got some Koflach Degre's today. I normally use leathers, but I bought some Charlet Vasak Flexlock crampons just so I could use them on most any boot, including plastics. The Koflach's are size 13, and the crampon just doesn't extend long enough. Does anyone know if there are longer linking bars available? Otherwise I'm up the creek! Thanks

Great info, thanks guys. The Vertical uses the same shell as the Arctis, but uses 1 size smaller to compensate for the thinner liner. So in that regard I would suspect that the Vertical would be maybe just a bit less clunky. Well, it sounds like the Vertical or Degre might be best for my situation. I'm more likely to be slogging than doing vertical ice. I just question whether the Vertical would be as comfortable on apprach hikes, being that it's a little stiffer.

So besides what the website has to offer, are there advantages of getting the Vertical or Arctis over the Degre besides warmth? I do peaks in the 10-14k range, and don't really have interest in doing bigger peaks or climbing in nasty conditions. My main concern is to keep my feet away from cold or wetness in any form. Secondary concerns are precision in stepping, and weight. Price is not an issue, I just want the best boot. And I already have leathers, so this will absolutely be a plastic. Thanks!