Nuptse's breaking in ?

[gobriango]

I am right on the border of fitting into a Nuptse size 47. They do fit but I would be much happier in 47 1/2 but 47 is the largest size made. How much will this boot stretch or pack out ?

[Ade]

The boot will not stretch. The liner will pack out but probably not as much as you'd want it to and when it does the liners will start to loose their insulation qualities. In cold temps you want more room at the front of the boot to wiggle your toes and improve circulation - this isn't the time to by buying tight for "technical performance" unless you're planning on climbing a very hard route very fast (which from your post in the Alaska forum you're not).

 

I was in the same boat as yourself and ended up with a pair of Ice 9000s. These come out very large for their size. I didn't think they would fit at all and ended up with a US 12 when normally I take a 12.5 or 13 shoe. You should give them a try.

 

http://www.vasque.com/products/w-ice9000.cfm

 

http://alpineclimbing.blogspot.com/2006/01/review-vasque-ice-9000-double-boot.html

 

Cheers,

 

Ade

[Kraken]

Brian, you're coming up to AK to do the West Rib on Denali, check out AMH. They can stretch the boots a little bit in the toe box. It might also help to thermal fit the liners (even though they aren't intuition liners, they may still mold a little). The liners pack out just a little bit from normal use, I've got about 20 days of use on mine and notice a minute amount of change.

 

Good luck man!