double boots in summer?

[murse11]

In my current search for mountain/ice boots...I'm starting to wonder about getting a double boot such as the baruntse and/or boreal g1 lite (provided they fit). I'm prone to cold feet. Is this boot going to be too much the winter/spring ice&alpine in the Cascades and early summer on the volcanoes?

[jfs1978]

Well they will certainly be more than you NEED in the spring and summer. Sure you can use 'em though. Approaches might be a bitch.

[Dannible]

Lots of people use plastic boots on the volcanos, which are the same idea. You might want to bring tennis shoes for the approach if it's snow free. Whatever models are a step down in price/weight/warmth might be more ideal. I use the Baruntses for most winter/spring alpine in the cascades at this point because they make keeping your feet warm one less thing to think about, they don't hinder my climbing very much, and because I own them. My only complaint is that they are pretty torn up after less than a year. They are overkill for the summer.

[montypiton]

If you're considering double boots for summer glacier climbing, I'd go with something with a plastic shell (= DRY, therefore warm) Leather shells are great for cold; less functional in warm slop. Of the plastic boots I've worn, the Lowa Civettas have been by far the most comfortable: a comparatively soft shell that walks more easily than most plastics and many beefy leathers/singles, with a sole that performs unusually well on rock, for what that's worth. I prefer the Civettas to my "summer" alpine boots for trips that include glacier stays of more than a day or two. For shorter trips, I'll chance wet feet in a more nimble boot... I've worn the same pair of Civettas since 1990...

 

if you're truly prone to cold feet, consider buying whatever boot you finally choose at least a full size overlarge. tight boots = cold feet regardless how well insulated the boot. I've known top-flight ice-climbers (Ed Newville, FA Multnomah Falls, FA Grendel- Kichatna Spires) who preferred their cold-weather boots "sloppy loose" for precisely that reason...

 

I've had other partners who've used thermal insoles, chemical heat-packs, even electric socks. In the eighties, I saw guys on Denali using a layer of ensolite or evasote foam between the soles of their boots and their crampons, to impede conductive heat loss to the steel. In my Civettas, and in every summer alpine boot I've worn since the Galibier Superguide era, I've used Superfeet Korks - a custom molded cork insole designed originally for downhill ski-boots. Besides creating a custom fit,they greatly impede conductive heat loss to crampons -- my first pair lasted 22 years...