Boots for rainier/Hood and beyond

[psm]

OK I have narrowed my choice to either the La Sportiva Nepal Extremes or the La Sportiva Trango Ice. Anyone have opinions about these two boots.

 

Peter

[Rainierwon]

Expanding on your list :

Consider scarpa inverno's . Just a thought , if you are only buying one pair of boots and going beyond .

-J

[jtljohnson]

I wouldn't recommend leather boots for the volcanoes. Your feet will be soaked. Save the leather's for alpine rock routes or mixed stuff. I would recommend lowa civetta's because of their low profile weight and flex. Use VB socks and your boots will be dry as a bone.

[Dane]

I would not do the ICE. I love mine but take a look at the thread on the Ice in this forum. I would buy the newer Trango Extreme S. Suppose to be the ICE with traditional lace top. These are not leather boots but made of synthetics so they are up to the abuse of glacier climbing.

 

No way would I do plastics these days for anything. There are better answers from Sportiva and Vasques among others.

[psm]

The reason that I wanted the Trango Ice over the Extreme S was the because the Ice was not leather (wet ect) The Extreme S are made from 3mm. Roughout Leather wereas the Ice are Keprotec. I originaly liked the Nepal Extreme but as it's also leather I thought that the Extreme Ice might be more water tight............What do you think ??? I can only shell our for one set of boots and intend to do Cotapaxi next yr.

[fleblebleb]

I wouldn't recommend leather boots for the volcanoes. Your feet will be soaked. Save the leather's for alpine rock routes or mixed stuff. I would recommend lowa civetta's because of their low profile weight and flex. Use VB socks and your boots will be dry as a bone.

 

Plastics and VB socks in the lower 48?

 

A good sturdy leather boot with a half shank will be nicely waterproof if you apply some wax. Add a pair of wool-blend socks and aluminum crampons and you're set to go.

[Dane]

"I wanted the Trango Ice over the Extreme S was because the Ice was not leather (wet ect) The Extreme S are made from 3mm. roughout Leather were as the Ice are Keprotec. "

 

The ICE and the new Trango extreme S are the same/similar materials and no "real" leather. (3mm idro-perwanger leather) I suspect it would be as durable and as water proof as the Keprotec (which isn't). The ICE has a removable tongue to help it dry more easily and a shitty gaiter to keep it wet. I have the ICE and the older leather Extremes (last year's model) and had for several days, the new Extreme S. Jim Nelson says the boots ( Ice and Extreme S) in his shop have the same insulation now. My didn't so I kept the Ice which is an extremely warm boot. If that was not the case I would have a pair of the new Extreme S and use them for everything from Denali to Stuart. May be it was the Idro-P that turned me off too. But you are correct they aren't the same boot.

 

I am extremely pleased with the Ice with some mods. But the new Extreme S would be a better boot in many ways for the majority of my own climbs. I think both boots are better than the Nepal Tops. YMMV best thing to do is find them and try 'um on.

 

Marmot has the old Extremes on sale BTW for just over $200.

 

Edited January 19, 2003 by Dane

[cj001f]

I wouldn't recommend leather boots for the volcanoes. Your feet will be soaked. Save the leather's for alpine rock routes or mixed stuff. I would recommend lowa civetta's because of their low profile weight and flex. Use VB socks and your boots will be dry as a bone.

 

 

Leather's work just fine on the Volcanos - much better than plastics(although leather boots seam to be the choice of a distinct minority). Your feet will be comfortable, your shins intact, and as long as you waterproof the boots every couple of outings, dry. I'd go with the Nepals over the ICE's.

[iain]

for hood and rainier you don't even need to shell out for the nepal extremes. Plenty of high-quality lines have been climbed in Makalus with great success.

[iain]

you could buy 2 pairs of high quality boots for volcano climbing for the price of one pair of nepal extremes.

[wdietsch]

I wouldn't recommend leather boots for the volcanoes. Your feet will be soaked. Save the leather's for alpine rock routes or mixed stuff. I would recommend lowa civetta's because of their low profile weight and flex. Use VB socks and your boots will be dry as a bone.

 

what do you think we climbed in before plastic?

 

 

[Alex]

super gaiters solve alot of problems on really wet/warm days volcano slogging. Even without any gaiters, I'd climb in leathers over pastics anyday except dead winter maybe.

 

The Nepal Extreme will be much heavier than the Trango Ice. I remember my Nepal Tops as being surprisingly heavy..as heavy as my plastics in fact. Go with Trango Ice

[COL._Von_Spanker]

Regarding the sportivas: The synthetics will not keep your feet dry if it starts to get wet. This can be attributed to a number of factors. One, erywhere there is stitching there is a place for water to penetrate. Two; washington is wet a hell.

 

I have the trango s' and they get wet. I'm not sure how to combat this as snowseals not the greatest on synthetic and fabrics.

 

Sometimes I wish they were more like standard leather that I could put a normal waterproof coating of snowseal on before each trip.

[Ade]

Supergaiters are great, thanks for reminding me that I own a pair (gonna dig them out for the next winter Cascades trip). I used them a lot on big trips to the Yukon over plastics as they ensure 100% dry feet. I've never used them in the Cascades as they don't do well on rocks, it's pretty easy to destroy a pair on talus. They can also be quite hard to put on making the do the approach, put the gaiter on when you hit the snow tactic a little frustrating (cold hands, cold rubber = broken fingernails)

 

Best suited to trips where you're on snow from the start to finish. I use superglue to hold the toes down, you can also use double sided carpet tape.

 

I have a pair of non-insulated synthetic Technica boots that I use all the time in the Cascades (did Rainier in them). I would also say they tend to leak a bit more than I would expect a leather boot to. I'd do the same again but dig out the supergaiters.

 

 

[mbcracken]

Warning: Thread Creep...

 

Since this has turn into a thread on Super Gaiters, has anyone used the OR X-Gaiter? They make the claim that their shock cord design prevents the "dreaded toe lift". Another claim is made for warmth since their insulation goes further down the boot otherwise occupied by the rand of the rubberband variety.

 

-Mike OR X-Gaiter

[cj001f]

I've used a pair of X-Gaiters for the past couple years (well I did until I got fed up with them - now they moulder in a corner)They don't work that well - and the toe comes up all the time. It's a pain to tighten the rubber X line enough around the base to keep snow from getting pushed up when your plunging, and the X itself is in a fragile place for the rubber - mine are almost broken from walking in ski resort parking lots. Avoid the X Gaiters like the plague.

[Bronco]

in case anyone else was wondering about this glue issue, here's some instructions I found on gluing a super gaiter that leaves an exposed boot sole (like the OR X Gaiter):

 

On virtually all boots it will be necessary to glue the toe onto the rand of the boot. This is best done by turning the toe inside out and then fitting the heel of the gaiter to the boot. Then spread glue over the front of the boot rand and flip the gaiter toe over pushing it onto the boot and temporarily fixing it in place with sellotape. The best glue for the job seems to be Freesole, though any seam sealant should do.

 

[Pro Mountain Sports]

Col,

 

Good to read of your recent extreme climbing adventures, and happy trails on all your future trips. We have also noticed this wet phenomenon, and hope you find this information useful. Using one of the fabric/leather waterproofing conditioning treatments can help. Aka - DWR. We sell the Liquid Aqua Seal for fabric/leather footwear for $4.50 (not saying this is the only good product). If you buy the boots from us we include a bottle to get you started.

 

We recommend frequency over quantity. The Durable Water Repellant (DWR – industry name) wears off quickly. The rough snow texture, and rocks/dirt wears it right off. (picture step kicking). We find it can last about a day or two. Instead of using the whole bottle, we recommend using only a little, but often. We find it’s similar to conditioning/waterproofing traditional leather boots. They also needed to be conditioned often to repel water well, yes?

 

 

[thelawgoddess]

I wouldn't recommend leather boots for the volcanoes. Your feet will be soaked.

not true. i've worn leathers on all of my volcano climbs and aside from being a bit chilly at times no real complaints.

[barjor]

I been using a pair of Merrels High Cascade (leather) the whole winter and they never leaked.

Edited April 14, 2005 by barjor

[Bill_Simpkins]

You don't need plastic boots in the lower 48 states.

They are miserable. You can do most routes, including volcanoes, in tennis shoes. That been said, a pair of Makalus or simular style will get you just about anywhere.

[cracked]

You absolutely need a plastic boot for Hood/Adams/Rainier/Baker.

 

Look into these, or something similar:

 

[Bill_Simpkins]

Good one!