I have the same question, I'm in the exact same position (minus already owning crampons)
It'd be best to try all this stuff on... anyone know of a "nearby" outfitter I should be saving my gold coins to visit? Mammoth? Lone Pine? jTree? (REI??)
The most popular boot for what you'll be doing would be the La Sportiva Trango, or Trango XP+ or whatever the hell... Evo or something. That's a standard light alpine boot which will be dandy for alpine, ice, mixed climbing etc, but they're not really warm enough for stuff like Shasta when it's cold, or something else cold like Rainier. I have Scarpa's equivalent, the blue ones I can't remember the damn name of. Both of these models are in stock at the Arcadia REI, for what it's worth.
Ice tools, pick yer poison. You can try out my Grivel Matrix tools whenever. They're inexpensive. Also look at Black Diamond, as when they come out with the next year's model, they'll often discount the previous model.
With ice tools, you gotta try a bunch out and see which 'fits' your uses, budget, etc.
Tons of information on boots is available at Summitpost.
Try everything on. La Sportiva is a narrower boot. Scarpa is a wider boot. Lowa is somewhere in between. I've not worn Salewa but they are well respected in Europe.
A lot of folks wear the Lowa Mountain Expert GTX. This is a great boot but was not warm enough for what I wanted to do so I moved to the warmer Lowa Silberhorn which is suitable for Rainer and similar envrionments.
You can find a few winter boots at REI. Also try A16 (where I bought mine). If you find yourself in Mammoth, swing by Mammoth Mountaineering supply. They also have a shop in Bishop but it is much smaller.
I got the Lowa Cristallo X-Pro a few years ago. They are holding up very well and been more than enough for the local mountains and early spring in the sierra. The Mountain Expert looks very similar to the Cristallo, maybe it replaced it?
Sportiva Nepal Evos - wouldn't take them beyond a couple days on late-spring or summer rainier. Being a single leather boot, you're probably going to be limited by temps/moisture in any harsher/more extended conditions than that. For Sierra snow/temps for a couple days, they is perfecto.
Hey Patrick
I highly recommend the La Sportiva Trango's. I own a pair, and they work very well. Their lightweight and easy to move with. The first time I used them, I didn't have a chance to properly break them in, but I didn't suffer any problems with my feet.
But as Taco pointed out, they are not very warm. If you plan on using them for the local mountains or Sierra's, you should be fine.
Taco wrote: ↑Ditto, though I'd rather have something else for alpine, especially routes here in the SG's which involve more plunging.
Heard that, Taco. If it's not a true tool he wants, I love my BD venoms for alpine/etc. I've got the adze/hammer combo, swapped out the pick on the adze for the more aggressive tech-pick that comes on the hammer, they are lovely as hell now. I wish I had gone shorter on the adze, but oh well.
I gotta go the BALLER route and get the Grivel Evolution 10 Type R or whatever when I get something to replace my BD Venom. Big money. Mo money, mo problems.
I gotta go the BALLER route and get the Grivel Evolution 10 Type R or whatever when I get something to replace my BD Venom. Big money. Mo money, mo problems.
You're riding the venom train too? I thought you was dry-humpin a raven pro or whatever
My wife and I have been hiking for years but I'm not really into accessories, so we don't even have hiking boots. I hike in skate shoes, and she wears running shoes. I'm starting to realize that hiking boots would be very nice, especially when walking over sharp rocky areas for any period of time (puts too much pressure directly on my foot wearing sneakers).
Are there any hiking boots that would be suitable for winter hikes with crampons, but not too warm / heavy for summer? Or do most of you have multiple pairs of boots depending on the situation?
I've been wanting to start going out in the snow, but it gets expensive fast when you need to get two people boots, crampons, ice axes, helmets, etc.
You do kinda need a few pairs of shoes. One sorta kinda jack of all trades solution is to get some Goretex trailrunners and gaiters for normal winter hiking. They'll work for the rest of the year too without the gaiters. An example would be a pair of Salomon whatever GTX trailrunners.
I'm pretty sure everyone has a whole big quiver of shoes though. I've got more shoes than most women.
A two shoe solution is the way to go. In summer I've been using Merrell's Moab Ventilator mid-height shoes. More like a high-top sneaker witha slightly beefed up sole than a shoe, but work great on well traveled trails without a lot of rocks. Gotta get some new 'lightweights' before next spring, probably go with something a little stiffer.
For inexpensive winter boots for the local mountains, try Hi-Tec Altitiude IV's. They have flexible soles for easy walking, won't hold crampons, but they are made of highly water resistant leather and work fine for hiking in snowy conditions with gaiters, and wit snowshoes. They'll also hold microspikes. About $90 at Sports Authority, also at Sport Chalet, can also be found on Zappos. These also work well in the summer if you like something a little stiffer than trail hikers.
I think I'll just accept the fact I'm better off with two pairs of boots (or more), so is there a current "everyone's favorite" boot that would be appropriate for the conditions typical of the San Gabriels in the winter (ie doesn't need to be the warmest boot in the world)?
The Hi-Tec Altitude's look like a good deal, but I figure if I'm going to buy some boots I might as well get ones that can handle crampons too. Unless microspikes would be sufficient for something like Mt. Baldy, which is another question I have. In the past I've always just stuck to lower elevation hikes in the winter, which means I really don't know when I'd need microspikes vs crampons, etc.
Big money. Mo money, mo problems.
