Mountaineering Boot Recommendations: (REVIEW POSTED)

mrnizegy · Post by **mrnizegy** » Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:47 am

I'm looking into getting some sturdier, and warmer boots for winter hiking.

I currently wear Salomon Quest 4D GTX, but my toes tend to get cold when the toe box gets a bit of snow or ice on it from either post holing or snowshoeing.

As mentioned, I'd like to get something warmer (insulated) and beefy enough for cramp-ons. My winter hikes don't consist much more than Baldy, Icehouse or San Jacinto but my Salomons aren't quite warm enough.

I've researched and leaning towards these three boots so far:

Lowa Mountain Experts GTX
La Sportiva Trango S EVO GTX (thought these don't specify insulation so I'm not certain they'd be warm enough)
Scarpa Inverno (plastic shell)

I've also looked into these by Salomon:

X ULTRA WINTER CS WP (though I'm not sure they are sturdy enough for crampons) And though they look the same as my Salomon Quests, they are cheaper, which leads me to question their build compared to the Quests.

Any thoughts on boots is greatly appreciated. I don't want or need to over buy, so my price point is around $300 or so, with the Salomons being about $100 cheaper than that.

Post by **Taco** » Sun Feb 14, 2016 5:57 pm

I'd go with La Sportiva Trangos. They allow you to use semi-auto crampons (no hyphen

), and are warm enough for winter in SoCal in most situations. I would stay away from double boots.

I have some Scarpa Charmoz (same as La Sportiva Trango) which I used for a long time in the mountains. I replaced them with the Trango Cube, which is light. It was too cold for lying on the ground on Baldy at night in about 10 degree temps, but has proven warm for everything else, despite being lightweight boots meant for faster technical stuff.

atomicoyote · Post by **atomicoyote** » Mon Feb 15, 2016 6:34 pm

If you decide you don't need something that can take crampons, then I'd recommend the Hi-Tec Altitude V's. They're leather (although kinda thin), but water resistant and have a high enough collar when used with gaiters to use in the snow. They also work well with snowshoes. Great for the local mountains in winter, especially if not using on ice. They'll also work well in summer if you do a lot of offtrail scrambling on scree or routes with pitches up to class four. About $100/pair on Zappos, and I think Sports Authority sells them, too.

mrnizegy · Post by **mrnizegy** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 1:39 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I picked up the Lowa's this weekend. My feet tend to get cold so I went the insulated route. The were comfortable right out of the box like other reviewers have said. And I found the LaSportivas to be a bit narrow and cramped in the toe box, also as other reviewers have indicated. Hoping to give them a few tries these season. Hoping things cool back down and we get some more snow.

mrnizegy · Post by **mrnizegy** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:54 pm

Saturday I headed up Vincent Gap to try the new boots out on the way to Baden-Powell. The conditions were ideal for these boots plus crampons. (I've posted a short TR). The first bit of trail was dry, then microspikes were soon needed. In my regular boots I'm able to feel the constriction from the elastomer harness, but not so in stiffer mountaineering boots, which is nice. About 1/2 mile, maybe a little more I switched to crampons. The trail was flat but soon turned to 30° (or more) pitch.The weather was nice and I was worried about my feet overheating, but my feet run cold normally so these felt good and didn't get while having my toes in ice and snow all day. I did get a hot spot on my heels, but since I was a bit worried about overheating, I didn't wear liners like I usually do, and didn't grease up my heels with Body Glide to help reduce friction. None of my other hiking footwear give me blisters. I picked up some KT Tape for the next time I use them. I chatted briefly with another hiker (more appropriately, mountaineer) who also had a pair of Lowas, that tore his heels up but my experience was not that drastic. Of course everyone's feet are different and your results may vary. I spent quite a bit of time adjusting laces and getting the right amount of tension for going up, down and side stepping. I made it to the ridge and then headed back down. The day wasn't about summiting but hiking safely, testing out the new kicks, and getting home in time to go the movies with family. All-in-all a good day.