Spantiks on Denali?
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Was wondering what people's experience with these boots has been on the big one? Warm enough by themselves above 17 or did you need overboots as well? |
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I would go with overboots or better yet the Olympus Mons because your feet/toes can go from cold to frostbitten very quickly up there and the trip would not be successful if you came back with less than 10 toes. |
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Sam, I'm guessing you own a pair of Spantiks? Are they that toasty? I'm asking because don't know anything about them except for what I've read and looking for a warmer boot(have nepal tops now) for winter mountaineering here in CO and AK. I've have had my toes frozen before and the nepal tops just are not keeping my feet warm enough anymore. |
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The latitude of the mountain you plan to climb is a factor that also needs to be considered. I wore the Nepal EVOs to climb Orizaba (18.5k) in December and my feet were plenty warm. But, the weather on that mountain is quite a bit different than on Denali. |
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Thanks for the input on the boots! |
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If I were you, I'd go for some double plastic boots. I have the AFS Asolo 8000 and they're the warmest things in the world. Completely waterproof as well. I stepped into a huge puddle, all the was up to my knee, and my feet stayed completely dry. |
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Tony Pham wrote:If I were you, I'd go for some double plastic boots.FYI, Spantiks are double plastic boots. Much more of a technical last than those Asolos as well, which will come in handy if, as I suspect, the OP has his sights on the Cassin;) |
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Don't know if this helps Michael, but I used Spantiks with the stock liners up to almost 20k in Peru and my feet were fine. I had to wiggle my toes once or twice during an uncommonly long belay, but otherwise, no worries. A friend of mine used them up to 8000m on K2 as well. Very different lattitudes from Denali though, obviously. |
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Spantiks are great for Denali. Don't put Intuition liners in them, just stay with the stock ones. Forty Below overboots aren't necessarily essential if you're moving fast and not out in shite weather, but are worth taking. Depending on your route and pace, I've found that Spantiks are sometimes warm enough and sometimes not above 17k. They're fine up to 17k no problem. Throw in some VBL socks for using down low since your feet will sweat below 11k. |
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Your spantiks will be fine on Denali. Some people I know have fitted them with Intuition liners and this adds warmth as well as costing you an extra $150 or so. Fit is probably more important than another pair of liners that are thicker. Putting overboots on Spantiks would be too much bulk and adds that extra weight. |