Would you wear La Sportiva Boulder X on a 4 day backpacking trip...

...to Langley, Muir, Whitney, and Russell?

I'm considering buying these shoes for this trip in Aug/Sept this year.

I HATED these shoes. Scrambling in Linville was miserable for me. The rubber seemed to make things worse not better. Granted I bought them off SAC so I guess I got what I paid for. I MUCH happier in my Scarpa Zen's. Just my .02

--Wannabe

I might have mine little too tightly sized, they scramble/climb/edge well, but i wouldn't want to wear them for days straight. Tried that over the summer and wasn't happy, but for a shoe to approach in and climb in too, i'm happy w/ them so far. I was choosing between these and the 5.10 camp 4's, which didn't fit my feet right.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I tried them on and they felt very sturdy. I like the idea of this for the 3rd class scrambles up Muir, Russell, and down the Mountaineer's Route.

I would love to hear more feedback on your experiences with them. Particularly if you have worn them for multiple days. Or, if you have a shoe less than $150 you like to use for this type of trip.

Many thanks!!

JT

I have owned Boulder X's for over a year, and have hiked in them extensively. They're enough for me for day hiking/scrambling, but not supportive enough for backpacking. They're just out of the $150 pricepoint, but the new Boulder X Mid should solve that for me. Picked up a pair this spring and am really happy with them so far. I sized up 1/2 size for hiking comfort.

FWIW I also have a pair of Scarpa Crux, and while I like them, they are not nearly as supportive as the Boulder X. They smear better and are more sensative though.

Yeah I don't think I'd do 4 days in them unless you are going w/ pretty light loads. The shank is stiff enough, but they do heat up a bit and you won't have any ankle support.

They should have come out with the mid first.

I tried them on last summer, and personally I would not use them for alpine, let alone with an overnight pack. With the stiff shank they're not very comfortable for longer distances. If you're just doing class 3-4 you might consider a trail running shoe or something closer to one. I am going to try out the La Sportiva Xplorers (beefier version of the old Exum Pros) this weekend in the Sierra and will report back on this thread.

They don't breath at all, I probably would not wear mine for anything with a long approach. Everything I've done in the Sierras and Rocky Mountain has been in trail running shoes. The only disadvantage to this is needing to switch shoes if the terrain gets technical, but some trail runners and a loose pair of climbing shoes will weight about the same at the Boulder X. My favorite shoe was the Montrail Hardrock, the old one for about 2008, the only down side was it did not have a tab on the back to clip to your harness or what ever, tying the laces and clipping those or having to find room in your pack could be a bit of a pain sometimes.

FWIW, I've never liked boots or high tops and used to run cross country so I might just be used to that sort of shoe.

I used mine for two day backpacking trip. Although I have used the green superfeet support, it is not the best long hiking shoes around. Not breathing well and not enough support for heavy load. I swear I will never do that again as soon as I get myself a proper pair of backpacking boots.

Mine broke in 2 places on the first day I wore them. Approaching the climb. Then the toe wore through the rubber on the 2nd day I wore them.

On this general subject- Any opinions on 5.10 Insight for general hiking, approaches, and possibly even trail running?

Good choice if lots of scrambling is involved. MR on Whitney and East Ridge of Russell would certainly qualify. Far superior to a trail runner or boot. Also consider Scarpa Zen. I went back and forth between the two and settled on the Scarpa. FYI: A16 West LA has the Boulder X on sale right now.

Owned two pairs of Boulder X's over two years. By far for me they've been the best approach shoes for me when it comes to technical climbing, but I wouldn't want to backpack in them. Support being almost nonexistent when compared to other approach shoes and especially hiking shoes.

Have used both the Scarpa Zen and Crux and like both shoes for approaches but they don't hold up against bigwall climbing (which doesn't apply to your needs, but still) with both of the shoes starting to come apart on me after less than 12 pitches of ladder intensive aid in Yosemite.

I've been wearing a pair of Boulder x's for over a year now and I've had none of the problems mentioned in this thread. I've wore them for multi-high milage days and found them to be quite comfy. Tons of scrambles and at least a dozen aid climbs. I got mine sized like real shoes though and not like a pair of ballerina slippers. Haven't found them awesome in the snow but they're not really designed for post holing. I also paid less than $100 for mine.

They don't burn very well however.

Have to disagree with using Boulder X's as aid shoes. They have no toe cap or extra rubber in the toe so any sort of aid-intensive use on granite or other abrasive rock can blow out the toe very quickly.