Boots to climb Denali in, help!

I am looking to buy a used or new boot to climb Denali in. Boots that I am wondering about are the Millet Shiva's, the La Sportiva Baruntse's, Millet Davai's, and the Garmont Pumori's. Do yall have any advice? It seems like the Baruntse and the Davai might be borderline warm enough? I am trying to not spend $1000 but also I do understand the value of my toes. Thanks for any beta, spray me down please.

i've used the Baruntse for a week in AK, totally great. I've only used them for that week and they are still in great shape. Im selling a pair of 45.5's for $300.

You could use a boot like the Millet Shiva but I would invest in a pair of 40 Below overboots to go over them. You can have days on end that are 40 below at 14K. Also the overboots serve as boots when in camp when just wearing your liners.

Dane Mulligan wrote: I am looking to buy a used or new boot to climb Denali in. Boots that I am wondering about are the Millet Shiva's, the La Sportiva Baruntse's, Millet Davai's, and the Garmont Pumori's. Do yall have any advice? It seems like the Baruntse and the Davai might be borderline warm enough? I am trying to not spend $1000 but also I do understand the value of my toes. Thanks for any beta, spray me down please.

Garmont Pumoris are single boots, so out of question. Millet Shiva, and similar models from La Sportiva/Scarpa/Mammut are 20-30% lighter (you're already carrying a heavy backpack, unless you're a beast, that weight saving on your feet will make a huge difference), but offer similar warmth. You'll find a lot of info about Baruntse+Denali on Dane's blog: http://coldthistle.blogspot.hu/2010/04/la-sportiva-baruntse.html He believes, they are warm enough for Denali without overboots, but each foot is different. In personally wouldn't risk it if I don't know how my feet behave in those temps on summit day.

8000m boots are warm enough, but either a lot heavier or a lot less durable, or both.

With modern, light doubles + overboots your toes are safe for sure, and you have the extra weight on your feet only where it's needed.

Another important question is fit. Did you try any of the boots on you listed?

Another important question is fit. Did you try any of the boots on you listed?

I have not, this is strictly internet research. I live in Southern California and there are few to none places that carry this type of gear throughout the season. I will be making my best guess, ordering them and then returning if necessary. Its a strange time we live in. Thanks for the tips and blog beta!

Are you doing the west buttress, or a more technical route? If you're just doing the WB, if you're at all experienced with backcountry skiing then I would at least consider just rocking generously-sized lightweight AT boots (eg. Scarpa F1, Dynafit TLT7, Fischer Travers) with 40below overboots. Skiing makes the mountain much more enjoyable (and safer). The boots mentioned above are on par with some of the heavier mountaineering boots, even when combined with the overboots. And the overboots make awesome camp shoes when combined with a lightweight bootie. 

Definitely saw a lot of Baruntses and Spantiks on the mountain in 2012! My Baruntses treated me very well to my high point at 17k; I used them with shorty approach skis with Silvretta bindings.

Baruntses and Spantiks are still standards, my team is taking a mix of those and La Sportiva G2 SMs. The SMs are newer (so more expensive), warmer, and lighter weight.

The AT boots Alaskan mountaineers seem to like are Dynafit TLT6s and 7s, Atomic Backland Carbons, Scarpa Maestrales and Scarpa F1 Evos, all are lightweight and have really good range of motion. They will not be warm enough without overboots.

Fit is more important than pretty much anything else.

Thanks ya'll, I am not a skier (yet). I think I have heard enough that a pair of Baruntses will be my choice for price considerations. I am thinking I will probably pony up for some 40 below overboots as well.

Just a side note... I personally wouldn't consider doing the upper mountain in a pair of F1s.  No where near warm enough, at least for me.  I am just going to haul my g2s to 11k and switch over.

YMMV, I was fine with F1s although I bought them a shell size bigger than my daily-driver Maestrales for warmth.. I still use them for long days but they're a little sloppier than I would like. The overboots help a lot, although I never put them on until we started moving above 14k. The only time my feet felt cold was when we were waiting around in the shade in the morning on summit day getting all our shit together to start moving. We did have a really nice warm windless summit day though and we didn't camp at 17 at all. One of my buddies used Backlands which are similarly minimalist, he swapped into an intuition liner.

G2SM all the way. First boot I've worn that I haven't had to break in. They worked great on the whole mountain.