Fast and light Alpine Boots
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What are everyone’s thoughts on the rapidly growing class of fast and light alpine boots such as the La Sportiva Aequilibrium, Scarpa Rebel Tech 2.0, Mammut Taiss, and many more. Many of these boots are new but do people have experience with them? Other than speed alpinism is there much of a use for them? |
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Doing most of my alpine stuff in Norway in the warmest 6 months of the year, a stiff, heavy winter boot is just not something I'm going to use. The Mammut Taiss Light is like having an approach shoe that will do Ice-climbing as well, I love it. Used it a couple seasons for pure ice climbing as well, (easy multipitch) and it freezes my toes off, but that's not what its meant to do anyway. The mammuts are really as comfy to walk in as any other hiking boot, yet very capable to climb both rock and ice. |
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Olav, what crampon do you use? |
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BD Cyborg for ice, Grivel Air tech for alpine stuff.. |
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There’s several threads on this. I have the Ribelle Techs and use them all the time in the lower 48. |
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Not to hijack the thread, but anyone use the Trango ice cube or the Trango tech? Are they same boot with the exception of the built-in gaiter? And what's the Trango tower? Man, I find the LS Trango line confusing. |
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Perry Norris wrote: Trango ice cube is insulated and fully rigid for technical ice and mixed. Trango tech is very light and flexible for summer mountaineering and scrambling. Absolute opposite boots. The tech is essentially a slightly heavier and more durable ice cube. |
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A V wrote: The trango tech is definitely quite a bit stiffer, the big difference is the lack of padding. They aren't as harsh as most mountaineering boots but they are definitely harder on my feet than any approach shoe. They are definitely still well on the boot side of the spectrum but they are a lot more friendly than a traditional 3 season boot. |
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Kevin Mcbride wrote: This is part of the reason I asked about these new boots. They look like a far better do everything boot than relatively more traditional boots like the Trango tech. They are certainly marketed as a go everywhere high speed low drag boot. |
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Thank you for the responses. What about the Trango Tower and is there a difference between the Trango ice cube and the Trango Cube except for the gaiter? |
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Perry Norris wrote: Ice Cube's have a front welt for fully-automatic crampons while the regular Cubes don't. Also I believe the regular Cube has been discontinued although you can still get them a lot of places. The Tower is probably very similar but maybe a tad heavier than the Cube? |
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Just got a pair of Aequilibrium's and using in Chamonix over last week. Possibly a little too much rocker and not enough rigidity for those looking at technical mountaineering with a lot of front pointing and/or 5.7+ rock. But I already took them through the paces up La Peigne and Midi Plan and a steep long hike, on all three they held up well, even with sloppy warm melting snow that I would have thought bogged them down and wet out - nope! I used them with Grivel Air Tech crampons and everything felt tight for the mixed climbing and glacier/arete walking. They are very , very comfortable and easy to hike in. Much more comfortable than any of the Trango's in my opinion, but again not quite as technical, so if doing more climbing i'd go for the Trango's , but for all purpose and approach these these will slay. Not sure about long term durability will be though - the sole seems pretty soft. I think the Ribelle's are a little stiffer than these for consideration, looked at them both in the shop. |
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Matthew Wilson wrote: Thanks for the feedback on these. I've been really interested in them and there isn't much info available from independent users. Which specific model do you have? |
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that of all the options right now there are four boots that really stand out, all very different from each other, for different applications and users. I've handled all of these boots, tried on the few size 48s I could find, and talked to lots of fellow climbers and employees at shops here in Cham and Switzerland for their views. No direct experience, just some reasonably informed opinions--I could be wrong about all of this. Scarpa Ribelle Tech 2.0 640 grams Very interesting boot--incredible ankle mobility and range of motion--will it work for you? Depends how you adapt your technique, and whether you can work with the gaitor.
Mammut Tassis Light Mid 510 grams (!) Amazing balance of traditional shape and support, light weight and stiffness--very light, reportedly stiff enough for real technical climbing with crampons La Sportiva Trango Tech 590 grams This seems like a new hybrid of approach shoe and 3-season mountaineering boot...light, reportedly walks and climbs rock really well, probably too soft for real crampon use. Salewa Ortles Couloir I have no idea about these boots--I've never seen them!--but the design is bold! I've always wondered if/how they could bring high-end cross-country and ski mountaineering boot technology into the alpine climbing market. The Ortles Couloir provides a first glimpse. |
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John Sigmon wrote: Can you link me to any of these threads? |
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Bruno Schull wrote: Hmmm... |
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@RJNakata You got me--it's true, haven't seen hide nor hair of those sexy carbon fiber exoskeleton Salewa boots--has anybody??? I think they won some kind of ISPO award. When I started composing my great masterpiece of a post, I thought I'd just post about three boots (the three normal boots that that I've seen, tried on, etc.) but I couldn't resist adding the Salewa because--well--have you seen it? It's a sexy beast. Absolutely no idea how they perform. I forgot to change the wording--sorry--guilty as charged. Anything you'd care to add about the boots mentioned??? |
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Bruno Schull wrote: Haha, No I'm just a lurker here with no direct experience (too). The Aequilibrium's look worthy of a good long look to me also... Edit: the Aequilibrium's look to have a wider last similar to TX4's vs the more narrower toe of the earlier Trango series boots. This interests me! |
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Hey RJNakata, The Aequilibriums are really cool boots...I was really wishing they would be a bit lighter. I think the thing that makes them stand apart is the sole design--it really does feel stable (at least standing in a store!) and I think they'd be great to walk in over long distances. An improvement on older style boots in that regard. In terms of weight, though, if that's your thing, they're not really outstanding. For me, as a big guy with big feet, I kind of need big heavy stable boots anyway. But I do like thinking about that crazy light gear! |
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Hey AV--which model did you get? Top, LT, ST? Just curious--thanks. Bruno |
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OK, cool. Yeah, we could compare that Aequilibrium LT to the last generation of LS boots designed for a similar, if not exactly the same, purpose, like the Trango Cube GTX. The Aequilibrium is a little lighter, and I would say that it is a little softer, more comfortable, and probably more secure when hiking over rugged terrain, while the older boot is a bit heavier, but also a bit stiffer, and better for technical climbing with crampons. That's a nice direction for LS to follow, but I don't see these new boots as groundbreaking as the Trango Tech, which is lighter and much more for hiking and scrambling and rock climbing, or the Mammut Tassis, which is really light and stiff, and much more for technical climbing on snow/ice. At least that's the way I see it. I do think many people are going to be happy in the Aequilibriums, and i would to for the right approach/climb. It's only that, right now, they're not different enough from my current boots to warrant a change. All best, Bruno
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