New La Sportiva and Scarpa Mountaineering Boots

I was perusing the internet when I stumbled upon these two catalogs for the 2023-24 Winter season. In the Sportiva one it looks like they're replacing the G5 EVO with the G-Summit and in the Scarpa one there's an updated model to both the Phantom 8000 and the Phantom Tech. The new models' official names are the Phantom 8000 Thermic HD and the Phantom Tech HD.

La Sportiva Catalog

Scarpa Catalog

The G-Summit (pages 236-237), like the G5, has one boa and a velcro strap for adjusting your fit. Interestingly, the G-Summit features a removable liner and a removable insole meant to be used interchangeably from each other. So when you want to have a warmer boot you use just the liner, then on warmer days you take it out and put in the insole to take up the volume. With the liner the boots are 850 g each and without they're 830 g. So basically the same as the G5 which weighs 850 g, but I'd imagine the G-Summit with the liner would be warmer.

The new Phantom 8000 (pages 82-87) appears to be similar to the old model excepts it weighs 1450 g per boot which is 130 g heavier than the previous model. This is because the new 8000 has a battery in the gaiter with cables running down to the heated insoles that come with the boots. It has three levels of heating which last 16, 8 and 4 hours each. This seems kinda gimmicky and more for rich people climbing Everest than actual alpinists. We'll see how well its durability is too. I didn't read too much into the details, but I bet without using the battery the boots are still as warm as any other 8000m boot.

Finally there's the new Phantom Techs (pages 92-95). Again I didn't read too much of the details but the updates seem to be that they are 70 g heavier per boot (800 g instead of 730 g) which could be from the switch from PrimaLoft Silver to PrimaLoft Gold (the Gold is 100g/m of insulation, I'm unsure of how much the Silver was). That probably means the new model is a bit warmer and maybe the added weight also indicates an increase in durability too. And they still have laces so sorry to all of the boa lovers out there.

I'm excited to see what people think of these new boots once they come out.

So the G Summit is a single and a half boot, similar to the Acrux? I saw info on this model a month or two ago and still can’t figure out whether it’s a heavy single or light double

Has anyone tried the G-summit?  I tried the North Face 1.5 boot and found that the removable liner = insecure feeling.  I like the idea of being able to crank up/down the insulation, but not at the expense of feeling my foot slide a bit.  

Lion Forest wrote:

Has anyone tried the G-summit?  I tried the North Face 1.5 boot and found that the removable liner = insecure feeling.  I like the idea of being able to crank up/down the insulation, but not at the expense of feeling my foot slide a bit.  

I thought the TNF boots just had an interchangable summer and winter liner but not fully removable?

Ive been trying to look into the new G-summits as they seem like pretty good boots. They have been around in the catalog for a while now but no one will start selling them until later this year, but weirdly enough someone on ebay was selling a pair of right G-summits for around 200, I was tempted but sadly I’m not a radioactively affected creature so I have a pair of normal feet.

The warmth seems to be around or at G2 levels with the winter liner, so its definitely above the acrux when it comes to warmth, and probably versatility as well. When not using the liner, an insole could be placed to fill the space that is created without the liner. Couldn’t find the link that said its onpar warmth-wise with the G2 but heres a diagram from the catalog on the liner/insole.

The new low-top Zodiacs look cool, might check them out if I wear out my current approach shoes.