UKH

I've always used B3/C3 boots/crampons for Scottish winter and ice climbing but had my ankle fused 3 years ago. After a long recovery I did a bit of Alpine snowplodding and some winter climbing in my regular boots but found them quite painful.

For non winter hillwalking I've found that lighter more flexible boots are a lot easier on my ankle so I'm considering dropping to a B2 boot with C2 crampon for winter and ice. I don't expect it to be pain free but less painful would be nice.

La Sportiva seem to do a number of possible boots in their Trango range, Evo, Alp, Cube etc and the Scarpa Charmoz Pro looks like an option.
How do people find these sort of boots on stuff that's a bit steeper than a snowplod? I'll be mostly using them on Scottish III and IV, perhaps the occassional V or WI 3/4.
Are they up to it or do I need to suffer in B3's or just retire

In reply to pec:
Unless you have huge feet you'll be just fine

In reply to pec:

I've done several routes of that grade in B1 (scarpa SL) boots and strap on G12 crampons.

The routes probably would have been easier with better kit but the main issue was really cold feet on a couple of occasions, especially when queing for Smith's Route once on Ben Nevis.

On the up side... the walk in and out is way more pleasant in softer boots

In reply to pec:

I would also like to hear what people think about this. I have a pair of scarpa mirage B2s and they are the most comfortable boots I have ever walked in. They are more comfortable to walk in than my lighweight hiking boots which has really impressed me.

I would like to make a return to winter climbing say upto grade 3/4 and I was wondering if these would be good to use with my grivel air tech crampons? It would be good not to have to spend a shit load on new B3 boots

In reply to pec:

I don't know if it's helpful, but have you considered the Salewa Pro range? They can be switched from flexible mode (roughly B1/B2 in feel) to fully rigid climbing mode. Might make walk-ins more comfy for you without having to sacrifice climbing performance. Review here: http://www.ukhillwalking.com/gear/review.php?id=6212

In reply to pec:

I've used a variety of non tech boots for winter climbing, as well as the B3's [plastic, ski M boots etc]

The 'worst' were leather 75mm telemark boots for a Gd2, but they worked well enough.

The only thing that softer boots really suck at is steep ice, so select your routes with that in mind. On mixed routes they are often better than B3.

In reply to pec:

Thanks for the replies. The Salewas look interesting but are a bit heavy which is part of the problem and at £360 an expensive of a gamble just to find out if I can still manage long days in winter, still, if the idea catches on they might come down in price.

In general seems like I'll be ok at the lower grade range but might find it a bit harder on WI 4?

Anybody used the La Sportiva Cube? They are the only B2 boot specifically listed as for ice climbing on their website.

In reply to pec: isn't the cube b3? I don't know, i fit scarpa rather than sportiva, but as a reference i use Charmoz and don't feel the boots are holding me back

In reply to wbo:


I assume the Nepal Cube is B3 and the Trango Cube is B2 but their website isn't entirely helpful. It seems to feature lots of almost identical looking boots without telling you what the difference is between them and what they are best for, just lots of meaningless marketing bullsh*t.
The Scarpa website is a lot better, rating boots for each different activity. The Charmoz Pro is a contender but I haven't tried anything on yet so I don't know what fits my feet.

In reply to wazzalad20:
I also have the Scarpa Mirage boots and Grivel Airtech crampons and found them fine for grade I and II winter routes in the UK. However, the crampons damaged the rand on the boots [which have had to be re-glued several times] and I decided to upgrade my boots before a trip to Rjukan in 2012. It wasn't cheap but it was worth it. I bought some Nepal Extremes [B3] and they are much stiffer and durable for winter stuff. The crampons were not ideal for ice climbing as the front points are relatively short and secondary points fail to engage on steep ice. They were great on Dorsal Arete though! Upgraded to some G14s last year but not christened them yet sadly.

I agree that your boots are brilliant for walking/scrambling but think you will be hindered if you try to climb harder winter routes in them. Your feet are more likely to get cold in the Mirages too.

Hope that helps.

Paul