TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FOOTWEAR

Boots, more Boots and then Crocks! In the last post I discussed Crampons, the spiked shoe like thingy which helps me hang on to the "Last Rock" if it is icy on the top. In this post I will discuss some of the footwear I will use on the mountain and the boot which I have chosen to which the crampons will be attached. 

I will be leaving in winter (January) in North America and arrive in the middle of summer (January) in South America.  It is not unusual for temps to be in the high 90s or 100s when the trip begins in Mendoza. This is a stark contrast to the single digit or negative temps on the summit a few weeks and almost 23,000 feet later! I will be packing three types of footwear for different segments of the trip. The long walk in to basecamp will be fairly warm and with a somewhat heavy pack to lug around. To complete this section of the journey I will use a mid-weight backpacking boot. I need the boot for ankle and arch support with the pack. My choice of boot is the Salomon QUEST 4D 2 GTX. 

My current Salomons have over 800 miles on them and have only just recently been re-soled. Salomon makes a solid boot with a wide toe box which my feet love! 

While in camp, I do not want to go barefoot or for that matter, wear the boots pictured above for any longer than I need to.  The feet need to feel loved!  My choice of "camp" foot wear lower on the mountain and in base camp will be the awesome and occasionally maligned Crocks! They weigh almost nothing, pack well and can be used in water crossings. The PERFECT camp shoe!!!

Finally, comes one of the biggest expenditures of the expedition. Double Plastic Mountaineering Boots. These boots are used at high altitude and when it gets REALLY cold. The outer boot is a high grade ABS Plastic with a lacing system that is easily used with heavy gloves. They have an "inner" boot which is heavily insulated that can be removed each evening when wet and placed in ones sleeping bag during the night to dry. I have chosen the Spantik Mountaineering Boot by La Sportiva. 

I have read countless reviews on mountaineering boots. This boot is not one of the lightest but is absolutely one of the warmest! I gasped when pricing the boot, but a friend of mine asked me "how much are your toes worth?" I want to keep my little piggies so I will be purchasing the Spantik with the very nice inner boot.

Spantik inner boot. A double boot allows this inner part to be removed so it can be warmed and dried in a sleeping bag overnight. This is what makes a double boot ideal for extreme cold in places like Alaska.

Credit: Luke Lydiard

The "inner boot" can also be worn around camp after it gets too cold for the Crocks! I wonder how stinky the sleeping bag will get after drying these sweaty things in it for a couple of weeks?  WoooHooo!!! This boot is Crampon ready and has been highly recommended by a close personal friend who been to some VERY high places. 

One of the challenges with getting mountaineering boots in San Diego is there are no local mountains high enough or cold enough to warrant selling them here. They must be ordered online and then returned if they do not fit properly. Fit properly...they come in Euro sizes!  I will give my Euro 43.5 size a shot and see if it fits, good thing I am starting early.