UKC

Hi All,

doing Island Peak this October and the boot dilemma is driving me crackers. Thinking of Phantom 6000's, but really pricey. The Phantom guide is around £100 less, but will these be warm enough...or do I really need plastics??

Be great if i could continue to use them for Scottish winter/alpine.

I'm a female with size 7/41 feet, so not all boots are available to me.

Anyone whose been, preferably in the autumn season, I would be grateful of your experience.

Thanks in advance

In reply to moneykat: Love my Phantom Guides but I would have been pretty chilly at 6400m in them so I bought pair of these to go with them http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Technical-Clothing/Feet/Gaiters/Over-...
Yes it takes the price up to a notch over the 6000s but you can sell on the overgaiter afterwards and keep the Guides for Scottish winter. Just another option...

In reply to moneykat: Over gaiters are a good idea to make your feet a few degrees warmer. The other thing to consider at altitude is to have a bigger boot than you would normally wear, as this avoids restricted movement and thus colder feet. I always have boots a half size bigger at higher altitudes.

In reply to moneykat: Hi Kat, I went in Nov 2006. My trip was part of 3 +6000m peaks incl island. I bought scarpa omegas for the trip which are v lite wt plastics. Plus a had my normal Scot winter boots. The weather was good and quite warm. I wore my omegas for island but my Scot boots Wud have been fine for the conditions. I run v warm.

If the weathers poor it can b v cold, plus most women run colder then men, so do not take a chance with ur boots as it may ruin ur climb.

One more thing, at altitude simple things become difficult, so wearing boots and gaitors will add a faff factor which will need practice to become 2nd nature.

Best bet is to try several pairs out & see what fits.

HTH Davey

In reply to moneykat:

tho in may, i did it a pair of single boots (scarpa cerro torres) with no problem, and we were up there over night as well.
doubles would be nice, but certainly not ncessary.

In reply to moneykat: Not hugely pricey, for what they are?

http://www.theepicentre.co.uk/men-s-footwear-c118/boots-c175/scarpa-phantom...

You'll easily sell them on when you get back, so you'll recover a fair bit of the costs if you run out of cash! Phantoms overkill for Scottish winter, maybe?

In reply to nickinscottishmountains: Or buy them in/from the Continent?

In reply to nickinscottishmountains: Or get them through Cotswold with 20% discount?

In reply to moneykat:

I have been up IP three times now. IP in October I have found to be fairly warm. I think the Guides with some nice socks would be suitable. That sun is on you fairly early on IP and would have to be a brutal October day to need Phantom 6,000s. The first time I climbed IP in October my biggest problem was heat stroke .I wore too much and was simply melting by the time I hit the summit ridge.

In saying all that the 6,000's will mean you will have no concernes whatsoever and you can attempt the summit in more marginal conditions. Good luck

In reply to moneykat: I climbed island peak last October in a set of Nepal evo gtx with a set of yeti gaiters as over boots, mixed with good socks and silk liner socks I had no issues. As a previous poster said its dam hot when the sun gets up.

In reply to radson: cheers for that Radson...I was wondering if that may be the case. I don't run particularly cold usually, unless too long on a belay!
when you weigh up the amount of hours worn against cost, makes for very expensive boots! Though my toes are priceless!! Just wanna be warm and comfy, it could make or break the trip, and its taken a lot of saving for!

In reply to moneykat:

The problem with buying a pair of boots for markedly different things is that you often end up with boots that do not do anything well!

If you buy a pair of alpine boots and use an overgaiter, then you still need the boots to be a bit larger than normal to allow extra wiggle room. This may limit their suitability for more difficult alpine climbing. On the other hand a pair of double plastics will be fine for IP but I would not care to use them for anything other than easy, or perhaps winter, alpine stuff.

I agree with Radson that IP can be pretty hot. The normal route stays on the eastern slopes and then the ridge to the top. I have also done IP twice. On the normal route I used Evos and overgaiters. On the North Ridge I used Asolo 8000s. Both worked for me.

If you are unlikely to return to 5000m+ peaks, then perhaps renting plastics in KTM might be the best option. Talk to your trekking company about sizes. Renting also means that you do not make a loss on plastics that you cannot use because you have altitude problems.