UKC

Looking for tips on the fit of the latest generation of winter boots (for technical winter climbing and general mountaineering/ hill walking). I have a wide forefoot so need a roomy toe box. Just sizing up doesn't necessarily work as I don't want to have to deal with heel lift. Ideally something designed to accommodate my trashed bone spurred toes.

I have a pair of Mammut Norwand High Knit gtx which were great until I tore the upper half off one of them yesterday (only 3 years old but can't find the receipt). I might just get another pair but they seem to be a lot more expensive than I remember and not impressed with the durability on my last pair.

Hanwag do some wide versions which they call ‘bunion fit’. I had some but suffered heel lift with them. Very difficult to try before you buy.

Im currently using Salewa which are moderately wide at the front but still snug at the heel. More widely stocked.  As a word of warning on some models the rear crampon bail lug is quite narrow so worth checking crampon compatibility, and also their sole units wear down relative quickly on all models. I have the Salewa Vultur Evo GTX which are fine as a general mountaineering boot (solid traditional stiff B2), and robust upper.  Their lighter offerings Crow and Repace are billed as B2 with a heel clip, but are actually relatively flexible I regard as B1, and every pair I have had leaked virtually from day one.

I have never tried Salewas full B3’s.

I have wide-ish feet and the Scarpa Mont Blanc Pros fit will, with no heel lift. 

Yikes at the prices, I think I paid not far off half what they're retailing for now!

Scarpa are often a wider fit. Hard to find in the UK but Lowa boots tend to be on the wider side, at least in their military range anyway so their mountaineering boots might well be too.

Lowa are a wide fit. I was very lucky and managed to get a brand new pair of Lowa B3s for around £200 from Oxfam of all places. 

Phantom tech were the best i found

I always leant towards Scarpa. I go half a size up with a superfeet insole and have zero heel lift.

Currently use Phantoms and Ribelles comfortably. 

Surprised at all the recommendations for Scarpa, they always had a reputation for being narrow and they fit my very narrow feet better than anything else.

The new ones with the exception of the ribelle tech have relatively wide toe boxes, especially compared to sportiva who it seems don’t know what a foot looks like 

Ive got phantoms and they fit my narrow feet very well so I suspect there is more going on than just wide/narrow.

I tried every boot in outside last year, Scarpas are definitely wider in the toes than La Sportiva, all of which were too narrow. I found the Phantom Techs a bit narrower than the Mont Blancs which I ended up getting.

Crikey, I wonder what these La Sportiva shaped things are on the end of my legs?

I can understand that they don't know what your foot looks like.

So Scarpa, not Scarpa, maybe Lowa, not Sportiva, got it.

Fellow wide-footer here. Mammut are definitely the widest. I had a pair of the Guide High about 3 or 4 years ago and the toe box was brilliant but the heel lock lacing system had a  hard rubber housing that dug in right underneath my ankle bone and caused me to limp off the hill in agony after a few uses, so they went on eBay.

I'm currently using Garmont boots. They're not as wide but they're OK, probably a bit wider than the Scarpas I tried. La Sportiva were a non-starter for me.