UKC

Just looking for a bit of quick advice. I'm planning some winter alpine fun for January and will probably be going above 4000m. My boots are La Sportiva Nepal Extremes. Now obviously these are good boots, but I recall reading Andy Kirkpatrick talking about a French climber who died on the summit of Mont Blanc in the winter because he was wearing leather boots (couldn't feel his feet anymore and therefore couldn't walk).

So my question is, to the members of this august forum, will these boots be okay in a high altitude alpine winter setting? Should I buy some plastic ones?

In reply to MttSnr:

I've used them for alpine winter climbing and they're OK, but pretty hard to get on once they're frozen solid on a bivvy. I think if I was going to do something that involved a bivvy in winter in the alps I would spend the extra cash on some plastic boots with removable inners. Fine for day routes though.

In reply to MttSnr:

For January I would not use them in the alps on altitude. I did that mistake in feb a few years ago when doing The Frendo Spur. We started off in nice weather but had a massive storm around the last Gendarme and I got quite cold. Given that we did the rout in about 7h I was not exposed that long to the storm so I was fine but I would not do it again. Its fine as long as all goes to plan.

be safe

In reply to MttSnr:

Generally speaking, I think Andy Kirckpatrick is right.

If you keep moving and temperatures drop into the ‘warm winter’ category, around - 15 C, you'll be OK. But in January it can be much colder than that over 3500 m. Basically, double boots will be safer.

In reply to MttSnr: I've used them on day long ice climbs north of the Arctic circle in Norway in temps of about -15 and blustery weather not far from open sea. I used Extremities super gaiters (full foot) over them and they were OK, but on the edge of what I would be happy with. And we were going down to hotel each night meaning we could dry out. I actually had my Vegas in the car and a couple of times decided I was dumb not using them just for the sake of a bit more climbing 'feel'. I don't know what temps are likely to be that high, but I would really consider plastics instead, even though the Nepal Extremes are great boots.

In reply to MttSnr: If you are tempted to use them in very cold conditions it is very good advice to use full over-gaitors with them which gives you a fair bit more insulation.

Also be aware not all plastic boots are equally warm if you go down that route.

In reply to Mark Stevenson:

A few more of my thoughts on full foot gaiters are here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=369284 I actually wonder how much difference they make in really cold weather where moisture isn't an issue. I think they definitely help in conditions when you are walking through bog/slush/mud before you get to where you are climbing, but I would expect that is less of an issue in the Alps in winter?

Crampon choice is also a factor. Crampons with metal under the ball of your foot make your feet feel colder (not so many around these days but I used to have BD Switchblades which were hopeless in this respect!).