UKC

Can I first state I have no idea on the answer as it came to me seeing plastic ski boots for sale for £15 second hand whereas second hand B3's going for considerably more and I'm a cheapskate.

Would they be C3 crampon compatible?

I can foresee them being horrid to walk not in snow and being heavy but would they work in principle? If anyone has tried it or knows anything I would be very grateful for peoples views.

All the best, Stops.

In reply to Stopsy:

Downhill ski boots would be very difficult to walk in for any distance. Wearing approach shoes and putting on ski boots at the bottom of the route would be wearing.

Climbing would be fine at lower grades as they are very supportive. On higher grades then climbing boots would be preferable.

I climbed in ski boots on ski tours and they were practical as well as comfortable .... but ski touring boots can flex so you don't have stiffness and pain on the approach and the walk out.

And climbing boots are no good for skiing ....

In reply to Pay attention: Additionally it should be pointed out that although ski-touring boots are much better than standard ski boots to walk in (standard ski boots are intolerable), you still would not set out with the intention of walking long distances in touring boots. Touring boots are tolerable to walk in, not good. I've never climbed much ice in touring boots, but I imagine you could do easy stuff quite well, but struggle once it gets steep.

In reply to Simon4:
Touring ski boots are fine for ice climbing at quite a high level (they are warm, stiff, give good support, but are a bit heavy) but you wouldn't want to walk to far in them

In reply to Stopsy: My climbing partner and i have decided to ski tour into as many routes as possible and we have been climbing up to grade 4 at the moment and having a lot of success. My touring boots are a bit clumpy but it feels good to ski out after a route everytime!

In reply to Stopsy: I presume for 15 quid you are talking about downhill ski boots not ski-touring boots and these are very different.

I've seen people ice climbing in downhill ski boots here in Finland but at crags that rise directly from very flat ground (well, actually its from a frozen lake, not ground - but very flat!). They had walked across the lake wearing hiking boots and swapped into the ski boots sitting on their packs at the bottom of the icefall. They were also only top roping. But the boots do take step in crampons fine.

Having said all that, on any hillside in the UK getting up to a climb I would imagine downhill boots would be pretty deadly without crampons and very very hard to walk in with them. Basically, it won't work.

If you're a youngster without much cash, I'd see if you could find a few days work and earn enough to buy some real boots. My first goretex jacket was funded by some long days picking fruit and my first ice tools were mainly funded by gutting geese and turkeys!

In reply to TobyA:
Thanks for everyone for their input, good points I hadn't considered / even known about being, as you all correctly guess, young and inexperienced. Guess I'll have to go out and actually earn some money I have B1's currently so I guess I'll stay at an appropriate level in those until it's worth my money buying better boots.
Cheers again,
Stops

In reply to Stopsy: It might be worth a quick post in the For Sale/Wanted forum; people often have old boots they'd be willing to part with

In reply to TobyA:
Sadly I'm a 44 in Mammut, and I think they are generally wide fitting compared to Scarpa? Cheers for the point about the For Sale/Wanted forum Dan, you may see a post go up in the near future!

In reply to Stopsy: Whats your foot size and where are you?

I have an old pair of moderately technical boots that I will sell for a pretty nominal price and postage, more or less just so someone gets some use out of them rather than them sitting in my cupboard. If 44 as you say, they are not far off, but if you are not in London, trying them would be tricky.

In reply to Simon4:
UK 10 or European 44 roughly and most of my time is in Bangor and the rest in Cheshire so not in the London vicinity. Thanks for the offer though!