Gear Review
La Sportiva Nepal EVO GTX Mountaineering Boot - Men's
Good boot
By Jeremy Stoshick
Ranked #18 - Men's Mountaineering Boots
August 21, 2009
My only complaint is that the lace locks are poor quality plastic thus providing an inconsistent experience out of the box and only wear out more in time. Yeah, the idea is great but they should have been metal or something that does not have so much give in them.
The do perform however; my BD Sabertooths hold well and the boots themselves have mad opportunity to be adjusted for a just right fit. I use for vertical ice climbing and this has been the best boot I have used to date as long as I keep moving. I have cold feet and I needed to experiment with socks and foot warmers before I found the right mix to keep my feet warm.
Bottom line - mountaineering boots are expensive and if your going to invest in a good pair, I am not sure you could make a better pick then the extremes for a leather boot.
View Details: La Sportiva Nepal EVO GTX Mountaineering Boot - Men's
Helpful Votes: 3 Yes
Change me.
6 Comments Last Reply: January 13, 2010 By: andrewD
It's certainly possible for the boots to leak but I would suspect that sweat might have more to do with the wet boots as well. If you were hiking through water all day I might lean more towards leaking but that route probably had a ton of snow on it already. Anyway, I have done the Winter route on Mt. Washington a few times and each year I learn better ways to stay warm. I know that I tend to work pretty hard on the first uphill before Lions Head. I also put antiperspirant on my feet prior to putting my socks on. Secondly I only wear a light hiker with liners because any more then that makes the boot too tight and or makes my feet way to hot. For me, if my boots are too tight I lose circulation in my feet and no amount of insulation will keep my feet warm when that happens. Also keep in mind that if you were sweating at all, any of the sweat on your legs could possibly run down into your boot. I say this with experience because as I'm sure you know heat management is very critical in winter and I've gone way overdressed on mt Washington expecting it to be colder then it was. Before you totally give up on the boots you may want to try to wear a thinner pair of socks and just do a day hike somewhere to see if that resolves the problem. You never know you may find that you like the boots after all. Anyway just my opinion.
Helpful Votes: 4 Yes
ps this guy works for la sportiva!!!!! what a joke fix the problem with the boots and stop your spin!
Helpful Votes: 0 Yes
They leaked nothing to do with socks or any other made up stuff , sad liked the boots I have hikers I have used to the summit never one problem with sweat over 10hrs in them sorry tod nice try though lololo The gortex bond sucks and leaked very bad. Liners wick sweat not make it.
Helpful Votes: 0 Yes
If any of your toes are constricted by the toe box of the boot, your toes/feet will get cold. You should buy boots that have freedom to wiggle around in that part of the boot with your thicker socks and insoles that you might decide to put in (but the boots should still fit snug).
Helpful Votes: 1 Yes
Your experience could very well be specific to your conditions and your feet and likely is not the boot. Tight socks or too many socks (or often liner socks) can cause your feet to be colder, not warmer. Also, no matter how waterproof the boot is, your feet sweat and your boot will get wet on the inside. Some people, no matter what, sweat a lot and get wet feet/boots. Even if your feet don't sweat that much, if you were to wear 100% waterproof boots, your boots will end up wet on the inside (this is typical for plastics). A good tip: make sure you put on fresh socks at the trailhead when you leave your car (by wearing your socks in the car, you have sweat in them and will be cold and wet the rest of the day).
Helpful Votes: 2 Yes
Your 100 pct correct! I just got back from a night ascent on mount washington it was around 0c when we left the the car we got to the base of the mountain which is 2miles . And started to climb , I had on a liner and the smartwool thick mountaineering socks my feet were so cold even after foot warmers, and more pain I have ever been in my toes were getting frost nip! I was forced to turn around! ruined my tripe these boots are a joke ! When i got back i looked in my boots they were wet with water!!! the gortex did not work at all !!!! I am returning them for plastic boots! NEVER AGAIN!
Helpful Votes: 7 Yes