I'm interested in any thoughts. I've recently been using the La Sportiva Trango EVO S GTX, and while they're touted as a mountaineering boot, sometimes they seem a bit lightweight for some of harder terrain I'm on. I love their light weight, but they're in need of a re-soling, and I'm wondering if I should be getting a heavier duty boot.

The boot that I seem to see everywhere now is the Lowa Mountain Expert GTX. Does anybody have any experience with this boot? Will it be any better than what I've got? It is a lot heavier?

Thanks for any info.

etsnyd wrote:I'm interested in any thoughts. I've recently been using the La Sportiva Trango EVO S GTX, and while they're touted as a mountaineering boot, sometimes they seem a bit lightweight for some of harder terrain I'm on. I love their light weight, but they're in need of a re-soling, and I'm wondering if I should be getting a heavier duty boot.

The boot that I seem to see everywhere now is the Lowa Mountain Expert GTX. Does anybody have any experience with this boot? Will it be any better than what I've got? It is a lot heavier?

Thanks for any info.

I don't know what kind of routes you are getting into, but heavier boots do come at a price in how efficient you move (and climb). If just snow slogging, a heavier boot might serve you better. If making transition from glacier to rock to glacier, would be hard to beat a lighter boot like the Trango S unless you are climbing in Alaska, Nepal or South America.

Depends on your definition of "harder terrain"...if you mean technical as in rock or ice, you want a light weight boot. If you mean deep snow, a heavier boot will afford you more warmth. I do climb waterfall ice in the Canadian Rockies in a La Sportiva Ice boot that does not weigh much more than the Trango S during -30C in the winter and my feet remain warm....many of our ice routes require trudging through 4' high snow to reach the base of the waterfall. Good Luck.

Dow Williams wrote:

etsnyd wrote:I'm interested in any thoughts. I've recently been using the La Sportiva Trango EVO S GTX, and while they're touted as a mountaineering boot, sometimes they seem a bit lightweight for some of harder terrain I'm on. I love their light weight, but they're in need of a re-soling, and I'm wondering if I should be getting a heavier duty boot.

The boot that I seem to see everywhere now is the Lowa Mountain Expert GTX. Does anybody have any experience with this boot? Will it be any better than what I've got? It is a lot heavier?

Thanks for any info.

I don't know what kind of routes you are getting into, but heavier boots do come at a price in how efficient you move (and climb). If just snow slogging, a heavier boot might serve you better. If making transition from glacier to rock to glacier, would be hard to beat a lighter boot like the Trango S unless you are climbing in Alaska, Nepal or South America.

Depends on your definition of "harder terrain"...if you mean technical as in rock or ice, you want a light weight boot. If you mean deep snow, a heavier boot will afford you more warmth. I do climb waterfall ice in the Canadian Rockies in a La Sportiva Ice boot that does not weigh much more than the Trango S during -30C in the winter and my feet remain warm....many of our ice routes require trudging through 4' high snow to reach the base of the waterfall. Good Luck.

Thanks for the input. First, I have weak ankles due to years of rolling injuries in basketball. I do a lot of deep, heavy snow scrambles (think Cascades in the early spring), and a lot of mixed terrain on alpine scrambles such as talus, scree, side-hilling on steep, grassy or shattered rock slopes. Especially on the step-kicking, but also on the steep grass, I sometimes feel a little unstable in the Trango S. I also seem to have a tendency to roll my ankles on the way down. I'm just wondering if the Lowa would offer more support for my ankles and better stability on the routes I usually do.

etsnyd wrote:

Dow Williams wrote:

etsnyd wrote:I'm interested in any thoughts. I've recently been using the La Sportiva Trango EVO S GTX, and while they're touted as a mountaineering boot, sometimes they seem a bit lightweight for some of harder terrain I'm on. I love their light weight, but they're in need of a re-soling, and I'm wondering if I should be getting a heavier duty boot.

The boot that I seem to see everywhere now is the Lowa Mountain Expert GTX. Does anybody have any experience with this boot? Will it be any better than what I've got? It is a lot heavier?

Thanks for any info.

I don't know what kind of routes you are getting into, but heavier boots do come at a price in how efficient you move (and climb). If just snow slogging, a heavier boot might serve you better. If making transition from glacier to rock to glacier, would be hard to beat a lighter boot like the Trango S unless you are climbing in Alaska, Nepal or South America.

Depends on your definition of "harder terrain"...if you mean technical as in rock or ice, you want a light weight boot. If you mean deep snow, a heavier boot will afford you more warmth. I do climb waterfall ice in the Canadian Rockies in a La Sportiva Ice boot that does not weigh much more than the Trango S during -30C in the winter and my feet remain warm....many of our ice routes require trudging through 4' high snow to reach the base of the waterfall. Good Luck.

Thanks for the input. First, I have weak ankles due to years of rolling injuries in basketball. I do a lot of deep, heavy snow scrambles (think Cascades in the early spring), and a lot of mixed terrain on alpine scrambles such as talus, scree, side-hilling on steep, grassy or shattered rock slopes. Especially on the step-kicking, but also on the steep grass, I sometimes feel a little unstable in the Trango S. I also seem to have a tendency to roll my ankles on the way down. I'm just wondering if the Lowa would offer more support for my ankles and better stability on the routes I usually do.

so slogging it is, then? Have you tried the Nepal Evo or Batura? Both are quality boots and if you do make the transitionf rom non-technical routes to technical routes they will continue to serve your purposes. The boots Dow mentions (Trango S Evo) are excellent, but if you plan on donning any sort of step-in crampon requiring a toe and heel lug, you're out of luck with the Trango S Evo's. On the Nepal's and Batura's, this is not the case. Further, with these, they are full steel shank boots (although don't mistake that to mean blisters and lots of pain, or clunky, they are not) as opposed to the 3/4th shank on the Trango S Evo's. "Heavier duty" is obviously relative. If you want a heavy boot, insofar that you are looking for a boot that weighs a lot, then those are aplenty and additional suffering can be....fun? If you mean something that can better protect your ankles, again, look into the aforementioned boots.

I've seen the Nepal EVO, and it was more weight than I wanted to get into. I haven't seen the Batura. The reason I ask about the Lowa Moutain Expert is that I see it everywhere, and was wondering about the performance and weight of it. Thanks for the help.

I've used the Lowa Mountain Expert's since 2005 -- here is a gear review. I've climbed rock, ice and snow in them.

That said, it looks like Lowa has made some subtle changes during the last year or two; perhaps they lock the heel down better now (I use a heel-lock knot on mine). They might also be a bit lighter in their latest incarnation. Unlike the Trango S they fit step-in crampons and are a bit stiffer, plus they have some primaloft insulation. I've climbed blue alpine ice and scrambled fourth / low fifth rock in them.

The older model weighed a bit over four pounds per pair in size 10. Couldn't hurt to get a pair shipped to your local REI to try out.

I also have some ankle issues, so for some things I prefer high-top shoes, and only recently got my ankles strong enough to deal with low-tops on short approaches. Scarpa and La Sportiva boots never fit me (strange, because I love their climbing shoes). I seem to have snagged one of Asolo's last pair of Vortex boots off Sierra Trading Post -- these have served me well for alpine rock approaches this past summer with a big overnight pack. Asolo has a crampon-compatible model called the Lothar which appears to be about the same weight as the Trango's. I think Garmont has some similar stuff called the Vetta Light and Vetta Plus. Hope this helps.

Great info. I'm size 11.5, so I'm guessing I'm looking at about 4 pounds 8 oz., vs. 4 pounds 2 oz. with the Trango's (I just weighed them). I'm surprised they're that close in weight.

Thanks for the help.

I've had great luck with the Nepal Evos and feel I need the extra insulation for winter hikes in the White's of NH vs the Lowa Mtn Expert boots. However, if/when I buy my next pair I think it will be the Lowa's. You'll save at lweast $100, and the weight. Plus the reviews all seem to be very good, especially for 3 season climbs almost anywhere.

I have been using the Lowa Mtn Experts since 2006 and have been very happy with them. They keep you warm and dry and are a "fair" weight for a mountaineering boot. I led low 5th class rock, snow to 60 degrees, and ice in them and they have not let me down or left me wanting something more. A big plus for them in my book is that they are pretty comfortable on dry trail as well which is often encountered on the approach in the Sierra in springtime. I just spent the last two days slogging in snow in the Whitney area this past weekend and my feet felt great and stayed warm the entire time.

You might also consider the Scarpa Escapes for 3 season scrambling.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_deta ... 4302733951

I really, really love these: http://www.e-omc.com/catalog/products/7 ... 32_ff73f95

I also love that I snagged them on sale for $229, and now they've gone up from the original retail price of $289 to $329. I don't know how to account for that, except maybe demand was high, or maybe the exchange rate. Whatever, I love them and they have kept my feet warm and dry.