La Sportiva Spantik vs Baruntse in South America for three months. Which are the better boots? I'm thinking in terms of warmth and the long rocky/moraine/snow less approach common in the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Real. Spantik costs $100 and I'm trying to figure out why. Both are advertised as 6,000-7,000m boots and perform well on technical ground. I have been using my Koflach Expe all these years but I think it is time to cough up a little (a lot) of $$$ for a nice pair of techy double boots.

Have at it.

I own a pair of Baruntse's and I like them. Never been to South America, but they worked well for me on two trips to Elbrus, a couple of really cold days in the alps and some ice climbing. I've never had anything close to cold feet in them and I can walk pretty well in them on snow or ascents. They are a bit harder for me on the descent when there's no snow, but not too bad.

I would say these are really warm boots. They were almost too warm for all the above trips, except for the first summit day on Elbrus when they were perfect. It was really, really cold that and my friend wearing double plastic Scarpa Omega's had problems. Hope this helps.

Hey Kev, check thisout:

"It was the French foam inner boot made by Palua for the the other La Sportiva double boot, the Baruntse, that made me think of trying the Spantik again. The Palua inner is truly heat formable by any good ski boot fitter and had given me an exceptional fit in the Baruntse. Which made me think, 1st, maybe I was buying Spantiks in too large of size and 2nd, that that same inner boot was lighter (than the Spantiks inner or a Intuition) and just might fit perfectly in a smaller size Spantik shell. Which in turn might make a wider array of crampons fit better.


I was right on all counts.

As a side note if anyone has had success with heat molding the original Spantik inner boots would you please post your thoughts and the details in the comments? While the Sportiva literature claims the Spantik liner is heat formable I don't know of anyone who has done it and I could not get Sportiva NA to give me any direction let alone written instructions. The expert boot fitters I showed the liners to refused to take on the job because of the worry of wrecking an expensive pair of inner boots....but had zero issues molding the simpler Baruntse liner or the Intuition liners with perfect results.

(update 4/28/10 I actually broke down and bought a high quality, professional heat gun and attempted to heat form my Spantik inner boots with almost ZERO success. I worked as a ski boot fitter at one time so not something I would suggest to everyone. Yes they fit a tiny bit better but there just isn't enough foam there to really get a custom fit. On the other hand my Baruntse inners, which do have enough foam, fit the Spantik shells perfectly with a much better fit on my foot and less weight. )

I only wish La Sportiva USA offered spare Baruntse inner boots...at the moment they do not. (They do as of 9/1/2010) I'll get into the details of the Baruntse in an other review. Short version? If you are looking for a cold weather double boot specifically for technical climbing....the Baruntse is an unqualified success imo. I'd give it a 5 star rating no question. Only a small part of that story but take a look at the over all weights of both Spantik and Baruntse in the previous weight blog as a first comparison. You will likely be surprised. Sportiva's sales comment abou tthe Baruntse at one time was, "less technical than the Spantik ". It is not. And in many ways it is the better technical boot on steep ice and hard mixed.


There have been many, many hard, technical and cold climbs done now in the Spantik. Just not on Nanga Parbat as most will assume from House's youtube clip of what he "used" on Nanga Parbat. That was the Nuptse another La Sportiva double boot"


When I was in South America (colder part, in winter), I had the Spantiks and they worked out just fine. I prefer them over the Baruntses because of the considerable weight difference. I would go with the Spantiks for what you're doing- they hike really well.

SKI wrote:Hey Kev, check thisout:

When I was in South America (colder part, in winter), I had the Spantiks and they worked out just fine. I prefer them over the Baruntses because of the considerable weight difference. I would go with the Spantiks for what you're doing- they hike really well.

I read his blog. Dude is fanatic about gear. I love it!

It is odd that we expect high end boots to perform well... on the trail but that's a big plus for me. Last year I walked down from Huscaran to the village in my plastic and it was a painful experience. Not looking to repeat.

ColdThistle convinced me to drop the dough on Baruntses, Kevin (just got them)... maybe you should get Spantiks so we can definitively compare the two over dinners in Huaraz this summer

did you find a good deal on them?

Not as good as my airfare, alas. 480. BC marked it 20% off briefly, removed the deal before I got to the site, but I found the old 20% off page through google (it was orphaned link, but hadn't left the BC cache yet), and they honored that price after I called in.

I had the Spantiks and they worked out just fine. I prefer them over the Baruntses because of the considerable weight difference. I would go with the Spantiks for what you're doing- they hike really well.

Hi guys, just to clarify the "considerable weight difference"...there ISN'T one. It is 2 oz. in a size 45. Less in a smaller boot and not much more in a size 47.

Real weights of my boots from the blog not imaginary:
La Sportiva Spantik 3#.05oz / 1362g
La Sportiva Baruntse 3#2.5oz / 53oz 1502g

Put a Palua/Baruntse linner ian a Spantik and the numbers kick up some.

La Sportiva Spantik with a Baruntse liner 2# 12oz / 1247g

Hiking? Baruntses hike a lot better imo than the Spantik. Over size sole rocker on the Spantik helps though. Spantik is a great boot but hiking and weight isn't two of their strong points in comparison to the Baruntse or the Scarpa 6000.

took the Baruntse out this weekend for a test drive and love the boots so far. did not feel like double boots at all. hiked as well as my Extreme. 100% better than the Koflach.

Thanks everyone! Answered all my questions about deciding between Baruntses & "Sputniks"... Thrashed my feet in slightly too small/tight (46) Nepal Evo GTX's on Mont Blanc (Bionnassay traverse) last summer so sold them. Looking for viable upgrade for Denali and beyond. Think i'm going with the Baruntse's in a (47).