Hello,

So I have a pair of Koflach Arctis Expe boots, where the liners have cracked and broken heels, just like this guys:


Am I stuck buying replacement liners from Koflach? These liners have an actual heel on them, that lock into the shell, and I've seen a few posts on various sites where people have replaced the arctis expe liners with Intuition Denali liners, but what do you do about the heel? No one has posted any info on the heel issue, the only thing I've read was "I replaced the stock liners with Intuition liners and now am happy".

Thanks,
TI

I am also wondering about the specifics of an Intuition replacement. Do heat-molded intuition liners sit stable in the shell? Do they shift, or 'lock in' like the stock liners do?

The Intuitions also don't have laces. Do people tighten the shell laces to accommodate, or does the boot just ride looser after replacing the liner?

I replaced the stock booties in my Scarpa Invernos with Intuition liners. They mold to fit your feet and mold to fit the boot itself, so a heel of sorts should form and lock into the boot. The Intuition actually locks into the boot better than the original liners. The product line of Intuition liners is huge now, and they do have models with tongues and laces. My liners are the original wrap style - no laces- and the fit is definitely sloppier. I would recommend looking hard at the tongue and lace style liners if you go with Intuitions.

Hello ExcitableBoy,

So, you were happy with the way your Inuition Liners worked as a replacement for the liners that came with the Arctis Expe?

I am having the same issue as the others on this thread, the heel of my Koflach Arctis Expe liners simply cracked and broke off, both of them, and this was while I was on an expedition in the Himalaya and we were resting at base camp between peak attempts and I had taken the bootie out to dry it. I put some glue and duct-taped it but that came out as well affter the second summit. I also see that the Intuition Liners do not have a heel!
In your case, did it work well? I use the same boot to also ice climb besides occasional peak climbs in the great ranges.

Thanks a lot for the advice.

.arun

Hi Arun,

First of all, I should specify that I do not have Koflachs, but rather Scarpa Invernos. The stock booties did not have a pronounced heel at all, just a flat, textured "hut sole". The Intuition liners molded well to the inside of my boot. I suspect that a heel of sorts would mold into the Kolfach.

The liners are considerably warmer and lighter than the stock booties. They are 'spongier' and feel a little sloppy, so ice climbing performance suffers somewhat. I would expect that the newer designs with tongues and laces might be less sloppy as they can be tightened, unlike mine.

EB

Intuition doesn't make a lace-up style liner that is directly designed for use in mountaineering boots. Their lace up styles have a high cuff more suited to a ski boot. But I see no reason why these wouldn't still be workable on a climbing boot other than having a funny looking tall liner in your short cuffed climbing boot.

I don't use my old Koflach Degre shells for ice climbing. I do occasionally use them for good old "traditional mountaineering" of the slogging to moderate AI variety. The Denali and Aqua liners are the two I use - neither is a lace up. I don't notice any significant slop in the fit - at least none that inhibits movement on non-technical terrain in any real way. One good heat molding session fits the liners to the shell quite well.

Lastly, the folks at Intuition that answer the phone are always very helpful and happy to spend time working out fit issues.

I got the Intuition liners for my Arctis Expes, and with the heat molding they fit into the shell just fine without the heel (I think the key is good heat molding). Overall they are a little loose, but it never seemed like a big deal. Also, I wear Spenco insoles in all my boots/shoes, so I put a pair in the liner.

I don't know what size you are, but I have an extra pair of U.S. 13/Eu 12.5 Arctis Expe liners if you're interested.

This is a late reply, I see the thread just recently got bumped back up.

I bought a pair of Intuition "Luxury" model ski boot liners to replace the stock liners in my Koflach shells. I bought the thickest volume liners, and they are much warmer than the stock liners were. They are also a lot higher, and cover my calves for extra warmth.

They fit the shells perfectly. The fit is quite snug, and there is no heel lift. The liners have a pull-cord lacing system which is sturdy and very easy to tighten quickly. The new liners actually lace up more evenly and comfortably than the stock Koflach liners did. Between the liner lacing and boot lacing, the fit isn't compromised at all; definitely doesn't feel sloppy. I have a pair of red Superfeet insoles in them, the insoles also fit comfortably. These make cheap secondhand Koflach shells a very modular boot - with overboots I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of these for some time to come.

I'm very happy with the product. Here's a picture of the boots.