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warmupclimb wrote:I wear 46s in Nepal Evos, but the 46.5s in the Spantik are too small across the forefoot. I'll probably try 47s in Baruntse.

I think you'll find that the Baruntse will fit pretty spot on with the same size as your Nepals, so careful on going a full size up.

I thought the Baruntse liner was lower volume than the Spantik liner (but could be wrong - maybe that was just weight) and from what I recall reading from Dane, they can shrink up to a half size when molded.

Problem I had with the Spantik's was the outer shell lacing - just couldn't get them tight enough to prevent heel slip. Baruntse's fit me really well, but felt huge and clunky when compared to Spantik's or Scarpa 6000's. I ended up going 6000's.

Molded and shrunken Baruntse 47's liners might just do the trick with your 46.5's Spantik's - expensive gamble though... I'd order a pair of 46's and 47's from Zappos or Backcountry - play around and return if needed

I use a molded 46 Baruntse liner in my 45 Spantiks and a 45 Phantom 6000. The Baruntse liner is a little snug in the 6000 but works fine. A size 45, 6000 is a little snug in the toes on me so a custom inner is mandatory to get the toe room I wanted. But a good boot fitter could make the 45 inner boot work just as well I suspect. I really should buy a new pair of 45s and mold them. Just haven't bothered as the pair I have fit well enough as is.

The Baruntse liners are cheap by comparison..$130 or something like that iirc.

The inner on the Baruntse and Spantik are designed to be heat formed so it is no wonder they seem different and don't fit the same. If you think about it they really shouldn't fit at all. IMO, You should be able to wear what ever size you do in a Nepal in either La Sportiva dbl boot.

Trying on someone else's boots that have a heat moldable liner isn't going to tell you anything past your feet aren't the same. If you wear a 46 Nepal I'd bet $10 you could get a great fit in a 46 Baruntse, Spantik and maybe even the 6000 by using a better liner. A 46.5 Spantik is a 47 shell. There are no half size shells in any of these boots. All the shells count back a 1/2 size. 44.5 and a 45 are the same shell. 45.5 and 46 the same shell.

Feedback would be cool, thanks. You've encouraged me to finally order a pair of 45 liners, mold them and see if it turns out as expected. My last pair of 45s ended up too small after molding. My experience says you'll want to be careful heating these guys up.

Here is where you can buy the Baruntse liner @ $120. plus shipping:

http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwe ... ment-liner

So, if a guy decides on the Spantik for his cold weather climbing boot, is the heat-molded inner boot a must have?
Also, I have heard that the laces on the Spantik leave something to be desired? Any way to change that?
Seems odd that a $700+ boot would have an issue with the laces!

anita wrote:I have some Intuition Denali liners I am going to try with the too-big Spantiks I got. my only concern is that there's no way to lace them?

Denali liners in a Spantik are no problem if both actually fit. Worth remolding them to the Spantik shell though. Baruntse liners hardly have a lace system either and work fine. My Denali liners were even tighter and gave a better fit in the Spantik than the Baruntse liners. Pretty common system to better the Spantik's warmth. Wedding dress? No experience there but likely not a problem if you buy your right size and stop worring about the money

The Spantik liner is heat moldable. Just not as easily heat moldable or offer as good of a fit as the Baruntse's liner. The majority of Spantiks I suspect never get heat molded. Spantik lace system is fine now. Early models broke eyelets and laces on a regular basis. That hasn't been the case now for a few years.

I am new to climbing but bought some used plastics off a friend for a trip to Nepal. They were fine before leaving but while using them there found they were cracking with cold temperature cycles at high elevation. I gave them away and managed to borrow some La Sportiva Nepal Extremes, 2 sizes too big, but they got me up the top so I wasn't complaining. I was fortunate in that the temperature was quite a mild -15C or so at the 6500m I went to, but would prefer a warmer boot in future. Many years ago I got frostbite in my small toes that subsequently became infected, so I need to be careful with my toes in those areas.

Can somebody explain to an ignorant noob like myself exactly why La Sportiva produce both the Spantik and Baruntse boot, as they seem to be quite similar in many regards? In other words, what is the functional difference between these boots? As I'm new to the field I can't envisage any super-technical climbing in them in the near future (or possibly ever) and would prefer to be spraying antiperspirant on my feet to control sweat to watching another bizarre scientific experiment erupt on my toes again! ie I'd prefer a boot that was "too warm" compared to one that was "too cold". I'm leaning toward the Baruntse, and will simply keep an eye out for any that may come along at the right price, but wondered if there was any trade-offs in this boot compared to the Spantik?

As I say, I'm a complete noob and still giggle if I manage to get the left and right boot on correctly on the first attempt, so sorry if the questions are obvious. I'd like to see if I can sneak up some higher peaks in Nepal and something like the Nepal Extremes just won't cut it in my book ... though they were great on the hike back down!

Pete

PeteF wrote:I am new to climbing but bought some used plastics off a friend for a trip to Nepal. They were fine before leaving but while using them there found they were cracking with cold temperature cycles at high elevation. I gave them away and managed to borrow some La Sportiva Nepal Extremes, 2 sizes too big, but they got me up the top so I wasn't complaining. I was fortunate in that the temperature was quite a mild -15C or so at the 6500m I went to, but would prefer a warmer boot in future. Many years ago I got frostbite in my small toes that subsequently became infected, so I need to be careful with my toes in those areas.

Can somebody explain to an ignorant noob like myself exactly why La Sportiva produce both the Spantik and Baruntse boot, as they seem to be quite similar in many regards? In other words, what is the functional difference between these boots? As I'm new to the field I can't envisage any super-technical climbing in them in the near future (or possibly ever) and would prefer to be spraying antiperspirant on my feet to control sweat to watching another bizarre scientific experiment erupt on my toes again! ie I'd prefer a boot that was "too warm" compared to one that was "too cold". I'm leaning toward the Baruntse, and will simply keep an eye out for any that may come along at the right price, but wondered if there was any trade-offs in this boot compared to the Spantik?

As I say, I'm a complete noob and still giggle if I manage to get the left and right boot on correctly on the first attempt, so sorry if the questions are obvious. I'd like to see if I can sneak up some higher peaks in Nepal and something like the Nepal Extremes just won't cut it in my book ... though they were great on the hike back down!

Pete

As I understand, Spantiks are created for technical terrain at high altitude. Baruntse is for less technical climbs. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Dane, why do you use Baruntse liner in your Spantiks? Is the original Spantik liner not as warm or something?

@petef and @alpinelady.
You may want to check out Dane's blog if you haven't already. It's a wealth of info on both boots, your questions and more. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/
in the upper left, search for baruntse and/or spantik. enjoy!

Thanks to both of you. Yes I've read through that blog, and also agree that my understanding was the Spantik was more of a technical boot, while the Baruntse was more of a "slogging" boot, and I'd definitely fit in the latter category ... well more pathetic baby steps really, but humour me on that one!

Nevertheless I've also read other reports that completely contratics my presumption, and cites the Baruntse as every bit as capable technically as the Spantik, hence my confusion.

Even on sale or used, it's still a significant investment when starting out in this field. So I'd like to try to get it right, without also feeling like I was hobbling around in a pair of crampon equipped moon-boots while at lower elevations (eg if I did some courses in New Zealand etc.).

Pete

As I understand, Spantiks are created for technical terrain at high altitude. Baruntse is for less technical climbs. Please correct me if I am wrong.

why do you use Baruntse liner in your Spantiks? Is the original Spantik liner not as warm or something?

First question?
I written this many times including previously in this thread.
Total bs ..actually the Baruntse is the more technical boot because of the better fit and a more flexible cuff for difficult technical climbing. Good way to sell the more expensive boot though. More reasons, as well like less rocker, better crampon fit on the Baruntse.

2nd?
Baruntse liners are warmer and weigh less and are WAY more durable than the the Spantik liner. Plus they will always fit better than the Spantik liner when both are molded. Seems like a no brainer. More to it but I'm on a lap top so this is the short version, sorry.

Spantik is a good boot no doubt but the sales spin comparison is simply tripe. By comparison the Spantik is a nice "ski boot". The Baruntse a traditional cold weather double technical boot. Think Nepal Evo on steroids. I climb in both and like the Baruntse liner in the Spantik to drop weight and get the best fit.

Moon boots? Both boots a huge. The 6000 a little smaller in volume. Little difference in any of them. All will climb anything you can. And the very slight difference in warmth of all three can be negated by inner boot choice imo from using them all over th last few seasons.

Thanks Dane, so if what you're saying is that you feel the Baruntse is all around a better boot, why do you still use the Spantik as well?

As far as technical ability, a pair of crocs will climb better than me ...after all half a squillion Nepalese porters can't possibly be wrong However of the few things I've learnt in life, one is that "more is not necessarily better". I want to understand why I'm buying a particular product instead of mindlessly asking which is the most expensive and then saying "I'll have two please".

Pete

WARNING: Contents of posts may contain traces of irony. Laugh-track not included in purchase. Consume with caution!

Who said I still used Spantiks? At the moment I am using the Scarpa 6000. But that too will eventually change.

My gear closet is not what most folks would consider the norm. I write a gear blog. I use them, then write about them and then generally/hopefully, sell them quickly. When/if I need another pair and have the money, I buy another pair.

A good many uneducated consumers will simply follow the lead and get the Spantiks. The Baruntse gets sold as the ugly [and cheap sister] when nothing could be farther from the truth imo. I am convinced if the Baruntse had been introduced first the Spantik would not have the reputation it enjoys now...other than as a "ski" boot. And the Spantik would be better for it with the inner boot of the Baruntse. Quite surprised that change hasn't already been made actually. Thankfully is is an easy one to do on your own.

The next generation of Spantik will hopefully be much better. The technology and inner boot {the Baruntse's fwiw} are already available. La Sportiva or some other boot maker will eventually step up with new designs and technology and we'll have a more obvious choice. When that will actually happen is anyones' guess.

Dane1 wrote:Who said I still used Spantiks?

Umm. You?

Dane1 wrote:I have and climb in both boots. .... I still use the Spantik and original Spantik liner.

Anyway, based on reading your blog and additional comments it all seems to be falling in to place, thanks for that. It seems that both are perfectly suitable to my needs and the first one to come along at the right size/price should be nabbed.

Now if you could just help me out with the hard part, convincing my wife that I desperately need these boots, and can't possibly live beyond Christmas without them

Come on now
The thread is what 9 months old now? I did say earlier "I have and climb in both boots", Spantik and Baruntse. I am climbing in the 6000 again this season when a dbl is needed. $65. a toe? Tough love around here. Chopping off the dead ones will make that $65. seem cheap by comparison. I would think she would want you to have them by mid week just to be safe

Ha ha, well the two previously frost bitten ones are pretty gnarly looking anyway, so She will probably only give me credit for 8!

I guess one reason for my uncertainty is that, other than the Koflach plastics just in training, I have only used the Nepal Extreme. I'd guess this would be similar to the Evo in terms of warmth etc. or are the Evos warmer than the NEs? It seems to me that going from them to something like a Baruntse is a big difference in boot type and I do wonder if I'm looking at "too much boot" for what I'm realistically going to be doing? With a grand total experience of N=1 I obviously don't have much to go on here, but I can say that my feet were cold in the Nepal Extremes, I was using a chemical heating pad in them (totally useless IMHO), yet it was only around -15C ish (give or take a cocktail umbrella or two). I like to kit up for -20C. I can imagine the hike out may be a little more awkward, but otherwise would a boot like the Baruntse have any other negatives I'd need to consider over something like the EVO when used in warmer conditions? Or are they simply similar to my plastics in that regard? When I say my feet were "cold" they weren't dangerously so, and the boots were frozen when I put them on which wouldn't have done any favours, but I get cold feet and did notice it. If there are no serious disadvantages, and my feet run cold, it seems like a no-brainer to simply shut up, pay my money, get a warm boot and be done with it.

As you see, I have seemingly endless stupid questions at my immediate disposal.

Pete