Defective La Sportiva Baruntse?
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 9:47 pm
I have a weird problem with a "brand new" pair of Baruntses that I bought earlier this year. I bought them from Whittaker Mountaineering in March...confirmed the size was correct and basically put them away until the past couple weeks, where I've now started wearing them around the house and even on the treadmill for incline hiking. Basically they've never been worn outside.
I recently started noticed a clicking or popping in the sole of my right boot, just under the ball of my foot. When walking on flat ground, it doesn't do it every step, but generally after I stop walking and start again. However, when I'm on an incline it pops on every single step, and it's loud - you can hear it 15ft away pretty easily. It is also very annoying because I can feel the popping in my right foot on each step. It's gotten worse the more I use them too. There's nothing visibly wrong with the boot, you can't see anything moving or any signs that it's come apart anywhere. Has anybody ever heard of something like this? Google told me something about a possible shank break and the guy at Whittaker mentioned a rollbar in the sole that could possibly have an issue.
So now I'm in a quandary. I've talked with Whittaker and I have to wait til Monday for mgt to be in-house for further help. It's been 6 months so counting on their warranty might be a stretch. Will have to wait until Monday for anybody at La Sportiva to see if they might be of any help - has anybody dealt with them and how was the experience? Not to mention I only have 4 weeks to solve this. It's just rather annoying given that they're basically a brand new $600 boot and I have to get this all sorted out in addition to getting the rest of my gear together.
I recently started noticed a clicking or popping in the sole of my right boot, just under the ball of my foot. When walking on flat ground, it doesn't do it every step, but generally after I stop walking and start again. However, when I'm on an incline it pops on every single step, and it's loud - you can hear it 15ft away pretty easily. It is also very annoying because I can feel the popping in my right foot on each step. It's gotten worse the more I use them too. There's nothing visibly wrong with the boot, you can't see anything moving or any signs that it's come apart anywhere. Has anybody ever heard of something like this? Google told me something about a possible shank break and the guy at Whittaker mentioned a rollbar in the sole that could possibly have an issue.
So now I'm in a quandary. I've talked with Whittaker and I have to wait til Monday for mgt to be in-house for further help. It's been 6 months so counting on their warranty might be a stretch. Will have to wait until Monday for anybody at La Sportiva to see if they might be of any help - has anybody dealt with them and how was the experience? Not to mention I only have 4 weeks to solve this. It's just rather annoying given that they're basically a brand new $600 boot and I have to get this all sorted out in addition to getting the rest of my gear together.