Nepal Top

These are my second pair of leather sportivas,

and going from these boots they will not be the last. Ok they do take a bit of time to brake in and the wet newspaper inside them over night then a good hike in the morning will not help you much but give it a go anyway.

The new tongue design is pretty cool, although it did give me a bit of a presure point on the top inside of both my feet the first two time i used them. The locking system is very good and the pull tongue works well, it's just a pity they did not use ball rollers all the way down the boot.

They climb well and walk as well as to be expected.



But i just have to say ..............

The inner sole is crap, thin and floppy.

Best general mountaineering boot I have ever had. Have been blister free since day one. They have enough give for the trail, and enough ankle flex for uneven terrain, but are stiff for all the climbing (and cramponing) you want to do, while still being able to feel what you are doing. They are relatively light, too.



I have a very narrow heel, but wide forefoot and these seem to fit as good as anything I have ever had.



The lacing system is very good - there are ball bearing eyelets to allow smooth lacing and lace keepers at the ankle so you can lace the forefoot differently than the ankle area. Important for me, because I have a high arch and often suffer from foot numbness if the arch area is laced too tightly.

great boots!



i use them for all alpine ascents involving snow/ice & also wore them on a 9-day trek with heavy packs around the huascaran/alpamayo massive in peru. a little stiff for trekking, but they give you great stability in rocky terrain. i got away with a few blisters, but not too hard.

great boots for ice/snow climbing and easy rock climbing in the alpes. i also used them on several 5000m plus peaks (up to 6425m on Coropuna, others were Vallunaraju, Huayna potosi,...), but they are not good enough isolated for that altitude. I got cold feet in the early/dark hours, but no frostbite. For mountaineering outside Europe i now think about buying a plastic boot.

For general purpose: great performance, especially with narrow feet, like mine.

My girlfriend and me are using this boots. Very good ones. Also very comfortable for hiking and for the approach.

Fits like a glove. First I even didn't want to try these on (in 2000), because I thought they were to expensive. But none of the other boots fitted ok. Then I tried these on and after that I couldn't say no. What a perfect fit! And now, after 7 years of climbing I still love these boots. I use them for just about anything. The only downside is that they're not warm enough for the winter.