I have a question. I am planning on climbing Pisco in Peru and going to rent some double plastic boots for the climb when I get to Huaraz. For the initial climb starting out on the trail would cross trainers work fine or would a mid lightweight hiking shoe be a better choice? Just need some advice.... In other words what would be a better shoe to have other than the mountain boots??


thx

for hiking up the trail to the hut cross trainers are fine. The is really no reason to have a heavier shoe. I wore plastics through the moraine and on the glacier but it was not super cold. You could probably do just fine with single layer boots like my guide wore.

Can you rent just about anything in Huaraz or is the gear limited??? Can you rent softshell pant and jackets and windstopper fleeces, goretex pants and jackets , windstopper gloves.....???

You can rent everything in Huaraz but in my experience you may get older stuff so it is better to bring as much as you can of your own gear. As for the shoes, I used trainers for the walk up to base camp and switched to single layer boots after that in July 2011 with great results.