For me, good footwear is critical, it takes a lot to make my feet happy. I have had my fair share of foot and ankle injuries, so getting my footwear right is key to a happy experience outdoors. When it comes to footwear for mountaineering and ice climbing there are lots of choices and lots of factors to take into consideration. After doing a bit of research I decided to pick up the La Sportiva Makalu Boots.
My first experience with these boots was during a day of ice climbing in Northeast PA, Though these boots are not specifically designed for technical ice I chose to give them a shot anyways. Though I have not ice climb in any other boots and therefore have nothing to compare them to, I felt stable and secure. Pairing them up with my Grivel G14 crampons seemed to work well, and no matter how hard I kicked into the ice, I never felt as if they were going to pop of due to boot flex.
My most recent test of what these boots can do came during a winter trek in the Adirondacks. a fifteen mile round trip summit of Mount Marcy on shoeshoes really proved these boots worth to me. Temps never climbed above zero, and my feet did not once get cold.
Despite the very little breaking in I did of these boots I arrived back at the car with no blisters on my feet and only minor soreness that came from over tightening the top straps on my snowshoes.
So after all of this, I must say that I am really impressed with these boots. In addition to being warm, comfy, and waterproof, they are also quite a good looking boot. If you are looking to get into mountaineering or ice climbing without breaking the bank, at around $270 you really can’t go wrong with the La Sportiva Makalu’s.
Though I can’t say I have experience with men’s La Sportiva boots, I swear by the women’s version of the Nepal EVO GTX! Sportiva boots are just awesome and fit particularly well for climbers with narrow feet. Glad these worked out for you!