When I started climbing mountains I had regular hiking boots. A heavy clumsy model that I could not even have crampons on. Over the years I have had a lot of different boots and I have bought the wrong ones a lot of times. I was also thinking ”it´s crazy how many different boots you need for different climbs”. But there is a good reason for this and since I now work with La Sportiva I thought it would be nice to show what boots I use for different climbs!
La Sportiva Olympus Mons Cube
This boot I will use for 8000 m peaks only or arctic conditions when it´s super cold. It´s pretty big and when you climb mountains you want to have a smooth and not too heavy boot. This is a new design of their big mountain boots that also fit skis and it´s quite light and thin for being a 8000 m boot. This is a three layer boots so it´s the warmest there is and that is what you need on the highest mountains.
La Sportiva Spantik
My old Spantiks! They don´t make them anymore. This is a old model and it´s very heavy and bulky. It´s almost impossible to get your feet down in the shoes too, takes a real struggle every time. I first got them for Elbrus 2017 and then I have used them on all the 6000 m mountains I have climbed like Ama Dablam and Aconcagua. I will change them for the more modern La Sportiva G2 SM for the fall when I go to Nepal. It´s still a great boot – very warm. But I will be happy to have a boot that is easier to push my foot into in the future! This have been a reliable boot for the high mountains I have climbed so far.
La Sportiva G5
This is my new boots for ice climbing, mixed and technical climbs in The Alps! I really like the BOA system they have in their boots – it makes it easy to put them on and off. This boot is light weight but still warm. That is great on a climb like Mont Blanc or if there is a lot of snow on the climb. Or an ice route in northern Sweden. I think this is the boot I will use the most the next year together with the next one:
La Sportiva Trango Tech GTX
This is the boot I use for climbing routes in the Alps on lower mountains than Mont Blanc. It´s a great boot for climbing rocky routes. I used them on the Breithorn traverse last summer and Matterhorn the year before. I use them all the time on routes like Cosmiques Arete and climbing Dent du Geant. I wouldn´t use them on a climb with a low of snow – then I think the G5 will be much better. But for all routes with a lot of rock and maybe just a glacier approach they are perfect! This is the boot I have used the most the last years. It works perfect on a route like Nygrens led or Östra leden on Kebnekaise too.
La Sportiva Spire GTX
This is a hiking shoe and I will use it for the trek into basecamp on my expedition in Pakistan. I also think this will be perfect for trekking to Everest BC or basically any basecamp! I usually use my Trango boots for that but I´m excited to try a lighter shoe that still we be steady and warm. If you go trekking on Kungsleden in Sweden I would use this shoe.
La Sportiva crossover 2.0 GTX
I used this shoe on my Remote Peaks project last summer in northern Sweden when we climbed all 2000 m peaks (except on the hard climbing routes). It´s a winter trail running shoe. Many easier mountains you can climb in lighter shoes. There is no need for a heavy boot if there is just a trail to the top or some scrambling on rocks. Heavy shoes makes you more tired in your legs and it will be much faster and lighter with a trail or hiking shoe. We used microspikes on the shoes when we crossed the glaciers. I would use this shoe again on easier mountains – it´s warm enough too.
La Sportiva Bushido
This is my second pair of this trail running shoe. I worn out my first pair. I love that it have a really good grip. So when I go trail running for training I use these shoes. They give you a good feeling of the surface you run on. I also use them as approach shoes for climbing since I don´t have a specific shoe for that yet. It works also really good for belaying since they have a good grip.
I know there is a lot of boots and shoes out there and I hope this blog post was a little bit help to choose the right boots and shoes for your adventures!
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