Boots vendor

14 in vasque super alpinista
49 in garmont towers
49 in La Sportiva Baruntse (for width other wise would be a 48)
48 in La Sportiva nepal evo gtx too small
13 in most salewa
13 in vasque ice 9000 (original style) almost just too narrow (wear with thin socks and am fine)
48 in scarpa mont blanc just too short, but toe box nice and wide
12 1/2UK in scarpa inverno
13 in merrill trail gloves almost too short (with no socks)
12 1/2e in allen edmond's park ave's

of course, for the most-part, they are all worn with diffrent sock combinations and insoles. if there's any lesson in my experience it's that it's virtually impossible to compare boots from manufacturer to manufacturer and even in the same brand, they use diffrent lasts for diffrent boots. you really need to try on a lot of diffrent boots with diffrent sock combinations and insoles.

what do you need 6000's for? Go to cold thistle, dane has worn pretty-much every boot there is.

good luck –

Thanks for the insights!

I did read Dane's site…a lot of it. It's what led me to look seriously at the 6000. I liked that it's a double-boot for multi-day trips, and he says that it climbs well (though he uses the Baruntse liners.)

I also have a pipe-dream to make it up to Ranier or maybe even Denali at some point but in the meantime I want to learn to ice-climb and currently work on a team going working towards Type1 certification. If we end up getting called out for mutual-aid to the Sierras, sure, something "softer" will work but won't be quite as capable for technical work in the snow/ice. And if the weather turns poor while we're out it's likely we'll have to hunker down (all the helicopters are grounded at that point, and it could possibly be quite a few miles out in snowshoes.)

6000s seemed like a nice balance, perhaps overkill on the "warm side" but for mixed, crampons, snowshoes, and possibly some ice-work (coupled with an interest on the personal side) it hit all the checkboxes nicely … except the price. ;-)

I'm not sure if I'd need a 47 or the more hard-to-find 48. Also, another boot might fit better … which is why I was asking about local shops. I'm open to suggestions as well — internet research only goes "so far."

Thanks again!
-mox

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