I'm thinking about getting a pair of La Sportiva Makalu's for backpacking and ice climbing single pitch waterfall routes. Has anyone had experience with climbing vertical ice in Makalu's? Any other comments on how they perform? Will Makalu's work with all crampons? How about hiking in them with a 45-60 lb pack on?

-- Matt Dina (mddina@mtu.edu), June 06, 2001

Answers

Matt: I've had a new pair of Makalu's for about 2 years now. Beware, they are very stiff and will take at least 1 full year for you to break in the leather -- be prepared to endure some discomfort. They are also lasted for slightly narrower feet. They are so stiff that I pretty much save them for winter use on snow/ice. Walking on hard trail with such stiffness is rather clunky verging on the uncomfortable. I believe there are more comfortable crampon-compatible brands and styles out there -- you'll have to research some of the magazines like Climbing, Rock and Ice, Backpacker, etc. I've used them on 45 degree neve on Mount Shasta with Black Diamond Sabre Tooth crampons and they've worked like a charm-- and the shoe- crampon fit is perfect. The Goretex lining seems to do an excellent job of keeping out water. As an experiment I stood in them in an ice covered stream of snow-melt for about ten minutes when they were 6 months old, my feet got neither cold nor wet. I've never used them on vertical ice (or anything near that) but I suspect they would perform well, even with a hinged crampon except on routes that take you several hours. With a rigid-platform crampon the boots stiffness really doesn't matter as long as they stay securely attached to each other. Sooo, I like them, I use them, but I believe there are better buys out there today -- especially if you have feet or toes that tend to the wide sizes. Hope this info is of some help to you. Enjoy! Daniel R. Morgan for Sierra Map Aide www.mapaide.com

-- Daniel R. Morgan (danielrmorgan@hotmail.com), June 06, 2001.

Matt... I would say that that macs are great for snow hiking, offtrail backpacking and trekking, The experience climbing ice with them has been not great. I use lowe footfangs and they do not fit the macs well at all (have fallen off mid climb several times). I recently got the salomon mountain 9 boots and I'm much happier with them, they're lighter, easier to break in and work much better on vertical ice (cheaper too). Good luck Travis

-- Travis Zuber (t_rav@hotmail.com), July 24, 2001.

Yeah I hated those boots. They are too stiff, but I have found them to be the best boots I have ever used. Just take care of your feet and you will be fine.

-- John Smith (brondbyrocks@hotmail.com), December 04, 2001.

Hi regarding the Makalu's, beware of the GTX version (goretex) although in principal the goretex on a boot is a great idea most mountaineers that i know wouldnt touch it with a barge pole simply because once you get a crack in the goretex, even slightly, usually occurs between laces, it leaks like hell and most likely cannot be repared. Stick to the leather version, and plently on hydroblock on them!, beware these boots are extremely comfortable but very narrow, designed in mind you european foot style, I had to get rid of mine as they were to narrow, but I a bit wider I would have said they were the most comfortable boots I had ever worn, mabe bar Scarpa SL's.

-- James (james@mcdowall.freeserve.co.uk), January 05, 2003.