boots/crampons in winter?

[Catalyst81]

After doing Shasta this summer, I'm interested in extending my hiking season into winter and hitting San J this coming winter with some experienced people. I rented la sportiva nepals for Shasta. They fit well but appear to be quite expensive. What boots do you folks use on San Jacinto in the winter? I've had Grivel G12 and BD contact crampons recommended. What do you use? I used strap crampons on Shasta and they worked fine.

[tinaballina]

strap crampons on san j. - san g. and baldy during the winter time are fine. if you are looking to do a couloir i would think about using a hard front toe boot. i have a pair of gamonts and love them.
hope to see you out there.

[Vnthali]

I got myself a pair of La Sportiva Makalus last year. Very stiff and work well with the strap-on (contact) crampons. They're a little on the heavy side, but take wonderful care of my ankles and feet.

[Catalyst81]

I got myself a pair of La Sportiva Makalus last year. Very stiff and work well with the strap-on (contact) crampons. They're a little on the heavy side, but take wonderful care of my ankles and feet.

Do you find that those keep you warm? I do have cold feet - mostly due to poor circulation I think. I've been looking at those and the glaciers. I normally backpack/hike in trail runners, so these boots will be used primarily for winter/spring hiking on the snow and snow shoeing.

[bluerail]

Around here you can get by with a lighter boot, something that will work comfortably on an approach, yet be waterproof and take strap-ons well. Thats worked for me anyway.

[KathyW]

Most of the time I wear these lightweight mountaineering boots in the local mountains:

http://en.kayland.com/details.php?id=39

The Kayland boots are lightweight and have the advantage of having the Vibram Mulaz sole that is stiff but grips on rock okay.

When I need an insulated mountaineering boot or want to wear a heavier boot to get ready for when I'll have to wear them, I wear these:

http://www.lowaboots.com/catalog/ShowBoot.cfm?StockNum=2200276399&Category=1&Type=M

I also have a pair of plastic boots, but I've only used them on Rainier and would probably rather use the Lowa Mountain Experts if I do Rainier
again. The Lowa Mountain Experts worked fine on Shasta and Hood.

The boots I wear have wide toe boxes and were comfortable right out of the box for me. I went through a number of other boots to get to the point where I have ones that work good for me. Just because a boot works for one person, it won't work for everyone; so take boot recommendations with a grain of salt and find the boots that work for you. You just need to look for a boot with a stiff sole (a mountaineering boot), and then you have to decide if you want lightweight boots without insulation or heavier boots with insulation.

PS: I have owned a couple pairs of La Sportiva Mountaineering Boots and they killed my feet because of the narrow toe box, but they work great for other people.

[Catalyst81]

Thanks for all the advice. Actually, after looking again, I used those Lowa mountian experts on Shasta. They worked well but my feet were numb at the summit - I have poor circulation and probably needed a thicker sock.