La Sportiva

G2 SM Mountaineering Boot

Good Boots

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

49

Height:

6' 3"

Weight:

200

I tried on a pair of these last year prior to a Scottish winter climb and a Nepal trip in the fall, of course we all know how that turned out and the boots did not fit. I was using the same size as all my other La Sportiva boots and the inner booty was small so when BC had the next size up and a sale I got a pair. Wearing them in the house they fit fine and after trying several foot beds settled on Super Feet Carbons which are a low profile foot bed which seemed to help with heel lift and did not take up room in the toe box. Once I had the boot on there was no play and room where you wanted it. I may try a higher volume foot bed eventually. The spec sheet indicates the G2 is 4oz heavier than my Batura's but it is really hard to tell, not sure I could tell the difference blind folded, going the next size up there is a physical difference in length between the two. Some people have commented on pressure across the top of the foot, I did notice some pressure but not much and am not sure if it is the cable system or the velcro location on the booty. It was time to decide, send them back or cut the tags off, because once those tags come off you just bought a pair boots. I spent two days ice climbing WI4-5 in them, approaches up to an hour, temps from zero to 30 degrees. They hike fairly well for a mountaineering boot, I did notice the cables relaxed some with hiking, not really anymore than I would expect from laces, the pressure across the top of the foot did not get worse and by the end of two days I could still feel it but not bad, I think its the velcro on the booty but time will tell. The boots are warm, although my toes did get a bit cool a couple times while on a hanging belay but not much you can do about that. Once the temps warmed up and you had a fair belay stance where you can move a bit I stayed warm. The hike out at the end of the day was warm ( 30 degrees) and my feet got hot. We were not in any water so cannot speak to the waterproofness of these boots but they are high altitude boots so wading streams was probably not on the design board. As I said the cable seems to get lose with movement but the adjustment is easy and fast so not an issue, faster than laces. I did notice they do not seem to be as stiff as my Batura's, a couple times I actually felt them flex and looked down to see that they had , once again these are high altitude mountaineering boots and climbing WI4/5 was possibly third or fourth down the list of deign criteria. Overall these are good boots, they are comfortable and hike/climb well, they would not be my first/only choice for Ice but if its really cold they will do the trick. I think they are a great cold weather, high altitude mountaineering boot. I have climbed to 6000 meters in Nepals and stayed warm although you dont want to stand around for very long at that altitude, and 7000 meter in Barunste's which is a good boot , the G2 is lighter or as light, warmer and less clunky and would make a great 7000 meter boot. I am not sure I would take them higher but they would be a good boot till you changed to an 8000 meter boot. With any luck travel will start up and I will get the chance to use them where they were intended to be used.