First Impressions - La Sportiva Baruntse

I have big feet. Finding appropriate climbing footwear is a challenge. Last spring, after a trip to the Ruth Gorge and a trip to Rainier my feet were a mess. During our descent off the summit of Rainier I was taking double doses of ibuprofen and acetaminophen simultaneously. When I removed my boots in camp the tip of my right sock was bloody, my big toenail was detached from the nail bed and the whole area was pretty tender. Yuck.

In June, after returning from Rainier, I decided it was time to pull the trigger and buy some new boots. I ordered a pair of La Sportiva Baruntse and the La Sportiva Nepal Extreme, both in size 49. Most bootmakers don't make mountain boots that big. In fact, to my knowledge the only boots made above size 14 are the Nepal's, Baruntse's and the Lowa Civetta.

Rock and Snow ordered the boots in June. I had the Baruntse boots in a month (they must have been in the U.S already. The Nepal's didn't arrive from Europe until September.

As it's been a warm and relatively dry winter, I haven't put too many days on either boot yet. However, I can comfortably say the Baruntse works better for frontpointing on steep ice than any boot I've ever worn. You can effortlessly stand all day on the frontpoints, and the additional sole rigidity makes climbing steep ice in my less aggressive Sabretooth crampons feel easy. I can't wait to use them more thoroughly during my upcoming trip to Newfoundland in February.

They're warm too. I wore them for one day of guiding when the high temperature for the day was 1 degree Fahrenheit. If you have chronically cold feet, as I do, check out the Baruntse.There's also a great review of the boot over at Cold Thistle.

Love At First Feel

Certain features beg to be climbed. Splitter cracks, lone ice pillars, iced-up corners, and chimneys all make classic winter climbs. Think about it. Many classic winter routes follow memorable features. The Black Dike on Cannon Cliff is a giant corner system. The Promenade at Lake Willoughby climbs a free-standing pillar through it's crux. Bird Brain Boulevard in Colorado is an endless chimneying odyssey.

Many of the routes at Platte Clove in the Catskills follow very cool features too, and this makes them outstanding and memorable lines. Chris Beauchamp and I found a nice little cliff in the woods at the end of last winter. This cliff has a few very classic lines.

When we discovered this cliff we were astonished. By Catskill measures it's a "backcountry crag" but it's not very far from the road, and it's quite visible from a few roadside overlooks.

I've climbed at this wooded cliff a handful of times now, and all of the lines there are fun, many are mixed, and most are surprisingly moderate. Last Thursday I headed there with Joe Vitti, Chris Beauchamp and Harry Young. One of the best things about the Catskill cragging areas is that you can invite a crowd, swap ropes and try new routes. When you go with people who laugh easily, crack jokes, and like to take pictures it's even better.

Here are a few shots of the lines at this cliff we're going to call the Dark Side.

There's nothing like a slippery M6 hand and fist
crack to get you warmed up...