FOOTWEAR...

Boots
Your feet will be in snow and ice all day, so keeping your feet warm and comfy are vital. You will be surprised how limited you are in walking with hardcore blisters and frozen feet. Look after your feet and they will look after you.

(We do not recommend buying footware online as fit and comfort is very very imporant. Go to a dealer with a good variation and get more advice about what you need and the fit. Look at shops we like for possible places to go.

There are basically 2 ways in which you can talk about boots. Firstly there is a classification rating which ranges from B0 up to B4, they asses how ridged the boot is. Secondly there is the classic plastic verses leather consideration.

So the “B” rating;

There are 4 classes B0, B1, B2, B3 and finally B4. Again, a pretty imaginative system which gives no impression what they mean from the title, so I’ll explain;
B0 is basically the 3 season hill walking boot. It will exhibit a lot of flex in the soul, and is unsuitable for use with a crampon – as it will just pop out of the binding. So for a winter alpine season, your feet would die and fall off – So not these boots.

B1 boots will have a semi-stiff soul, and I guess would be considered 4 season boots. They can cope with very easy crampon usage on gentle ground, you can only really expect to use C1 rated crampons safely. Again not really for your needs.

B2 are semi rigid boots, they will only show a tiny bit of flex. This category can boast heel clips for binding more advance (about C2) crampons, thus making them suitable for easier Scottish winter climbing, I would say depending on the boot, no more than grade 3/4.
E.g. Scapa Manta.

B3 are fully rigid boots, which will have advance heel and toe bar binding options for crampons. Being fully ridged they give support to your foot which helps you when front pointing all day while climbing harder routes. E.g., Nepals Asolo plastics,

Notice above that there is a leather and a plastic boot rated at B3, so what is the difference between leather and plastic boots? For alps winter the choice is really up to the climber. Plastics are generally warmer than any leather boot, but their major flaw is that they are clumsier (being heavier) and you can not feel anything through your foot. This is not such a problem on ice routes, but on mixed routes you need to know where and what your feet are doing (example, if your trying to use just one point on your crampon). The reason why plastic boots are warmer is that they have 2 layers of boots; they will have an inner boot (which is just made from warm fluffy wonderful stuff) and the outer plastic shell (which protects heat loss via conduction). Leather boots generally only have the one layer, some boots like the old SM9’s had a thinsulate layer sown into the boot, but are still no where near as effective as plastics (so much so that plastics are considered too warm for an alpine summer).

There are options to help keep your feet warm in leathers, i.e. buffalo boots, down boots…these are discussed in the clothing section.

So when buying boots, a good fit is important, I would consider a warm fit more important than a good climbing fit. You will have to use your feet all day so its not worth risking frostbite and pain for a slightly better climbing fit. Also it is important to consider what you will be using them for and what crampons you are going to use. Below is a chat of which boots work with different crampons:

A.Jonson

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