I wore my Nepal Extremes for the first time in some time this weekend. If anything made for mountaineers in the last decade deserves the over used tag - "a modern classic", it's the Nepals. Mine aren't very yellow any more - plenty of Nikwax ended that - but in the space of a couple of winters around the turn of the millennium it seemed that the majority of climbers in Scotland were walking around with these yellow beauties on their feet. When I started climbing in the early 1990s and working in climbing shop in Glasgow during those years, everyone bought plastic boots for climbing. Now plastics must make up maybe 5% or less of the market. Other insulated leather boots have been made since, and the Nepal Extremes were themselves a development on their non-insulated, path-breaking brothers the Nepal Tops, but that layer of Thinsulate allied to that lovely, cheery yellow leather, changed mountaineering footwear for good. Mine are ten years old, and the front lip is a bit worn from so much front pointing, but otherwise they're still going strong after a decade of climbing in the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Scottish, Welsh and Lake District mountains, Arctic Norway and lots and lots of Finnish icefalls.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Stuff that works: La Sportiva Nepal Extremes
I wore my Nepal Extremes for the first time in some time this weekend. If anything made for mountaineers in the last decade deserves the over used tag - "a modern classic", it's the Nepals. Mine aren't very yellow any more - plenty of Nikwax ended that - but in the space of a couple of winters around the turn of the millennium it seemed that the majority of climbers in Scotland were walking around with these yellow beauties on their feet. When I started climbing in the early 1990s and working in climbing shop in Glasgow during those years, everyone bought plastic boots for climbing. Now plastics must make up maybe 5% or less of the market. Other insulated leather boots have been made since, and the Nepal Extremes were themselves a development on their non-insulated, path-breaking brothers the Nepal Tops, but that layer of Thinsulate allied to that lovely, cheery yellow leather, changed mountaineering footwear for good. Mine are ten years old, and the front lip is a bit worn from so much front pointing, but otherwise they're still going strong after a decade of climbing in the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Scottish, Welsh and Lake District mountains, Arctic Norway and lots and lots of Finnish icefalls.
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3 comments:
True. Mine are my only winter boot and have been going since 2000 with just one resole. I seem to be going through two pairs of rock shoes a year. Of course I climb little rocks more than big rocks/mixed/ice but on a value for money level they are unbeatable.
It's a good shoe and propably lasts for a lifetime, but I wouldn't recommend it to somebody with not-so-good blood circulation in feet (such as women) and intentions to climb in colder conditions. After a couple of hours, my GF usually can't feel her feet at all >> propably going Spantik or the cheaper version next season.
Tapsa - absolutely. I've actually been quite impressed with how warm they can be, but still in some cases plastic boots (or modern synthetic laminate boots like the Spantiks) are still the best solution. I'd love a pair of Spantiks myself for cold days, but can't really justify the cost!
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