Mad Rock Alpinist

First and foremost, the pluses of this boot include their warmth and that they are fairly comfortable.

I've done a little bit of everything in them, snowshoeing, climbed Mount Rainier, ice climbed.

In general these boots have done well in all of those scenarios. The one complaint I have is that they don't go well from one to the other and here is why. I lace them to fit the activity I'm doing. On the hike in to the glaciers of Rainier I left the top one or two sets of eyelets unlaced. This allowed me better walk-ability. The days we hit the glaciers, I tied them a little higher.

When I go ice climbing in them, I tie them all the way up and tie them tight. They performed admirably in my few experiences I climbing.

The reason I do this is because these boots are really stiff. Stiffer than my wife's La Sportiva K2s. They also don't have the ankle hinge of plastics.

So here is my complaints:

1. The metal grommets/hooks that hold the laces also shred the laces. I have not had an unfortunately time lace failure yet, but I'm sure one will happen at the worst possible time.

2. The stiffness. It's one of those things that is arguable about whether it's a benefit or negative. I think that these boots were meant for the types of activities where a little more give would be a benefit.

3. Heavy. These boots are heavy. Period.

So here are my favorite things:

1. I've gotten on blister in all the times that I've used them, I don't consider that so bad.

2. The price I paid ~$100 brand new from Moosejaw.

3. They've worked in every task I've asked of them. They've kept my feet warm, dry and usually quite comfortable.

As a final thought, I mentioned earlier my wife has the La Sportiva K2s. Those are clearly a step above the Mad Rock Alpinist in my opinion. They offer close to as much warmth. The shank seems a little less stiff but my wife outclimbed me on the ice no problem with them. However, we paid way over $100 for the K2s so clearly it's not a perfect comparison.

I've had my Mad Rock Alpinist boots for a few a months now and just got to give them a real test out on a climb up Mt. Washington, Feb. 21 2007. Didn't take too long to break them in around home for a while first. I've got wide feet too, and they did OK.

They were great! Kept my feet dry, warm, and worked great with my Petzl Spirlock crampons. I'm ready to conquer another mountain with 'em.

1 .- la Suela Tiende a estar muy curvada para el ajuste del del crampón

2.- la Terminación de la Unión la de la Suela Con la carcaza no Tiene un Acabado fino

3.- La Banda de Goma en sus uniones no fino Tiene Acabado.

en fin Siento Que Falta de control de Calidad en el alcalde de El Producto Terminado

I just got my pair. I've read that for wider feet these tend to run narrow, but I've worn them around the house to break them in and they feel fine, the real test will be Mt. Elbert next month.

I guess this just became the official fat-footed boot. I have fat feet too, but would never entertain the thought of climbing any mountain with a Mad Rock product. I hear they make a great crash-pad though.