La Sportiva Trango Tower Extremes, any thoughts?

Hello folks, has anyone gotten their hands on some of those fine super car lookin boots and drove them yet? I would love some feedback on these as they seem to be perfect for the north cascades. I have also been thinking about the Mammut nordwand light mid gtx boots as they also seem that they would perform well. I just have never tried them on and have an old pair of trangos that have held up but are not super waterproof.

Bump for curiosity as well. The Trango ice cubes have consistent negative reviews all over the inter webs. The extremes looks promising though without those wimpy plastic eyelets...

I bought a pair a few months ago from the LS shop in Boulder. They feel pretty solid so far. Was originally looking at the Nepal Cubes, but was attracted by the lower weight. The guys in the shop figured that the extremes would be perfect for 1-day missions in CO in winter.

I've been out in them a few times now. I got mine a little big and typically wear them with a thin wool liner and a pair of mountaineering socks. I've been out on St. Mary's Glacier with them twice, hiked up and down Square Top Mountain with them, and used them in Guanella Pass this past weekend in a variety of conditions, from 5F and -15F windchill to 25F and calm and have been pretty comfortable in them throughout warmth wise. Haven't had any issues with water resistance, but also haven't really been in conditions that would stretch that super far. Postholing in thigh deep snow with OR Crocs over them was totally fine.

Durability over the Trango Ice Cubes was definitely a big selling point for me. I think you do lose a little bit of the dexterity that comes from that lighter and more flexible design, but since I was looking for a long term and multipurpose solution, I'm fine giving up some of that sensitivity. The synthetic honey-comb looking sections on the sides seem really solid, as do the leather eyelets and metal hooks for the laces. I have noticed some scratches on the rand already, but that's probably more do to being a novice crampon user than anything else.

I've done a little walking around with them in crampons, Petzl Sarkens, and they have been doing fine. Fit is pretty reasonable as far as I can tell. I haven't used them for any technical climbing yet, but should be getting on some ice tomorrow evening and can update if you're interested.

I've never been to the PNW, so I can't really comment on how that compares to their use here. CO is obviously drier. With the double sock system, my feet have stayed pretty happy. Like all mountain boots, long walks on mostly flat terrain can be a bit of a pain. They're more flexible than some, sure, but they're still pretty darn stiff.

Wavie Dave, since you're in Boulder, I would definitely recommend going to the shop to check them out.

I heard they are pretty solid. Comparable to the Mont Blanc Pro's.

Ya I would be interested to hear how they are on ice.

Mine are sadly too big. Got heel lift while climbing, so can't really comment on how good they would be for that if the fit works for you. I did recently try on a pair of Mont Blanc Pro's while looking for replacements, and I would agree with Sterling Falconer that they to be in the same overall class of boot.

If you happen to want a pair in 46.5 EU, I'll probably be posting them on here tonight.

Christian Spencer wrote: I would love some feedback on these as they seem to be perfect for the north cascades. I have also been thinking about the Mammut nordwand light mid gtx boots as they also seem that they would perform well. I just have never tried them on and have an old pair of trangos that have held up but are not super waterproof.

Hi Christian, I think it depends on what you want to use the boots for in the North Cascades.  I think of this boot as more of an ice/mixed cragging boot, with great ankle flexibility to make the weird moves necessary on funky icy and mixed.  I almost pulled the trigger on these boots, but decided in the end that I wanted more of an "all-mountain" boot, so I got the G5 which is much warmer, has more ankle support (nice for long sections of moderate alpine ice), and has the integrated gaiter.  The G5s are great for routes like Mt Baker - North Ridge or Mt Rainier - Liberty Ridge.  I think you could do either of those routes in the Trango Tower Extremes, but they aren't optimal for mountaineering in my opinion.  

Nick Sweeney wrote:

Hi Christian, I think it depends on what you want to use the boots for in the North Cascades.  I think of this boot as more of an ice/mixed cragging boot, with great ankle flexibility to make the weird moves necessary on funky icy and mixed.  I almost pulled the trigger on these boots, but decided in the end that I wanted more of an "all-mountain" boot, so I got the G5 which is much warmer, has more ankle support (nice for long sections of moderate alpine ice), and has the integrated gaiter.  The G5s are great for routes like Mt Baker - North Ridge or Mt Rainier - Liberty Ridge.  I think you could do either of those routes in the Trango Tower Extremes, but they aren't optimal for mountaineering in my opinion.  

If you can elaborate on what kind of objectives you're considering in the North Cascades, I can give you some more thoughts on what I think would work best.

Ive been considering the something like the g5s for an all mountain boot for doing stuff like liberty ridge but was thinking the tower extremes might be nice for stuff like fischer chimneys, nooksack tower, basically a boot that could transition from glacier to rock pretty well without being super hot. But it sounds like the tte's might be too similar to what I already have so Ive been thinking of getting a super gaiter boot for alpine ice stuff and having a boot like the zodic techs for rock stuff.