Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
Forum rules
- This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
- Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
- Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
- Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
Hey 14er folks,
So I've been browsing old forum topics, which generally talk broadly about "should you use approach shoes?" but I haven't (at least in my search) found a topic that addresses routes like Capitol Peak, Maroon Bells, or Little Bear specifically, and the merits (or lack thereof) of using a grippy approach shoe for those summits.
For those who have climbed those peaks, here's my question: I have a pair of Salomon 4D GTX hiking boots. Easily my most comfortable hiking boot. But the boot is insanely mediocre for scrambling, and I've taken my sweet time when I used it on Class 3 approaches. I just don't have much confidence in the Contagrip sole, and the boot has a bulky toe as well that makes it ill fitting for wedging into tight areas.
For something like Capitol, a class 4, should I consider an approach shoe for adding confidence on the Knife Edge?
So I've been browsing old forum topics, which generally talk broadly about "should you use approach shoes?" but I haven't (at least in my search) found a topic that addresses routes like Capitol Peak, Maroon Bells, or Little Bear specifically, and the merits (or lack thereof) of using a grippy approach shoe for those summits.
For those who have climbed those peaks, here's my question: I have a pair of Salomon 4D GTX hiking boots. Easily my most comfortable hiking boot. But the boot is insanely mediocre for scrambling, and I've taken my sweet time when I used it on Class 3 approaches. I just don't have much confidence in the Contagrip sole, and the boot has a bulky toe as well that makes it ill fitting for wedging into tight areas.
For something like Capitol, a class 4, should I consider an approach shoe for adding confidence on the Knife Edge?
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
I like approach shoes for most all of my scrambles but I'm sure somebody will post about their love of worn out combat boots and the need to have better technique with tips on how to walk.
http://listsofjohn.com/CompletionAll.php?M=dpage"
www.mountainproject.com/u/derick-page//110079707
"Resist much. Obey little." -Abbey
www.mountainproject.com/u/derick-page//110079707
"Resist much. Obey little." -Abbey
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
I'm a mountaineering novice but I felt comfortable on these 14er peaks with the Solomon Speedcross Trailrunner Shoes. The Contagrip system works extremely well for getting to the summits. They're high-quality, lightweight, flexible, and durable. A good mix for swift travel in the hills.
Once you get to undertaking these tougher peaks, you'll be fine. They really are actually quite enjoyable, rewarding, and not too bad at all. Excellent views from the top.
Once you get to undertaking these tougher peaks, you'll be fine. They really are actually quite enjoyable, rewarding, and not too bad at all. Excellent views from the top.
Last edited by jasayrevt on Sun May 15, 2016 10:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
"A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never revert to old dimensions."
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live life as you have imagined."
"Motivate others towards attaining highest aspirations."
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live life as you have imagined."
"Motivate others towards attaining highest aspirations."
- GeezerClimber
- Posts: 567
- Joined: 8/9/2011
- 14ers: 58
- 13ers: 24
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
Any good hiking boot in good condition is fine for any standard 14er route. I use Asolos myself but that's just personal preference for comfort.
Dave
Dave
- polar
- Posts: 1256
- Joined: 8/12/2013
- 14ers: 2
- Trip Reports (1)
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
I'm a big fan of approach shoes, but I'm pretty sure the Knife Edge on Capitol has been done in ski boots before.
Last edited by polar on Sun May 15, 2016 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Getting to the bottom, OPTIONAL. Getting to the top, MANDATORY!" - The Wisest Trail Sign
- herdbull
- Posts: 442
- Joined: 6/6/2011
- 14ers: 58
- 13ers: 14
- Trip Reports (1)
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
Having been up Capitol I don't think my footwear choice would have made a difference in the outcome. Any/all of the choices I had available to me out of my gaggle of footwear would have sufficed.
I have everything from Salomon Speedcross trail runners, Asolo Fugitives, a couple La Sportiva options. I believe I was wearing the Fugitives due to little extra pack load I was hauling to get in there. They worked. I can't recall on any route I've done where I brought a different pair of footwear for the final approach or for a certain section of the hike/climb. I've always just wore whatever I had on when I left the vehicle or camp.
I have everything from Salomon Speedcross trail runners, Asolo Fugitives, a couple La Sportiva options. I believe I was wearing the Fugitives due to little extra pack load I was hauling to get in there. They worked. I can't recall on any route I've done where I brought a different pair of footwear for the final approach or for a certain section of the hike/climb. I've always just wore whatever I had on when I left the vehicle or camp.
- tlee83
- Posts: 84
- Joined: 7/2/2007
- 14ers: 58
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
I did Capitol last summer and appreciated having my approach shoes on the knife edge. I would recommend them over hiking boots.
"We reached the tree line and I dropped my pack
Sat down on my haunches and I looked back down
Over the mountain
Helpless and speechless and breathless"
-James Taylor
Sat down on my haunches and I looked back down
Over the mountain
Helpless and speechless and breathless"
-James Taylor
- youngk2844
- Posts: 167
- Joined: 3/29/2013
- 14ers: 58 7
- 13ers: 3
- Trip Reports (10)
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
No problems on a dry knife edge with vibram sole hiking boots. A wet knife edge....
- TallGrass
- Posts: 2328
- Joined: 6/29/2012
- 13ers: 26
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
How so? If they worked on Ellingwood for you, don't see why they wouldn't on those peaks.benlen wrote:Salomon 4D GTX hiking boots ... insanely mediocre for scrambling
"A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures.
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
TallGrass wrote:How so? If they worked on Ellingwood for you, don't see why they wouldn't on those peaks.benlen wrote:Salomon 4D GTX hiking boots ... insanely mediocre for scrambling
I should clarify, on Ellingwood I used a pair of La Sportiva Wildcats (the first four of my 14ers, I believe, I used those running shoes)––it was a rather nasty wet day, which is why I went back to Goretex boots for most of my hikes.
tlee83 wrote:I did Capitol last summer and appreciated having my approach shoes on the knife edge. I would recommend them over hiking boots.
Interesting––if you don't mind, which approach shoes do you prefer? Did you wear the approach shoes for the entire climb
- falcon568
- Posts: 67
- Joined: 7/24/2013
- 14ers: 58 10
- 13ers: 7
- Trip Reports (3)
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
I've done a lot of scrambling in regular old hiking boots, and they worked fine, but last year I switched to using a pair of approach shoes for the more challenging routes. I did the Bells traverse, Capitol, Shuksan (the rock parts), and the 1st pitch on Ellingwood Arete in my 5.10 Guide Tennies and was really impressed with how well they climb. Plus, they're comfortable, so there's that. Downside is that they wear pretty quickly and will get smoked long before your hiking boots.
"Of course, inside each one of us is the ambition to reach the summit, to realize that you are stronger than obstacles, that it is within your power to do something uncommon and indeed impossible for most people. But one must be prepared to face those obstacles..."-Ed Viesturs
"When I was a child, I felt there was something I had to find before I died. I imagined it as some lost, golden country, glittering on the other side of the mist across our neighbor's fields, hidden within the shadows behind our stone wall—some place beyond the fixed patterns of society, the grey chronology that led inexorably to death. In my twenties, on my first free solo, the light seemed to shatter through me, and the sky pour down the rock. Like so many climbers, immersed in that sudden, radiant awareness of now, I've had that brief and total conviction that each moment is both fleeting and eternal"-Katie Ives
"When I was a child, I felt there was something I had to find before I died. I imagined it as some lost, golden country, glittering on the other side of the mist across our neighbor's fields, hidden within the shadows behind our stone wall—some place beyond the fixed patterns of society, the grey chronology that led inexorably to death. In my twenties, on my first free solo, the light seemed to shatter through me, and the sky pour down the rock. Like so many climbers, immersed in that sudden, radiant awareness of now, I've had that brief and total conviction that each moment is both fleeting and eternal"-Katie Ives
- Brian C
- Posts: 1308
- Joined: 2/26/2008
- 14ers: 45 5
- 13ers: 19
- Trip Reports (25)
- Contact:
Re: Approach Shoes for Capitol Peak?
If you don't feel comfortable on class 3 in them you won't feel comfortable on class 4 in them. Your comfort level is much more important than what works for somebody else. If your shoes are not to your liking then you won't be having a good time no matter how popular they are to other people.benlen wrote:...But the boot is insanely mediocre for scrambling, and I've taken my sweet time when I used it on Class 3 approaches...
Go try on some shoes (approach and trail runners), find a good pair that feels comfortable, can be snugged up, and has a good sticky sole (Vibram). LaSportiva trail runners (Akasha, Mutant, Helios) are the current go-to for Flatiron speed junkies.