New La Sportiva’s – Leor Pantilat's Adventures

I am a proud new owner of La Sportiva Trango S EVO GTX mountaineering boots (enlarged photo). I drove out to Seattle REI to pick them up today. La Sportiva has been making quality mountaineering boots and rock climbing shoes in Italy for decades. Specifically, the Trango GTX boot was the Backpacker's Magazine editors choice award winner. I previously had the La Sportiva Glacier mountaineering boots and I was satisfied with their performance. While they did fall apart in the Pickets, they were over three years old at the time and had been on many climbs.

I decided I wanted my next boot to be lighter but yet not compromise strength and durability. The Trango boot fits the bill weighing only 2 lbs 10 oz but still looks like a burly boot (compare my previous boots, the Glacier, which weighed 4 lbs 2 oz). This boot is also supposed to be completely waterproof – that will be tested very quickly on the first climb. I always want to keep new boots looking nice in the beginning, but I realize I will inevitably fail on the first trip.

When I tried the boots on at the store, they immediately felt comfortable so I decided there was no need to contemplate further and made the purchase. I view it as an investment and I get 10% back at the end of the year because I am an REI member. This way, I have an excuse to buy more gear at REI next year 😉 Hopefully these new lightweight boots will get the job done and allow me to see and do more in the mountains!

The clouds hung tough today and the sun did not emerge. On the drive home from Seattle, I saw that the foothills were enveloped in low clouds, so the planned hike today will have to wait. However, I am eager to break in my boots and will probably take a walk around the neighborhood with them later.

Klahanie: I worked out at the gym with my mom today. It's so cool to get personal training for free! She is so strong and a great motivator. We did shoulders, biceps, triceps, low rows, and reverse flyes. Afterwards, I went on a run around the dirt path encircling a small lake in Klahanie. I did three loops for 35 minutes.