User Review: La Sportiva Trango Extreme

La Sportiva Trango Extreme
Above: The current Trango Extreme, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed December 21, 2004 by John

Rating:
Materials: Leather /Primaloft / Absolute Alumina
Use: waterfall ice/ mixed ice
Break-in Period: 0 hours
Weight: 2 kg
Price Paid: $140 USD

The La Sportiva Trango Extreme is a good boot for mixed climbing where rock shoe-like precision and gymnastics are needed, but don't confuse it with an ice boot... it isn't a dedicated ice boot. There are problems that relate to the strengths of this boot for mixed.

The biggest problem with the boot is the extremely narrow heel profile compared to other mountaineering hybrids (like the Scarpa Freney XT). This is a huge problem if you plan on climbing waterfall ice because the heel of your crampon will shift around and rob frontpointing energy. To my knowledge there is no crampon on the market that will remedy this problem with exception of the Petzl Dart with Sidelock rear bails (maybe) which is a mixed crampon to start.

So to all potential users... for summer mountaineering and mixed climbing this boot can't be beat... but there are more viable alternatives if you want to climb waterfall ice.