NO BOOT – OR EVEN ANY ITEM OF GEAR – SAYS ‘8000m’ LIKE A PAIR OF OLYMPUS MONS. AND LA SPORTIVA KNOWS IT. FOR DECADES NOW THE OLY MONS HAS BEEN THE LEADING EDGE OF TECHNICAL EXTREME CONDITIONS CLIMBING, BUT AS OTHER BRANDS CAUGHT UP, LA SPORTIVA LEAPT INTO NEW IDEAS THAT STIRRED UP WHAT MAY BE POSSIBLE. NEVER SHY OF ADOPTING AND PUSHING NEW ELEMENTS, THE OLY MONS CUBES ARE A DEPARTURE FROM THE WAY MOST BOOTS ARE GOING. DEEMED THE WARMEST HIGH ALTITUDE BOOT, THE CUBES ARE ALSO THE MOST COMPLEX. IF YOU ARE ALREADY WELL SERVED BY THE OFFERINGS FROM SCARPA, THE NORTH FACE, LOWA, MILLET etc YOU MAY NOT BE CONVERTED – BUT IF YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD NIGGLES AND ISSUES WITH FIT, THE CUBES COULD BE THE SOLUTION.
SUPERFICIALLY THE BOA ‘LACING’ STILL GETS ATTENTION (DESPITE BEING ON CLIMBING BOOTS FOR OVER A DECADE NOW…) AND IT’S PROVEN ITSELF TO WORK FINE. ARGUABLY EASIER TO ADJUST, WE THINK THE REAL ADVANTAGE IS THE SMOOTHER & MORE EVEN TENSION IT APPLIES ACROSS THE FOOT, SOMETHING PEOPLE WITH HIGHER VOLUME FEET WILL APPRECIATE.
THE SOLE UNIT HAS CARBON RIGIDITY AND INSULATION INSIDE, AS MOST TOP SHELF BOOTS WILL, BUT RATHER THAN MINIMIZE OUTER SOLE THICKNESS TO SAVE WEIGHT THEY HAVE INCREASED IT TO GIVE MORE ROCKER FOR BETTER WALKING AND SKIING, AND PROBABLY A BIT MORE WARMTH. THE OUTER SOLE HAS MORE HIGH-DURABILITY BLACK RUBBER THAN SOME OTHER 8000m BOOTS WHICH MAY HELP WITH WEAR – THE EXPOSED STUFF IS OK ON SNOW, BUT GETS TRASHED FAST (MEASURED IN DAYS) ONTO ROCK.
WHERE THE CUBE REALLY DOES THINGS DIFFERENTLY IS WITH THE INNER BOOT, OR BOOTIE. SINCE THE G2SM, LA SPORTIVA HAS GONE WITH A THINNER INNER BOOT THAT FITS BETTER THAN THE OLD ALEVOLITE ONES BUT ISN’T AS WARM BY ITSELF. THIS HASN’T BEEN TO EVERYONES LIKING (WITH MORE THAN ONE CLIMBER SWAPPING FOR A DIFFERENT INNER) BUT OTHERS SWEAR BY IT, AND THE CUBE HAS ADDED A THIRD BOOTIE TO PLAY THE MIDDLE GROUND.
CLIMBING-WISE, IT’S A CHUNKIER RIDE THAN THE SCARPA’S WITH A FEW MORE MM’s BETWEEN FOOT AND CRAMPON AND MORE ROCKER, BUT THINGS WOULD NEED TO BE VERY TECHNICAL BEFORE IT MATTERED, AND FIT CERTAINLY OVER SHADOWS THE ISSUE. IT’S STILL FAR BETTER THAN THE OLY MONS OF THE PAST AS THE TOE BOX ITSELF IS MORE STREAMLINED, BUT IF A SKINNY FOOT IS INSIDE, IT MAY NOT BE THE BEST MATCH (NOTE THE MOST PRECISE 8000m BOOT WE KNOW IS THE NORTH FACE S8K VERTO EXTREME).
