Is a scrambling boot - however good - just an expensive luxury for spoiled journos or would you genuinely consider buying a pair for yourself? Of course when I were a lad we climbed in t'wet with socks over our gym shoes fur grip an all...
There was a time when it was common to climb in walking boots on grades up to VS. These days sticky rock shoes are used for climbing at all grades, and are the first piece of kit beginners buy (along with a harness). People have forgotten that it is possible to climb in boots.
At the standard of difficulty found on most scrambles ordinary boots should be entirely satisfactory. If you find yourself needing sticky soles, you should start questioning whether your're on a hard scramble or an easy climb, and should be equipped accordingly.
As a pair of climbing boots for lower-grade mountain classics, they might have a niche.
Look at a Nepalese porter negotiating all manner of tricky terrain in nothing more than flip flops, and you could be forgiven for thinking ALL of this fancy footwear is nothing more than an expensive luxury.
But that's not the point, is it? If you have specialist shoes for rock, ice and walking, then why not scrambling too?
The idea is to make the experience as comfortable and safe as possible. Flexible, grippy boots would allow you to use a wider variety of footholds, so reducing the amount of high-stepping and jugging that big boots can force you into on higher-grade scrambles or low grade climbs. This makes the whole experience more interesting as well as less tiring.
My reservation about this particular boot is its suitability for wet British conditions. Even if the rock isn't too bad, the approach is often soggy, and a scrambling boot needs to be able to cope with both. I've trashed the uppers of my Scarpa Freney boots(similar leather)in the last couple of weeks on boggy Scottish walk-ins. So I would see the Mescalito as a summer boot only. But still a nice idea if you've got the £.
Have you tried any of the proofing treatments on the leather? I'm interested as the review of the Mescalito in Climber actually praised its water resistance (June 99) though it did say it wasn't quite as good as a normal leather. It did sound unlikely at the time mind. I guess if I weren't such a paranoid wuss and didn't want to end up in a sewage treatment plant, I'd go ghyll scrambling in 'em.
My take on the boot by the way, is that they'd be utterly wasted on grade one-type scrambles, but on 2s and 3s and easy mountain rock routes would be great, also ideal for Via Ferratas. I don't do big walls or aid routes, but I suspect they'd be good for those too.
I'm all in favour of live and let live. Once you start deciding that something's an unnecessary frippery, where do you draw the line? No-one's saying that you have to have special boots to go scrambling, but if you want them, they exist and they do the job flippin' well. I guess you could always wear gaiters for the walk-in btw.
I use the recommended Nikwax treatment on the leather of my boots, and wear gaiters (not the Yeti type though - too much fag to take on and off). My feet didn't get wet, but the suede-type upper just seems to have sucked up all that peaty bogwater, then distorted as it dried out (whereas Mr Collins' Nepal Extremes cleaned up fine afterwards).
The Freneys are fine on snow, ice and rock, but I think this kind of upper is just not tough enough for Northern Britain. Scotland 1 Boots 0.
