Pushed for time? Click here
Price: £160
Weight: 1.7kg
Crampon Compatibility: B3
Okay, we know there's not a lot of snow and ice about right now,
which is a shame cos there's a brand new pair of Scarpa Freney
technical ice boots sitting in the editorial office. So what you say,
but we have a cunning plan, so watch this space.
The Freney is one of the new generation of technical ice boots
combining a 100 per-cent rigid sole to take step-in crampons with a
supportive but flexible leather upper toughened up with a wide,
sticky rubber rand. A pair of 42s is claimed to weigh in at 1.7kg,
compared to Scarpa's Vega plastic boot at 2.5kg or the Matterhorn
leather winter boot at 2.1kg and you can feel the lightness as soon
as you put them on. In fact, it takes a while to get used to the idea
that something this light and comfortable is an ice boot.
The Freney uses Scarpa's FS Climbing Last which is designed to put
the emphasis onto the big toe side of things and messing about on
small edges suggests that they're going to give good feel
front-pointing on ice. For my typically British feet, they also gave
a good compromise between closeness and comfort and, probably,
comfort and precision. The slick lacing system and high ankles also
contribute. Initial impressions are that these should be a hot ticket
for specialised ice and mixed.
There are a couple of things you should be aware of before rushing
out to buy a pair for that winter trip to La Grave. First the Vibram
Tepui sole unit is both relatively thin and flat. The former means
that wear could be a problem in the medium term, the later that they
aren't as comfortable for walk-ins as, say, the Vega which has a
pronounced rocker on the sole so your foot rolls naturally with every
pace.
Scarpa's
UK web-site used to suggest that they hoped to sell the Freney as
a Scottish winter boot as well as a pure water ice and mixed weapon,
but the above, combined with the soft, nu-buck leather upper means
that there are probably better choices around for that particular
bucket of wet, cold slush.
The other consideration is potentially more thorny. The FS last
gives the boot a distinct curve not unlike a banana-style rock boot,
which makes individual crampon compatibility an issue. My usual
Grivel 2Fs simply wouldn't mate with the Freney, despite huge amounts
of coaxing - think Chinese pandas. DMM's asymmetrical Terminators on
the other hand, are a perfect match, or will be once the toe section
of the sole has lost a couple of mm of rubber.
So, if you don't fancy buying a new pair of crampons to go with
your new boots, take your existing foot iron-wear along when you buy.
Oh, best take the credit cards too, the Freney goes for a cool
160 squid.
Verdict: Promising, but wait till we've tried them on ice.
Watch this space.
Spirit me off to Scarpa
land
Pushed for
time: Combination of lightness, rigidity and flexible
uppers should make these a hot ticket on ice, but check crampon
compatitbility unless you want to buy a new pair
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