we are planning our 1st ski tour at the end of the month in Grindelwald and I would welcome some advice on boots! . I have only ever used alpine boots before (all lift served off piste], but have been looking to replace my old boots soon.Being realistic most of my skiing will be lift served or on piste in the future ,but I hope to do a few days touring whenever possible. So the question is, do I just hire some boots for now- or are there some boots that would do both jobs well enough ?.The added complication is that I find it difficult to get boots that fit me well, and I do not want to have a bad 1st day in badly fitting hire boots!! Thanks.

Hi brian
I’ve been touring the last few years - I did my first hut to hut tour in my alpine boots - possible but not recommended. If I were you I would hire boots to start with and see how you get on.
If you have difficult feet to fit then you will probably need to try all the makes of boot (there are way fewer than for alpine boots) to try and find one which has a shape that works for your foot.
The boots which seem popular as a ‘one boot does everything’ are the ‘freeride’ boots which are stiffer and heavier than most touring boots but give better downhill performance. One thing you have to watch with these is whether they are compatible with alpine downhill bindings or only fritschi etc which may be important for you depending on your ski set up.

Personally, because my touring boots are not that comfortable I have 2 sets of boots and I use my alpine boots when around a resort and for short skins (up to an hour or two) and only use my touring boots for long tours.

Does that help?

we will be skinning for about 3 hours each day (2day tour ) so I will probably be ok with my alpine boots and keep a eye out for a bargin pair for touring? -thanks

IMHO don’t go for bargin touring boots - if you find you like touring and will be doing lots then get something that really fits - touring seems to do a good job of giving blisters for some people (like me!) so take plenty of blister prevention kit - moleskin, tape, compeed etc, and bargin boots not likely to help!

Everyone has their own view but I leave my boots mainly done up even on the up as that seems to reduce the amount of friction and hence blister likelihood.

You can see lots of opinions about one boot for everything on this forum from far better qualified people than me!

Presumably you’re going to rent the rest of your touring setup (skis, bindings, skins, etc). Why not also rent boots which are designed for what you’re doing?

Anyway I would have thought the smart thing to do would be to first try a half-day tour before committing to an overnight. That way, your feet have a few days to recover from the damage you inflict on them. (Actually even with a good-fitting pair of touring boots which I own, it’s not unusual to get a blister on the first day of the season).

And whatever kind of boot you try, if you find you didn’t like it, you can try something else before going on a multi-day trip.

Three hours for two days in a row skinning in downhill boots strikes me as fairly discouraging for any future ski touring.

Ken

thanks Ken we - are planning a half day before and will be hiring our set up . I will try some hire boots but as I said before I have got odd feet!!! --thanks

Badly fitting hire boots, hmmm I think we’ve all been there at some time but they may still be better than touring in ski boots. If you are mainly going to do downhill skiing then I wouldn’t buy touring boots for the job but I understand the dilemma with hire boots, especially if you have difficult feet. For touring don’t get them too tight fitting but they are generally more comfortable than alpine boots anyway.

Touring boots v alpine boots for me depends on how good your skiing is and what conditions you are likely to encounter. I have touring boots which are so comfortable that they are like slippers but if the conditions are difficult to ski down in e.g. crusty stuff, then I ski like a muppet wearing them. I regularly tour in my alpine boots if the expected conditions are variable/poor. They are heavier but at least I can tackle whatever is out there, because there often isn’t much choice! I don’t think hiring boots is much help. The liners tend to be a bit flat and they have been moulded by other peoples’ feet and they not be much like the ‘new’ ones. Beware of new boots as they can chew your feet to bits. Last year a friend had to cancel his planned attempt at the Haute Route as his new boots macerated his feet while skiing the week before the trip. Enjoy your touring but beware it’s addictive

Hallo Brian
In the first place i have to say that i can not understand why people is slippering around in alpine boots and carrying superheavy alpinebindings.
It is much moore secure to have rubbersoles under your feets, which I learned in a close to fatal fall on a slippery isy stonetraverse on a tour years ago.
Buy a pair of medium stiff to stiff freeride rando boots and a pair of Dynafits and then you dont ever use anything else even on liftserved terrain.

thanks for the advice everyone I wil try to post a report!!on how I get on --Thanks