La Sportiva Genius

Building off the success of the Futura’s No-Edge technology, La Sportiva decided to put that rounded toe on a lace-up shoe with a heel similar to the time-tested Testarossa to create the aptly named Genius. “A perfect example of the final product being more than the sum of its parts, the Genius is just that: snug but comfortable, an aggressive downturn, and incredible performance on anything from vert to super-steep,” said one tester who took them for single-pitch trad at Tennessee Wall and sculpted sandstone boulders at Little Rock City, both near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The idea behind No-Edge is that climbing shoes that are at their broken-in sweet spot are actually blunt at the toe, instead of having a sharp, precise edge. This design skips the breaking-in period so you get a brand-new shoe that is ready to crush. The Genius has the same cushy mesh sock as the Solution, which lets you really crank on the laces to get a “freaking perfect fit,” and testers lauded the offset laces and extra rubber wrapped up over the front of the shoe to make the Genius really ideal for toe hooking and even foot jamming. The outside rubber also extends pretty far back, making back-stepping and drop-knees even easier. Ding: The high price, but this is definitely one of the best high-performance rock shoes on the market.