Scarpa Techno X

This Italian shoe company proved that comfort doesn’t mean sacrificing performance and vice versa with the new flat-lasted Techno X. Testers loved the stiffness for standing on the patina flakes of Skyline (5.8) and the shoe’s versatility for simultaneous jamming and dime-edging on Wheat Thin (5.7), both in City of Rocks, Idaho. “I could climb easy five-pitch routes just as well as I could pull hard on vertical, techy 5.11,” one tester said. “They had a tight feeling, which inspired confidence on tiny footholds, but they weren’t so tight that I had to take them off at every belay.” This is thanks to a tension-randing system (the rubber is stretched out as it’s placed on the shoe) that places the power in your toe like a high-performance kick, but without a downturn, these shoes remain easy to wear. Vibram XS Edge rubber remains one of the stickiest on the market, and 4mm thickness is enough to protect your feet but not eliminate sensitivity. Whatever your objective, as long as it’s vertical or less, the Techno X will do you right.