Scarpa Stix

Instant-classic alert! Cobbler genius Heinz Mariacher (the man behind some of the sport’s most notable shoes like La Sportiva’s Mythos and Testarossa and the Scarpa Boostic) has struck gold again. The Stix packs top-end performance in a surprisingly easy-to-wear synthetic-leather slipper. Testers loved this shoe for anything and everything steep: from the short and horizontal Kill By Numbers (V5), Joe’s Valley, Utah, to the 80-foot and varied Colossus (5.10c), City of Rocks, Idaho. “Out of the dozen pairs of performance rock shoes I’ve owned, these have struck the best balance between stiffness and sensitivity,” one discerning user said.