La Sportiva Otaki

The La Sportiva Otaki works really well as a single shoe to use both for technical face climbing and the occasional crack. It’s comfortable enough to wear when belaying and on moderate crack climbs, making it a pretty strong one-shoe-quiver contender, though hard core crack climbers might want something with a little less downturn and asymmetry.

Another way to think about this is that the Otaki is ideally suited for the hard, cryptic combination of face and crack holds on vertical rock that typify the climbing in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. But if your goal is to spend the weekend swimming up hand cracks in Indian Creek or embarking on long, moderate alpine routes, you might find the Otaki to be a bit too aggressive.