The La Sportiva Kataki: A great shoe for vertical to moderately overhanging rock climbs

I wore them on a variety of climbs to test their limits, from easy, low-angled climbs to routes that were very overhanging, on both limestone and granite. The Katakis were definitely not the shoe for low-angled granite where maximum friction was required, as the downturn shape prevented the shoe from smearing well. On the severely overhung routes—where you're not standing on your feet so much as using them like a second set of hands to grab, hook and pull—the shoes didn't have the sensitivity I desired. But whenever I need to stand on tiny little nothings, I'll reach for the Katakis.