Field Tested: Ocun Nitro

Quite simply, the Nitro excels at toeing in on steep walls, toeing around laterally distant edges (“dragoning in”), yarding on pockets, and even (though there aren’t many of these on the MoonBoard) smearing on big, compy volumes. And it performs these tasks equally well both inside and outside. I tested the Nitros on Little Cottonwood Canyon’s granite boulders, where I found them high-performing on steeper and more gymnastic climbs. For instance, they served me well on the classic V8/9 Wrist Rocket, where you’re either climbing with your heels or generating dynamic power out of smears. Unsurprisingly, the Nitro also performed marvelously on the basalt boulders near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the shoe’s ability to curl into incuts nicely complemented the climbing style, which is often steep on sharp edges and pockets.