Best of the Rest

The Otaki is a relatively recent innovation from La Sportiva, combining an approachable fit with a high level of performance for both sport and trad climbing. We’ve worn this shoe on everything from vertical dime edges and steep pocketed limestone to hard finger cracks (it was our shoe of choice for free climbing Moonlight Buttress) and have been super impressed with its performance. In many ways, it’s a velcro alternative to the Katana Lace above, but with a more aggressive downturn (a PD 75 last vs. the Katana’s PD 55) and S-Heel technology that provide some extra oomph on steep terrain (we’ll note that because of the velcro closure and more downturned shape, the Otaki is not a great fit for most crack climbs).