Climbing

Three things happened during that session. First, I realized that my toe was going to hurt regardless of which shoe I wore (three months later the toenail remains entirely black). Second, I realized (correctly) that I had very much underestimated the Quantix and that I might soon love them. Third, I remembered why I’d spent the first 13 years of my climbing career preferring stiff shoes.go to full review

The new Katana Lace is an edging and micro-edging beast that is notably stiffer and pointier than its predecessor (it will especially suit climbers with long, narrow feet), and that is killer for pockets, pods, and thin cracks. Its construction feels beefed up, pointing to the shoe holding its precision and withstanding resoles longer than the old version. This is a high-end, niche shoe for thin face climbing, technical slabs with micro holds (not smeary slabs), cracks up to hands or fists,..." go to full review

The Tenaya Indalo is a justifiably expensive shoe that will perform admirably across various rock types and angles. As an all-arounder, the Indalo isn’t the best edging shoe we’ve ever tried, nor does it glom onto smears like some super-soft slippers. It will, however, tackle pockets, edges, slopers, and hooks with A-grade precision, and for long, varied sport pitches you’d be hard pressed to find a more capable shoe.go to full review

In the end, like most all-arounders, the Crawe is basically an intermediate shoe. Designed for bouldering and sport climbing, its most devoted wearers will be primarily gym climbers who want a shoe that can perform equally well on sub-vertical volumes, steep board climbs, and those end-of-day romps up the autobelays. For more specialized climbers, or climbers who care to invest in a quiver of shoes, the Crawe can play a solid role as a training shoe, but it is unlikely to be your go-to. As..." go to full review

First, about my testing: I used these shoes for two steady months of mainly granite crack and face climbing, with a couple days of techy limestone, quartzite, and gneiss thrown in to round things out. Throughout this time I also tested the new Katana Lace, a fantastic edging shoe itself, and I often climbed the same pitch twice wearing both pairs. The Katana Lace is stiff, downturned, and, most importantly, has a very pointed and low-profile toe. In Squamish, where I primarily climbed, many..." go to full review

The Instinct S nails the sweet spot for slipper fans who thrive on sensitivity and feedback, but who also want a solid dash of edging support for technical face, kneebars, and longer pitches. They are not as stiff and precise as the original (all-orange) Instinct S. But to offset this, the new Instinct S are much better at grabbing, heel-hooking, toe-scumming, and heel-toes: There’s a lot of glommy rubber that deforms into weird crevices and angles—the kind of funky footwork you find in..." go to full review

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 ..." go to full review

The Zenit earned its place in my shoe quiver for moderately difficult, high-volume days when I wanted support, comfort, and durability to not burn through my more expensive pairs. For those just entering the sport, the Zenit is a big step up from flat-lasted, imprecise entry-level or rental shoes, and will suit your climbing abilities much better than those banana-shaped boomerangs you see strapped to the pros as you dive deeper in the sport and strengthen your feet.go to full review

The launch of the Zenist traces back to an idea from Shiraishi and Kyle Ng, a Los Angeles-based climber, photographer and co-founder of Brain Dead, a firm that specializes in designing exclusive product lines with leading apparel companies. Shiraishi then took the concept of a unique collaboration to Evolv, which began work immediately on a stylish competition-level shoe that will help support the growth of climbing and access to the sport.go to full review

All approach shoes wear out, and some things to keep an eye on will be the heel cuff—it’s supple, making on-off super easy (I leave the shoes tied and just use my finger as a shoehorn), which is great while cragging. But in the past, approach shoes with soft cuffs have also tended to fray more quickly. The sole is also very thin—like rock-shoe-level thin—but Scarpa is claiming the SuperGum rubber is three times as durable as regular butyl rubber. We’ll see, but for now the cuffs are holding..." go to full review