It’s spring. sheep are bleating in green fields. Chicks cry for worms. Mountaineers shake off their frosty coils and turn toward the mountains where couloirs and ridges are crusted with just the right mix of neve and snow. Time for peak bagging! But selecting footwear presents a labyrinth of decisions. ...

Mad Rock has revitalized the rock-shoe market with innovative designs, and its wholesale-like prices have forced other manufacturers to drop their rates in turn....

With space-disco styling—and the most ferociously down-turned last I’ve seen—this shoe is not for the fainthearted. Like last year’s Mad Rock Hooker, the Loco features a rubberized upper toe and aggressively serrated rubber heel cup, making these shoes easily the grabbiest I’ve used for toe scums and heel hooks....

The Mad Rock Hottie, soft, sexy and flexible, was the most comfortable of the women’s shoes. With its padded cuff and dual external pull tabs, this shoe slid on and off smoothly....

The Blaze Pro could have been one of our favorite shoes....

The Blaze Soft has a flexible sole and “rockered” street-shoe-type last....

This is Mammut’s best shoe to date, and by miles. I rank it alongside any top-shelf steep-rock, sport or bouldering model....

Out of the box, the Myo (billed as an “expert slipper”) looks like a high-end shoe. Stiff, downturned, with a talon-sharp toe, I expected them to edge fiendishly and hurt like the dickens. For about a month, the Myo delivered on both counts. ...

With a dove-gray synthetic upper and translucent gel-like flashing, the Smoothy is an eye-catching shoe....

As you would expect from a company that earned its reputation equipping trail runners, Montrail’s Zealot is exceptionally well made....

A climber’s approach shoe is asked to do more jobs than Jesus, the guy on whose shoulders rests both the salvation and destruction of the human race, depending on which sect you listen to....

The Corona is a working stiff....

The Spirit is about as comfortable as your favorite pair of jeans....

RED CHILI SAUSALITO 2 $89Redchili.de3 StarsThe lace-up Sausalito was the stiffest shoe I tested and, not surprisingly, excelled at edging. The low-top......

Red Chili Tornado, $149Steep rock: 1 StarFace climbing: 1.5 StarLong routes: 3 StarUpper: Leather, linedRubber: 5mm VibramThe Tornado is a hybrid: Hal......

The marketing blurb I received with the X-Cube proclaimed it as built for the hardcore and more....

Rock and Ice review of La Sportiva's new rock shoe, the Katana Lace Up....

Help! I didn’t understand this shoe. Down-to-the-toe laces, stout rands and a blunt toe box are features I’d praise on a long-route shoe....

This year everyone is trying to make them: moderately sporty, moderately stiff Velcro shoes...

Slightly stiffer than the Evolv RockStar (reviewed above) and with a touch more tension in the heel, the Eclipse Lady is the most powerful women’s edging shoe we tested. ...