Boreal Pirana
The Piranha seems like a sexed up version of last year's Boreal Joker, which I liked. It has a more aggressive rand that slingshots and compresses your feet into powerful paws, but not so much that it brutalizes your toes or requires a black-belt in thumb wrestling to get on.
e-boreal.com $135
- 4 Stars
The Boreal Piranha seems like a sexed up version of last year’s Boreal Joker, which I liked. It has a more aggressive rand that slingshots and compresses your feet into powerful paws, but not so much that it brutalizes your toes or requires a black-belt in thumb wrestling to get on. The Piranha also boasts a new, ribbed heel and a canvas instead of nylon lining. The tweaks and dinks make the Spanish-built Piranha a feisty and precise bouldering and sport shoe, one that’s on the medium-stiff side, able to edge on just about nothing. Kudos for the two, large pull-tabs and padded tongue, which help make the Piranha a pleasure to drive. I’d use it for super-technical face work such as at Smith Rock and Eldo, and micro-chip granite bouldering.
FIT: The high-volume fit suited my fat, wide, American foot.