Climbing Shoes

SCARPA THUNDER $109Scarpa.com3 StarsThis is a good pick for an all-day, all-arounder. One of the stiffer new models, the Thunder is at its best on sla...

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.

The Talon is an updated version of the Aggro, a shoe I have worn on many gym and boulder circuits. The heel is now fully covered with rubber and the shoe sports a new lace system.

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

When Five Ten released the original Dragon, which sported a Velcro closure system and an aggressive, down-turned toe box, the shoe gained a following among core cave dwellers and others dabbling in the thuggish art of steep climbing.

The Corona is a working stiff.

A non-aggressive, all-day shoe, the Demorto is a new design from Evolv for people (i.e., those with Morton's toe) who want a symmetrical toe profile.

Imagine a world where hard cash grew on berry bushes; where climbing shoes were both high performance and comfortable, and worked equally well for multi-pitch trad, sport routes and bouldering.

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...

I was wrong. About 15 years ago I was a staunch supporter of the super-soft, sensitive cli...

I was all set to hate this shoe. Affordable and cushy comfortable -- surely it would climb like a stale hot dog bun. Wrong!

This new kick from Five Ten is one of the best all-day all-around all-performance climbing shoes I've worn recently and by a mile (ho ho). The VMile is built to go the distance on cracks, slabs, steeps -- and whatever else America's great multi-pitch areas toss your way.