Testing and Review of the Scarpa Instinct Rock Shoes.
Instinct Rock Shoes
Scarpa began in 1938 in the mountains of northern Italy as a shoe company and has evolved since the 1950's into one of the leading designers and manufacturers of mountain footwear including hiking and mountaineering boots, rock and running shoes. and backcountry ski boots.
The Instincts are Scarpa's newest rock shoes and are considered one of their highest performance lace-up models for bouldering and steep climbing. Since I am more of an alpine trad climber than the other climbing disciplines, it seemed that this could prove to be an interesting test of these somewhat specialized shoes in a less steep environment.
In the last few months of testing the Instincts, I've climbed mostly on granite nearby my home in Estes Park, Colorado and on the alpine faces of the Little Switzerland area of the Alaska Range as well as some days on the sandstone walls of Eldorado Canyon. My preferred all-around rock shoes in the past have been either slippers such as the Katana's or or the Scarpa Visions so I wasn't sure how the Instincts would stack up to these models.
The best part of this test for me was that the Instincts actually feel and perform similarly but better than my favorite shoes - they are super comfortable and yet solid enough edging shoe that can also can smear when necessary and with very good rock sensitivity which is key.
As I've progressed as a climber, using the feet as hands for grabbing and pulling with both heel and toes has helped me to move more easily and in balance. These shoes are crafted to enable the climber to use their feet as more than just under-foot steps. WThe generous sticky-rubber patch atop the toe makes these shoes highly capable on roof climbs and arêtes, where toe hooking can be key.
About the Scarpa Instinct Rock Shoes
With Scarpa shoe designer Heinz Mariacher’s tensioned Active Rand Technology, the power of each step is apparently "sent back to the climber", putting more power over your toes and making it easier to climb with your feet. Due to a not-too-small toebox these have a super comfortable fit, especially for a high-performance shoe. This is likely because the crafted suede upper quickly conforms glove-like to your feet, and with double stitching, it's designed to hold this snug shape for a long time. This shoe can can handle it all: bouldering, to sport, to crack climbing; the Instinct gets top marks in all categories.
When these shoes first arrived in the mail and I slipped them on my feet, I felt for the first time what Cinderella must have known immediately with the fabled glass slipper! Maybe due to too much time at the computer, as the air rushed out of these too perfect fitting shoes, both feet went into insta-cramps that left me laughing and crying on the floor instantaneously for a full minute. I though while rolling around the carpet, "that's what I call a precise fit"! After a bit of a foot stretch, I put these back on and haven't had a foot cramp since.
In just a few days of use, these shoes stretched perfectly to fit my foot without any pressure points. I probably could have gotten them smaller as suggested but I wanted to be able to use them in AK and on multi-pitch rock above 12k in Colorado, so I went for a street shoe size instead. With my low pain tolerance, I would likely go down a full size maximum from street shoe size for highest performance and I know that is still considered 'loose' by today's standards.
I've never worn a downturned shoe before these, but this shouldn't be a put-off to the uninitiated as the toe down feels pretty normal after an hour or so of climbing. These shoes have an all new rubber which performs very well and the grab is excellent on granite and sandstone. A generous sticky-rubber patch atop the toe makes these shoes highly capable on roof climbs and arêtes, where toe hooking is key.
The spacious toe box allows for a comfortable fit, yet remains sensitive and responsive. Meanwhile, the downturned, pointed toe grabs tiny edges and pockets extremely well. These shoes are less suited to thin cracks where a super small toe profile is key and for all sustained edging, a stiffer, board lasted shoe might be better. Personally, I would likely wear these on everything except the thinnest cracks and for deep water soloing as I'd hate to ruin these beauties with too many dunks in the salt water.
After having taken the Instincts on dozens of climbing days from sport to alpine rock in the last few months, they've become my everyday, high performance shoes which means they are ideal for multi-pitch routes on the Diamond as well as frictioning up a Lumpy Ridge face or holding an edge in Eldorado - these babies can do it all.
In fact, I was so impressed with these shoes that I made a short video to express my feelings:
