Scarpa Launches New Scrambling Boot

Scarpa has unleashed its new replacement for the Pro-Ascent and indirectly, the original and much missed Mescalito in the form of the Cristallo, a lightweight boot aimed at technical scrambling and via ferrata use.

The new boot - which we previewed last year - is part of Scarpa's Mountain range and, is also touted as being useable for 'hill, mountain and glacier walking'. It uses Scarpa's technical FT last, which gives a close, precise feel and fit for scrambling, but not at the expense of all-day comfort.

Colour scheme is, erm, bright. It looks very like one of those old fruit salad chews to us... The women's version gets a more discrete blue-ish theme.

There's a stiff Pro Fibre midsole to give enough support for edging and crampon use, a Gore-Tex lining and a chunky rubber rand to provide protection for the suede and synthetic upper.

The low-profile sole unit is capped with a Vibram Mulaz sole unit complete with sticky 'climbing zone' at the forefoot, which should give excellent grip on rock. The boot's also B1 crampon rated for alpine and glacier use.

And here's the women's version in a slightly less garish colour scheme...

Weight for a pair of size 42 is quoted at a very decent 1300 grammes per pair and there's also a women's specific model with fit adapted for the female foot. Weight 1120 grammes for a size 38.

The Cristallo retails for £149.99 and you can find more information at www.scarpa.co.uk.