Scarpa Mescalito Boot
Price: £120
Weight: 1448g (per pair, size 43)
Features: Crosta leather upper, Performance Flex mid-sole,
Megabyte S sticky rubber sole and rand, Cambrelle lining.
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Sticky walky, walky sticky, scrambly, climby...
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Cards on the table, so far we've used these boots for just one
weekend, but we're so bowled over, that we thought we'd tell you
about them now then update the test with further use.
A bit of background: the Mescalito used to be the El Cap,
basically the same boot ,with a combination of soft, comfortable
uppers with a mid-sole that's stiff enough laterally to stand on
small edges but flexible enought to walk in longitudinally, and, the
killer app', a specially developed sticky rubber sole in conventional
boot sole shape plus a substantial sticky rand at toe and heel for
those vicious-foot torqueing crack moves. The rubber's also claimed
to be durable enough for reasonable walking use. The boots are built
on a last developed from climbing shoes which throws weight onto your
big toe and the inside of your foot for better rock performance.
So what are they like? In a word, brilliant. Utterly comfortable
for walking from the off, with just enough flex in the sole to keep
feet happy. But it's on the rock that they really start to fly -
hopefully not literally. The rubber is almost as grippy as dedicated
rock boot compounds and we quickly developed a load of confidence in
the Mescalito's ability to stick to holds. It's helped by a high
degree of lateral stiffness which allows you to stand on the sort of
nubbins that most walking boots would just roll or slide off.
They also function well jammed into cracks with no worries that
the sole is going to fold in and slide out. Bad points? So far, very
few. The rough finished Crosta leather isn't going to be as water
resistant as a fully tanned hide, but then it's exceptionally
comfortable.
We used them on a Grade 2/3 scramble and they were in their
element, though they'd also be ideal for Via Ferratas, easy long
alpine rock routes and, if you're up to it, I'd guess, UK rock up to
about VS standard. The most natural scrambling boot we've ever used
short of pukka rock boots and we've never used them on a
scramble...
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Verdict: Absolutely bloody
fantastic. Solves the scrambling / Via Ferrata footwear
dilemma in one brilliant swoop, they are so good it almost
feels like cheating on scrambles and what's more, they're
comfy for walking from the first day. We love 'em so
far.
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Performance
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Value
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Help me scramble across to Scarpa's
UK web site
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Pushed for time:
Scarpa's dedicated scrambling,big wall, Via Ferrata boot
is a revelation. Sticky but durable (so far) rubber, enough
stiffness in the sole to cope with smallish edges and a
shape developed from a climbing boot last mean these feel
like part of your body and climb and scaramble with
confidence-inspiring efficiency. Where they really score is
in being comfortable for walking from day one meaning you
can do the approach and the route in one pair of boots. If
you're after a scrambling or Via Ferrata boot and it fits
your foot then look no further. Fantastic. Don't expect
total water tighness though.
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