Montrail Wasabi Climbing Shoe - 2007 BCS

I bought a pair of this shoes for my wife and seems she hasn't thanked me enough. She says they have an excellent grab and that they molded quite well. It seems it was a huge leap from her old Montrail's.

I got a pair of these climbing shoes less than a year ago and was quite disappointed with them. The hook and loop closure never really worked so they were always lose which made it almost impossible to do heal hooks. I climb 2-3 times a week but I still think that the rubber wore off too fast.

great shoe with lots of pluses. super sticky great smears, synthetic fibers so it fits the way you want it from day one to year one, limited stretch. did i mention that it is a vegan shoe awesome huh. the size does run smaller than norm might have to get a .5 to full size bigger but when you find your size you'll never want another shoe up there with you. and one of the best features is that it is bakeable, yes you can cook it and then perfectly mold it to your own foot, and did i say that its vegan too...

I demoed these shoes at a climbing comp at a time when I was solid at climbing 5.9s, but still having trouble getting 5.10s clean. I picked up these shoes from the demo stand and proceeded to send every 5.10 in the gym with no problems. Since then I've been sold on these shoes, and they've now taken me to 5.12. I love that I can have complete confidence that my Wasabis will stick on even the tiniest dime-sized foothold or feature. They are not as soft as bouldering shoes, but are flexible enough that I feel like I can actually grip holds with my toes, which is awesome! These shoes have also conformed to my feet so nicely that I can wear them all day with no discomfort -- sometimes I even strap my teva-like sandals over them and walk in them from crag to crag. I'm not sure if heating the shoes and letting the "heat-moldable foam" comform to my feet really did anything, but the foam pads sure have packed to fit my exact foot shape over time. I especially like the toe box on the Wasabis -- it seems very anatomically shaped. As for the rubber, it started wearing out after about 9 months of climbing 4-5 days per week. This might be a little fast, but didn't seem too bad to me. BTW, Montrail fixed the velcro problem with the Wasabis -- the velcro on the first couple batches of shoes was sown on crooked so that the straps didn't stay shut. I had this problem with my first pair of Wasabis, and I called Montrail and they replaced the shoes for free. It's been 10 months and the hook-and-loop on the new shoes has worked great.

This shoe is pretty sweet. I've had other climbing shoes before, but this one is definitely agressive enough to handle fairly tough climbing. Also it conforms to your foot very well and very fast. You don't overheat in it and it's a tough little mother. Definitely worth the money if your an intermediate climber.

I have worn at least a dozen different rock shoes in my life, for bouldering and sport climbing, and these are some of the better ones. They aren't the best shoes I've ever worn, but I'm a big fan. The Gryptonite rubber is actually a great rubber, and surprisingly sticky for how hard it is. At first, the rubber seems slippery and hard, but once on the rock, it grips pretty well. Gryptonite rubber is not as sticky and soft as Evolv's Trax rubber and 5.10's Stealth rubber, but I do like it. I also like the CTX thermo-moldable gel areas, under the toes and around the heel. Once you put the shoes in the oven and mold the CTX gel, they do fit your foot better and are more comfortable. For the price, these are a great shoe.