Vertex Alpine Shoe Men's

I'm a climber of over 25 years and a guide of over 15 - I've been through a LOT of approach shoes. For most of my technical rock guiding I like approach shoes that I can wear up to 5.8 or 5.9. This shoe is not that. Granted I sized this shoe comfortably, but I think even if I had downsized it would still just be a bit too clunky and imprecise. For harder climbing, I tend to prefer trail runners for the approaches as I find them more comfortable (and I’ll switch into climbing shoes for the climb). This shoe is also not that. As other reviewers have noted, the heel cup can create pain on the back of the heel if the shoe isn’t broken in or the approaches are long. And again, it’s not quite nimble enough to feel like a trail runner. In spite of all of this, I think this shoe is an amazing approach shoe for a lot of situations: If the approaches aren’t too long or you aren’t expecting to climb in the shoe, this shoe is great: Apart from the heel issue, it is very comfortable — it feels like a sock going on but is not sloppy. It is also incredibly durable and well made. Most approach shoes I wear will start to rip on the outside near the rand along my little toe. These have held up to an incredible amount of abuse. I find the Vibram outsole to be very grippy and sure-footed (though I didn’t initially — it took some breaking in for me to feel good in them — but now I love them). The lacing design is fantastic — lacing is quick and secure, and the laces are well-protected. I particularly like the garage for hiding them away. And one of my favorite features are the two pull loops: One on the tongue, the other on the heel. ARC’TERYX nailed this small but important feature (I can’t believe how other major climbing shoe manufacturers fail to do this right). The brilliance of this solution is they’re designed in such a way that the loop stay open and are incredibly easy to put a finger through. There’s no fiddling to get your finger into a folded-flat piece of webbing. This also make it very easy to clip the shoes to a carabiner and I have confidence in this loop not tearing (and losing my shoes as a result). And of course, the shoe looks great. I hope that ARC’TERYX will continue making this. Really, if they just tweaked the heel padding a *SMALL* amount it would go a long way towards answering the chief complaints around this shoe. I worry about tweaking it too much (say, to make it climb better) for fear they’d ruin a good thing.

Overall very happy with these. Use them extensively in Red Rock NV for hard scrambling and approach. I broke them in on some short routes before going longer (10+ miles and 3,000ft+ elevation). I always wear Darn Tough socks and usually have band-aids on my heels for extra protection on long hikes when I know there there will be lots of elevation. No blisters to date. Very confident with the traction on slabs, the tread on loose rocks and the edge is good when I need to tackle 4/5 obstacles while scrambling.

I love this product At first i dont want to buy it but my wife encourage me and i think it’s a great deal and worth it.cheers!

Previous Arc'teryx approach shoes and trail runners were comfortable and durable. These improve on durability but have completely dropped the ball on comfort. The knit collar works great at keeping out debris. The toe cap (and full perimeter) protection is amazing and the grip is just as amazing as previous generations. My feet are quite resilient and rarely blister but in these shoes they got shredded like something I've never experienced. I would only recommend buying these shoes for summits where the approach to high class scrambles is short.

I really wanted to like these shoes—they look great, the traction is solid, and the weight feels good on the trail. The durability also seems decent. Unfortunately, the comfort is where they completely fail. I’ve worn them on a short 2-mile hike and ended up with blisters on my heels. I’ve also taken them on a 15-mile hike (even using the socks that are specifically meant for these shoes), and the result was the same: blisters and sore arches. No matter the distance, my heels and arches come out hurting every single time. For the high price tag, I expected a shoe I could trust for hiking without pain. Instead, I’ve found them to be extremely uncomfortable, making them impossible to recommend if you actually plan to use them on the trail. They may look good, but that’s about it.

It was really uncomfortable and It gave me a blister the first time I used it