Boostafazzu!: A Review of the New Scarpa Booster

Being a dyed in the wool 5.10 Velcro fan it took some effort for me to actually get round to pulling these new Scarpa's on but when I did get round to it I was quietly impressed.

Performance:
This new high-performance "toe-down" Velcro is what I would call a specialist secondary shoe... "What?" I hear you cry. Well essentially for what it's designed for - steep edgey or pocketed/heal hugging terrain - it's a beast of a plimsoll, giving optimum power in the toe box, a great low volume fit and a narrow well fitting heel.

So if Parisella's Cave, The Bowderstone, Frankenjura, or Hueco Tanks are your bag then this shoe is well worth considering. But, if your after an all terrain vehicle which is as equally suitable for small edge "tick-tacking" up big face's as it is for powering through steep overhangs on pockety grips then this may not be the shoe for you.

Unlike the previous generation of Scarpa rock shoes the Booster (and it's peers) are now armed with Vibram XSV mk2 (or XS Grip) rubber, which is a vast improvement on the old Mega-Grip soles used previously.

Another neat new development is the use of Lorica in the toe box of all the new Scarpa models. Lorica is a non stretch synthetic material which has a soft feel and improves comfort across the tops of the toes, whilst at the same time preventing the toe box of the shoe from bagging out which cause shoes to lose shape, and thus ability to hold the foot in the right shape. Meaning the Booster holds its shape much longer. A final modification on the old Scarpa Velcro models is the well thought out and adhered rubber patch on the toe box. This gives you a useful edge over shoes without this feature when toe scumming on underclings and/or roof cracks.

Downsides:
As pointed out above the main downside of this shoe is also its biggest plus point; i.e. it's pretty specialist and (in my view) makes a great shoe for the climber who has more than one pair of foot tools. Construction wise, as with all Scarpa's, these shoes are very well put together, although, the Lorica fabric (used to construct the toe box) is not the most durable outer material and will scuff up if you are not a practitioner of careful footwork. Fortunately the Booster also has the rubber toe patch which should help to protect the fabric.

Summary:
So to summarise, this is a great technical shoe perfectly suited to steep bouldering and sport routes, however the asymmetric toe-down nature of the shoe will lean it toward the specialist end of the market and not toward the all-rounder market where the idividual wants one pair of shoes for everything.

Price: £70.00

Purchase the Booster.