In the past decade of climbing, three things have gotten softer: shoes, grades, and climbers themselves. Who’s to say whether these things are correlated or entirely incidental, but I for one am happy for at least one of these developments. When my review of the old Scarpa Boostic came out around 2012, I called it one of the softer shoes on the market. By today’s standards, that once supple beast could easily be called a clunker.
Fortunately, the team of shoemaking geniuses at Scarpa are not content to let one of their little babies fade into irrelevance like it’s an iPod. For 2021, Scarpa has given the Boostic a major overhaul, and the result absolutely shines in comparison to its predecessor: Modern, sleek, sensitive, and high performing on hard sport routes and boulders. I’m in love. This is why we named the Scarpa Boostic one of the best sport climbing shoes of 2021.
Here’s the full Scarpa Boostic review:
Specifications
High performance climbing shoe for face climbing, bouldering, and sport climbing.
New PAS heel system improves heel-hooking performance.
DTS-Tension Rand works with the new heel to maintain shape and performance of the shoe in a unique way
MSRP $199. Check price at Backcountry.com
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Pros
A unique curved midsole delivers a true suction cup fit—that you won’t only feel, you’ll actually hear when you slide these literal suckers on.
Heel system improves fit and performance—all without irritating your Achilles.
Comfortable, sensitive, and supportive means this shoe stands as a go-to for anything you can throw its way.
Cons
Hard to think of anything I would change. 🤷♂️
Fit
The first time I put the Boostic on, it sounded like a space ship shutting its doors and bringing the cabin up to pressure. The Boostic delivers a complete suction-cup fit, with no dead space or air pockets left in the shoe.
And despite the highly aggressive and highly asymmetrical fit, the Boostic was comfortable right out of the box. I found no need for a break-in period; they were ready to rock right away.
I chose the same size I’ve always worn in Scarpa, so I can report no discrepancy in sizing to other Scarpa shoes, for those who are familiar with Scarpa shoes. For those who may be new to the brand, these shoes seem to fit folks with wide feet.
Design
The big improvements to come to the Boostic are a new heel system and a new tensioned rand, which actually work together to deliver the overall feel and fit of the shoe. The heel system has changed to be thinner and more supple, putting virtually no strain or pressure on the Achilles’ tendon. This new heel design provided the opportunity to tension the shoe in a slightly new way, according to Scarpa.
To be honest, it’s hard to have much of a comment on these updates. It is only possible to notice what results from them, which is an exceptionally high-performing comfortable shoe.
Boostic Review: Performance
After two months of wear, the Boostic continues to not only deliver the kind of performance I’ve come to expect from Scarpa shoes, but actually surpass it. Edging, smearing, heel-hooking, and toe-hooking are a dream—on the steeps, slabs and everything in between. This is my top pick for a climbing shoe that does it all, really well.
The old Boostic was one of the best edging shoes ever made. The new Boostic is terrible in comparison. It lost much of its stiffness. The new heel design is much worse at heel hooking and the toe rubber design in the old Boostic was much better at toe hooking. There’s a reason why many Boostic devotees, including many professional climbers (like Jordan Cannon, etc.) are still climbing in the old Boostic even though they have access to the new design. The only thing this new shoe might be better at is smearing, but there are a million shoes that you can smear in. A truly stiff edging shoe is becoming hard to find and that’s a shame because it’s actually one of the most important tools you can have in your bag. I climbed v11 and 13d in the old Boostic and it was my favorite shoe for most styles. The new one is such a let down in performance that I don’t even wear it and I’ll likely sell both of my pairs (that I was given for free by Scarpa).
Yeah, I have heard similar things from lovers of the old Boostics! I like the new ones more though!