First Look: Scarpa Crux

The Scarpa Crux has been available in Europe and North America for a couple of years now and have won awards & been lusted at by climbers and day walkers in Australia from afar. However the good news is that the Crux has just landed in Australia in the past week as an exclusive style to Paddy Pallin.

The Crux comes in both men’s and women’s fits and is a great day walking shoe which can be used to approach rock climbs, day walks in fine weather with a light pack while still looking good enough to grab a beer & burger at the pub on the way home & not looking like you’re a hardcore hiker.

The key features of the Crux are a super sticky Vibram® Vertical rubber which provides great traction on all but icy surfaces, a rubber rand which covers the toe and wraps around to the lateral area of the shoe to provide some extra protection & durability when walking through some rough terrain and scrambling up rocks. The laces of the Crux run down to the toe for a custom fit which can even allows room for my wide foot and great precision with extra support provided by two Kevlar loops to lock the foot in place when walking on technical terrain.

Lichen Green/Mustard (L) & Hyper Blue/Yellow (R) are the two men’s colour options.

When first trying the Crux on I did find that there was some pressure felt at the base of the Ankle Malleolus (knobbly bone at the ankle), however after a day walking around the office and sometime to allow the leather and mesh upper to soften the Crux now feels like a worn in pair of old faithful shoes. The bonus of the slightly higher cut than a normal walking shoe is the extra ankle support given when walking on uneven terrain. Good news for those who like to shop online is that the Crux is true to size with my size 44EU foot fitting the 44EU Crux perfectly.

The Crux also falls into Scarpa’s Planet Friendly range. Using mesh, synthetic leather, lining, webbing, laces and rubber that are between 25 and 100 percent recycled content, as well as EcoPure in the midsoles so they biodegrade more quickly under landfill conditions, the Scarpa Crux set a higher standard in supporting low-impact technology.

I have only had the shoes for a couple of weeks now, which is far from enough time to give a full assessment. However I can say that after wearing them for some all day periods on my feet and on a couple of half day walks on the trail I can see them being my go to shoes which will become a well loved and used pair of shoes.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth review in August after I have taken them to Europe for a month of travelling, hiking, climbing, biking and via ferrata in the Alps.