SCARPA Furia

Getting Them On

This is another thing that I like about the Furia. The upper at the entry is mesh, so it has a good bit more stretch to it than the elastic material used in a lot of other Velcro closure shoes. There is also an extra fold of material there that allows the shoe to open up pretty wide, making the Furia significantly easier to get on than shoes like the Solution and Team 5.10.

To make sure the shoe still conforms well and fits snugly, the upper strap wraps around the top of the shoe a bit further than on other shoes.

Performance

Simply put, I found that the Furia did live up to its claim to integrate impressive sensitivity and edging power. This balance of power and sensitivity, especially in the toe, was one of the first things I noticed when climbing in the Furia.

Right away, I could feel footholds much better than in a shoe like the Solution, but I was still able to edge effectively and feel secure and powerful on my feet.

The Furia feels similar to the Team 5.10 in that it is very soft through the middle and stiffens a bit at either end. But unlike the 5.10 Team, the Furia is able to maintain good edging power.

As someone who is constantly switching between shoes to find the perfect one for each boulder problem, I was psyched to find one that seemed to do it all.

With a similar integration of sensitivity and power in the heel, heel hooking felt good, too. And with a decently sized patch of Vibram on the toe, toe hooking felt very secure.

In other words, the Furia is a great all-around shoe. But it excels as an all-arounder rather than as a specialist.

It was one of my projects up at Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont that made me think twice about the ‘all around’ performance of the Furia. When I started trying the problem that session, I had Furias on both feet.

Pretty quickly, I realized there was a right foothold that I needed a bit more edging power for, and I switched to a Solution on that foot. Shortly after that, I wanted a softer heel on my left foot for the next move, so I switched to a Team 5.10.

This isn’t to say that the Furia is bad at edging or at heel hooking. I would call it above average for bouldering shoes. But for me, when working a problem at my limit, I needed shoes that are among the absolute best at what they do in a particular area.

So as an all-around shoe, the Furia is perhaps better than either the Solution or Team 5.10. But when it comes to specific characteristics such as absurd edging power, I personally have yet to find a shoe that beats the Solution.

Still, I really like the Furia. And if I had to choose only one pair of shoes to take on a trip, it very well might be the Furia since it is such a well-rounded shoe.

Bottom Line

The SCARPA Furia is a well-constructed shoe that manages to be both sensitive and powerful. And given that combination, the Furia makes for a great all-around shoe for bouldering or hard sport climbing. It could also serve as a nice addition to a quiver of more ‘specific’ shoes, as it will become for me.