The Vasque Grand Traverse hits the sweet spot between hiking and climbing. One of the best all-rounders available, the Traverse resembles a lightweight hiking shoe with a rubber toe cap. Vasque coated the mesh on the Grand Traverse with polyurethane to increase durability, which is ideal in rocky environments.
Designed for long, demanding missions in the mountains, La Sportiva’s Trango Tech GTX effectively bridges the gap between a hiking and mountaineering boot. We took the hybrid (both the men’s and women’s versions) on an expedition into the Alaska Range… Avoid a slip or ankle turn by placing your feet in the most level spots. Approach shoes aren’t cheap, and much can be done after purchase to ensure their longevity and performance. Matt Ray is an outdoor journalist and photographer whose work appears in magazines and websites, including RedBull.com, Men’s Fitness and Nat Geo Traveller.
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Recent Approach Shoe Analysis
The term, “Approach shoe” encompasses a pretty broad range of shoes. To me, an approach shoe is a shoe that is lighter than a boot, and that has sticky rubber on it to help in scrambling over moderate rock. Due to the more rugged design of the Mountain Trainer, they are not great shoes for edging. They excel in the arena of scrambling over slippery gravel and boulders.
In practice, this means the second climber is often carrying a “second’s pack” with food, water, clothing, and TWO pairs of shoes. This sports car of an approach shoe is light, fast, with excellent handling. The nimble nature of these shoes make them comfortable for most approaches, especially single day missions. These shoes usually feature a stick rubber toe rand that comes up high on the front of the shoe to protect them while you edge, smear, or ascend a fixed line.
The advantages of leather include durability, water resistance, and foot protection. It’s important to note that leather stretches — especially when wet — but after broken in, approach shoes with leather uppers often provide a more supportive fit. Approach shoes meet this need, serving as a hybrid hiking boot and climbing shoe. With sticky rubber that wraps around your toes combined with the underfoot support of a hiking boot, approach shoes are ideal for pre-climb hikes.
The soles of these shoes are strong and can withstand any terrain or surface. Scarpa’s Mescalito approach shoes will keep you sure-footed when tackling rocky, rugged terrain. If you’re staying on the flat then a less stiff shoe may suit you better, but the toe protection, grippy rubber and breathable suede will help you keep your cool when the exposure gets scary. All men’s approach shoes in our collection can act as your go-to hiking shoe and climbing shoe. Then have a look at our range of men’s approach shoes and make sure to pair them with our light, breathable, and comfortable hiking backpacks.
Approach Shoe Buying Advice
I sized mine half a size down from my street shoe size so my toes touch the end of the shoe so I could climb better in them, and they are comfortable enough that I don’t really notice when I’m walking around all day. I love my comfy approach shoes, and they stick to rock way better. One section of an approach or trail can have me singing their praises and then next cursing them wishing I had proper deep lugged hiking boots, or mountaineering boots with crampons, etc. Your shoes are getting you through some tough environments, and mud, bits of sand or dirt, and wet terrain can all add up.
Remarkably, it’s also soft and flexible , which is great for comfort and speed on the trail. So, some bright spark realised that if you soled trail shoes in the same soft, super-grippy rubber as rock climber’s climbing shoes, then you’d have a hybrid that would be at home when the trail gets technical. The approach shoe was born, and has become a mainstay not just for climbers, but for anyone who wants to travel across rugged terrain. Another important thing to remember when buying a pair of approach shoes, or any other type of hiking/climbing/camping shoes for that matter, is that not all brands build their shoes according to the same standards. While you might already know your shoe size based on casual footwear, keep in mind that sports shoes sometimes deviate from the norm when it comes to sizing.
My only real complaint is that the outer rands began to peel back very badly on both shoes. The shoes have rubber rands, but they don’t extend very far on the outside of the shoe. The fabric rands that start where the rubber ends simply weren’t up to the rigors of jamming in cracks and hiking up and down talus fields. On these, however, I have armored the fabric rands with Seam Grip, to give them some additional durability.
Approach Shoe Care
Most approach shoes have a rubber rand that wraps around the front, sides, and top of your toes, designed to help you tackle fifth class terrain and moderate technical climbing. Most approach shoes also have a heel brake, which is a patch of sticky rubber on the back of the shoe. Approach shoes tend to have particular strengths, and corresponding weaknesses. Generally, the more comfortable they are to hike in, the worse their climbing performance. Some approach shoes provide significant protection from snow and wet conditions, while others have no water resistance at all.
We often “improve” the uppers with a healthy smattering of seam seal or shoe goo, especially if the upper isn’t fully leather. Make sure to check out our climbing shoe analysis for men and women, as well as our dedicated women’s approach shoe analysis, too. Five Ten’s Guide Tennie is widely considered to be the first approach shoe ever made, and over 30 years later, it’s still a crowd favorite. Some scrambling shoes offer better support than others, but most of the models we tested manage light to moderate loads with minimal foot fatigue.
This analysis is brought to you by longtime rock climber Matt Bento. As a seasoned dirtbag traveling around the country in his van, he’s spent countless hours hiking to the base of many crags. Over the last ten-plus years, he’s dedicated his life to climbing and living in many world-class climbing areas. Spending most of his time on the granite faces between Tuolumne Meadows and Bishop, California, he knows what’s required in a shoe that will stick to numerous surfaces from slabs to steeps.
Other features include a fabric and suede upper , a Gore-Tex waterproof membrane , climbing-style lacing (for a fine-tuned fit), and good all-round hold of the foot . When required, the shoe can also be re-soled – a more eco-friendly solution compared to buying a new pair. It’s designed to attack rocky and technical trails and to assist those who’ll be spending a fair amount of time on a mixture of walking and scrambling routes. The Gecko is a streamlined high performance approach shoe that excels at jamming cracks, smearing, and technical edging.
Dotty lug patterns like on the Five Ten Guide Tennie offer plenty of surface area for great grip on rock, but don’t perform as well on wet terrain or snow. The Guides are the narrowest shoe in La Sportiva’s TX line-up and very stiff, making them a great choice for standing on tiny edges or in aiders on big walls. The TX Guide sits somewhere in the mid-range between the TX2s and the TX4s but boast a climbing-shoe like feel. The brand integrated toe caps and heel counters into the design, effectively beefing up this shoe’s abrasion resistance. The outsoles sport a blend of Vibram Megagrip rubber across major climbing zones and more durable Idrogrip rubber in the heels.
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