The Scarpa Furia S is a soft, sensitive climbing shoe that boasts unusual power in the toe box, allowing for your best performance on any terrain. With it’s new look, single-strap control system, and a re-designed heel, the Furia S kept everything you loved from the original and improved the rest. Perhaps this time around, it will finally get the recognition it deserves!
We had a chance to review the Scarpa Furia S over a six month period and here is what we thought.
Scarpa Furia S
To guide our review, we have broken the shoe down into its specific components to give you a full summary of its features.
Toe Box
When we were first introduced to the original Furia, we could not believe that such a sensitive shoe, designed for overhanging rock, could provide so much power on vertical rock and the Furia S is no exception. Building off the original Furia, the toe box on the Furia S is one of its defining features. Creating power in almost any situation, the Furia S featuring Vibram® XS Grip 2 rubber and a 1mm Flexan midsole with a floating big toe pad to add support to the toe box without losing sensitivity.
Throughout our field test, it was undeniable that the toe box of the Furia S excelled on overhanging rock and could handle variations in rock angle better than any shoe on the market. Its toe hooking capabilities were better than other shoes we have tested and its soft, flexible rand allowed for the most technical of smearing, from granite to limestone. Time and time again, we found ourselves turning to the Furia S when a route would start off with overhanging rock but require a change in angle or vertical top out.
Heel Design
The Furia S heel design features an extension of the rubber from the mid portion of the shoe down to the sides of the heel that is separated by an indented channel (Integral Power Rib) that runs the full length of the shoe.
After field testing the Furia S on a variety of terrain, we found that the newly designed heel cup of the shoe was an large improvement over the previous model, providing a good fit and a sensitive feel, but did not hold up to the structure and control of other ‘traditional’ heels on the market that are built around a heel cup.
Because of its heel design, the Furia S provided a lot of sensitivity when heel hooking but seemed to lack structure in placement and power. We found that it took us a little time to get used to the feeling of the heel in comparison to other shoes but after getting used to it, we became accustom to its sensitivity and continued to use the Furia S on demanding projects that required more technical heel hooking. From a consumers perspective, it is important to note that the Furia S heel design does require some adjustment time and likely would hold more power if it had more structure from a traditional heel cup.
Comfort and Sensitivity
When it comes to comfort, the Furia S is one of our favourite shoes to climb in because of its sensitive nature and the soft feel of the shoe both inside and out. When climbing any route, the Furia S feels like an extension of your foot and glides beautifully up overhanging terrain. After a long period of testing this shoe, we found that this shoe climb more like a slightly downturned slipper with considerably more control than your average climbing shoe.
When sizing this shoe, the Furia S was very tight to begin with but within a few sessions stretched about half a size and after three months use , it stretched almost a full size. Although this makes sizing this shoe a little difficult, we would recommend going down half a size from your usual Scarpa size for this shoe. This may be a little tight initially but will put you right in the sweet spot for this shoe to last.
Durability
Despite its softness, the toe rubber of this shoe held up very well over the six month testing period. We were also initially concerned with the strap of this shoe and its placement on the shoe in relation to excessive wear but found that the material used for this strap handled even the most abrasive situations.
Overall
Overall, the Furia S is a welcomed upgrade to an already great shoe. The Furia S can be described as a sensitive and powerful shoe that can handle massive variation in terrain. The power of its toe box is one of its defining features and makes it a go to shoe for any occasion. If we had to find a weakness in the Fura S, it would again be the heel cup of the shoe. Compared to the previous model, the heel cup design has improved greatly but with the lack of a ‘cup’, the heel of the Furia S is somewhat difficult to get used to and seems to lack structure. This being said, we would highly recommend this shoe as a go-to shoe for indoor climbing and overhanging rock. We consider the Furia S an all around or base shoe for any serious climber as well as a specialty shoe for routes that demand various terrain on overhanging rock.
MSRP: $195 CAD. The Furia S can be purchased at Climb On Equipment and MEC.
