Designed for technical approaches and mountain hiking, the Scarpa Mescalito is the newest innovation in approach footwear from the team at Scarpa. Featuring water-resistant suede upper and Vibram® Megagrip, the Mescalito is a tank when it comes to exploring the outdoors. Weighing in at 390 grams, the Mescalito also features new Dynamis LB Sole in Vibram® Lite Base Technology, which cuts a ton of weight out of the shoe, making it one of the lightest technical approach shoes on the market.
We had a chance to test the Scarpa Mescalito over a is month period and here is what we thought.
First off, the Scarpa Mescalito is a beast of a shoe. During our six month review, we used this shoe in the worst approach conditions, from the mud and rain of the south east to the steep slopes of Squamish, and in every situation this shoe outperformed our expectations. The Mescalito was our go-to shoe when establishing new hiking trails while developing new cliffs and through multiple weeks of abuse, we did not see any visible wear and tear on the shoe. After such abuse, we expected some wear on the outer side of the shoe or at least some tearing on the eyeholes of the laces, but this was simply not the case.
The strength of the Mescalito is when approaching and descending steep mountain terrain. During our testing period, we used the shoe when carrying heavy loads back and forth up west coast terrain that was steep enough to require hands on the ground. It was coming down on this terrain that we really noticed the stability of the Mescalito and its ability to handle pressure on the outer side of the shoe. The wider heel cup also gave us more stability depending and at not time did we feel our grip was compromised because of the shoes performance. The Vibram Megagrip on the bottom of the shoe also gave us a lot of confidence when traversing wet rock and when moving on very technical terrain.
Although its official title is water-resistant, we found that the Scarpa Mescalito could handle most raining or wet conditions without soaking through to our socks. Time and time again, we approached the cliff in the rain and mud and the Mescalito was able to keep our feet dry and warm throughout any approach.
The Mescalito proved extremely light despite its size. After seeing and using the Mescalito, we were pleasantly surprised how light it was compared to even regular street shoes despite its bulkiness.
Despite great performance outside, we found the Scarpa Mescalito a little bulky when using it for true technical feats and fast approaches. Although the toe box and the slides of the Mescalito proved technically efficient on most terrain, we did find that the overall feel of the shoe was a little clunky on the approach. Keeping in mind that our usual approach shoe to the crag is something along the lines of a flat shoed slipper, but we found that the bulk of Mescalito took a little edge off the technicality of our footwork .The shoe felt great when charging downhill or on steep uphill climbs but somewhat clumsy on flat terrain. We would conclude that this shoe serves well when hiking up steep terrain and tight forest trails but is not designed for walking around town.
For those concerned with fit, the Scarpa Mescalito is a wider fit and runs a little long in comparison to a regular street shoe. For our review, we order a euro size 46 to match our size 12 street shoe and found that the Scarpa Mescalito felt a touch big in the toe box but fit well in the sides of the shoe. If we had to do it over again, we would try on a 45 and half to see if we could shore up a little space in the toe box without having our toes touch the tip of the shoe. For those who are concerned about the camber of the heel, we found that the sole of the Mescalito felt mostly flat with maybe a slight raise on the heel. Coming from wearing mostly flat soles, the Mescalito really did not take any getting used to in this department.
Overall, the Scarpa Mescalito proved to be a real workhorse of an approach shoe. Its strength comes from its stability when ascending and descending steep terrain and its tough build, that after six months of testing, looked almost the same as when we started our review. Adding to its strengths, the Mescalito is very light and kept our feet warm and dry in the wettest conditions. If we had to pick something to improve, it would be a small reduction of bulk in its heel to provide the user with more freedom of movement. Nonetheless, we would highly recommend this shoe to anyone who wants their approach shoes to last more than one season and for those who are looking for more stability when regularly ascending and descending steep terrain.
MSRP: $189.00 USD
The Scarpa Mescalito can be found on the scarpa website or special order through Climb On Equipment in Squamish, BC.
