If your an avid rock climber, skier or mountaineer then you’ve probably heard of Scrapa. They are a premier manufacturer of active footwear. I believe they are best know for their rock climbing shoes. They are an Italian company founded in 1938.

I had never heard of them until I stumbled onto their shoes while browsing Zappos a couple years ago. I was looking for a good walking and hiking shoe that had a boot like feel and Vibram soles. I have a hard time finding footwear with soles that last as long as the tops and that’s why I wanted Vibram soles. I also can’t stand the feel of most sneakers. They almost all just feel like cheap crap. I wanted something with a high quality premium boot feel that wasn’t a big waffle stomping boot.

My first experience with  Scarpa wasn’t the Zen Pro, it was the standard Zen approach shoes. I’m on my second pair now and still think they are great.

Unfortunately I wore the first pair beyond the point of being able to get them resoled as you can see in picture above. When I went to order a new pair of regular Zens they where out of stock at Zappos so I decided I’d give the Pros a try. I ended up buying the Pros from REI. I really like how REI will let you actually wear footwear and still allow you to return it if you’re unhappy. I got the Pros in February of 2018  and have put several miles on them. You can’t beat the hand crafted quality of these shoes. If you’ve never owned a quality hand crafted boot or shoe then its kinda hard to describe just how nice they feel. Its a night and day difference between them and mass produced footwear. I use the Pros exclusively for hiking and backpacking now and still wear regular Zens as a daily shoe year round.

Pros:

Hand crafted build.

Can be resoled.

Super sticky Vibram soles.

Scarpa Sock-Fit DV liner gives the shoe a great fit.

Cons:

Tend to run a little narrow on fit.

Can be difficult to find in local stores and tend to be out of stock often online.