Shoe Lust

OK, I admit it - I'm a bit of a gear junkie. I try and live the whole eco-recyclo-greeno-sustaino-feel-good-o-y thing as much as I can, but I have a couple of boxes of gear in good condition that has fallen into disuse because something cooler/better/lighter/faster has come along. But I won't just get something because it is new - it has to be cleverly designed, with a distinct purpose behind it. Or if it is made with titanium (what can I say - it's a genetic holdover from my triathlon days).

And so, behold! 

LaSportiva's new Vertical K  shoe:

oooooh - 195 grams! Bejeepers, that's light.

aaaaaah - MorphoDynamic midsole. Comfy feet.

ohhhhhh - FrixionXF outsole. Grip-on-the-rocks.

It looks to me like the designers at LaSportiva have taken the best features from some of their other models, and put them all in one uber-light shoe. Their lineup has a couple of lighter-weight shoes in the 9 - 10 oz range with the X-Country, Crosslite and Skylite (and the #2 models of the latter couple), but the MorphoDynamic midsole only appeared this year on a couple of models, Electron and Quantum, that were relatively heavier around 13oz. However, the MorphoDynamic technology is amazingly comfortable. My teammate and fellow Canuck, Derrick, has written up a great review of his Quantums here. And I'll make no bones about the fact that I prefer the stickier FrixionXF outsole over the FrixionAT rubber, it works much better in the wet, rainy, slimy, muddy trails of the rainforest I call home. 

So, the Vertical K's bring on the lightest weight of any LaSportiva shoe and compete in the space of a lot of minimalist designs, they have the comfy MorphoDynamic midsole to protect from rocks, and they get the sticky XF outsole. 

Clever.

Lighter.

Faster.

Cooler.

Must. 

Get. 

Some!!!

It's kind of hard to think I'd get so excited over a shoe, but there you go.