Description of La Sportiva Exum River Canyoneering Shoe:
Make sure you're wearing the La Sportiva Exum River Canyoneering Shoes for trips where an “easy stretch” means waist-deep water and, luckily, all your gear is in dry bags. These burly shoes are built from the ground up to offer you excellent support and traction whether you're hiking along a dry river bottom or crossing a strong current with spotters at the ready. Exum River Canyoneering Shoes have FriXion XF soles to provide supreme traction on wet rock and a removable TPU instep to assure that they don't get ripped off when the current is pulling hard.
Bottom Line: Stay on your feet with the La Sportiva Exum River Canyoneering Shoes, even when they're four-feet under the water.
These shoes performed better than I ever expected. Climbing up wet rocks and jumping off cliffs, great while swimming. They're like flippers on your feet. superb when climbing out of the water up slippery rocks. I wish the soles had a bit more padding, but it makes up for it in swimming capability.
These shoes delivered grip and comfort by the bucket! I used them for the first time in Zion's Subway Slot Canyon. They gripped on wet and dry stone alike, down the loose approach trail, through streams and waterfalls. Only slimy green algae could defeat them so no surprise there.
The shoes were on my feet for about 9 hours with no blisters, shin splints or discomfort at all. I wore regular socks on the approach and neoprene "warmers" in the water.
A lot of bang for the buck and they don't look any worse after their first trip; no fraying or discoloring.
Not an everyday shoe but are great if you use them for what they were built for. I compare it to a rock climbing shoe, you would never were them unless you were rock climbing. If you are going to do a lot of water hiking they are awesome but other then that not an everyday shoe. I have used them in escalate in some canyons and also in costa rica. worked good for both. I usually take them fishing when I am going to do a lot of wading because they stay on your foot so well and the rubber is grippy. bring some moleskin for the first hike.
