REASONS TO BUY
Great for heel hooking
Sensitive on steep terrain
REASONS TO AVOID
Not ideal for wide feet
Tough to break in
La Sportiva Otaki - Women's Review
Designed to excel on overhanging terrain where precision footwork is key
Credit: La Sportiva
Our Verdict
The La Sportiva Otaki is a powerhouse of a shoe. The combination of an aggressive last and sensitivity in the heel and toe make the Otaki a high-performance rock shoe. Small footholds, pockets, and heel hooks are child's play for this shoe. The downturned toe takes some breaking in, but once the Otaki is warmed up, they are incredibly sensitive, especially on steeper terrain. But all of these factors that make the Otaki a top-performing shoe also mean that these shoes aren't necessarily designed for comfort. They are tight-fitting, downturned, and quite stiff. These qualities do not necessarily provide comfort, so we recommend using the Otaki for single-pitch sport climbing and bouldering. See our full women's climbing shoe review to learn how the Otaki stacks up against the competition.
Editor's Note: We updated the Otaki on April 25, 2024, to adjust our scoring metrics.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
La Sportiva Otaki - Women's | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best for Trad Climbing |  Best Overall Climbing Shoe |  Best Bang for the Buck | A Great Value for Beginners | |
| Price | $156.82 at Amazon Compare at 4 sellers | $164.19 at REI Compare at 4 sellers | $149.19 at REI Compare at 3 sellers | $75.00 at Amazon Compare at 2 sellers | $66.69 at REI Compare at 4 sellers |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | Combines stiffness and support with an aggressive shape; a combination that makes it most at home on overhanging, techy routes | A do-it-all shoe that is a new fan favorite for difficult cracks and multi-pitch climbing | These high-performance slippers work well for almost all types of climbing, from cracks to steep sport climbs to bouldering | An ideal shoe for a beginner climber: soft, comfortable, and great for moderate terrain | A shoe that is great for all-day wear and is easy to take on and off |
| Rating Categories | La Sportiva Otaki -... | La Sportiva Katana... | La Sportiva Skwama... | Five Ten Kirigami -... | La Sportiva Tarantu... |
| Comfort (20%) | |||||
| Smearing (20%) | |||||
| Edging (20%) | |||||
| Pulling (20%) | |||||
| Cracks (20%) | |||||
| Specs | La Sportiva Otaki -... | La Sportiva Katana... | La Sportiva Skwama... | Five Ten Kirigami -... | La Sportiva Tarantu... |
| Style | Velcro | Lace | Velcro | Velcro | Lace |
| Weight (Per Pair, size 37) | 1.00 lb | 1.09 lb | 0.95 lb | 0.99 lb | 0.97 lb |
| Upper | Leather/synthetic | Microfiber/leather | Leather/microfiber | Synthetic | Leather/microfiber |
| Lining | Pacific | Full-length LaspoFlex with P3 system | Unlined | Synthetic | Unlined |
| Sole Rubber | Vibram XS Grip2 | Vibram XS Edge | Vibram XS Grip2 | Stealth C4 | Frixion RS |
| Width Options | Regular | Regular | Regular | Regular | Regular |
| Fit | Asymmetrical | Asymmetrical | Asymmetrical | Low Asymmetry | Low Asymmetry |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
The S-Heel of the La Sportiva Otaki creates a tight-fitting heel that is ideal for heel hooking. But it's worth pointing out that the last of these shoes might be a bit tough on folks with wider feet. If they fit properly, however, these shoes are aggressively shaped, high-performing, and precise.
Performance Comparison
Working our way up a pocketed slab in the La Sportiva Otaki.
Credit: Eric Bissell
Comfort
The Otaki is designed with performance in mind. That said, they do break in over time, making them a reasonably comfortable performance shoe. We wouldn't recommend taking these on an all-day outing in Yosemite Valley. But as your send shoe at the sport crag, the Otaki is a good choice. Their downturned shape provides on the steep stuff but can be downright uncomfortable if worn on a slabby multi-pitch. It is important to consider what type of climbing you plan to do before settling on a shoe — especially one as aggressive and specific as the Otaki.
The Otaki's stiff soles are unforgiving at first, making the break-in period a bit painful.
Credit: Eric Bissell
Smearing
The 4mm of Vibram XS Grip2 rubber on the stoles of the Otaki felt a little bulky and unnervingly thick initially, and it took a few days of wear to feel supple on the rock. After a few months of wear, the rubber had worn down a bit, and they felt more sensitive and smearing capabilities improved.
Sensitivity in the toe box is not everything, and it is here that the Otaki brought out their secret weapon – these shoes are heel-hooking geniuses. The heel cup is tight-fitting and solid enough to trust but also sensitive enough to find the subtleties in a heel hook placement.
The fresh 4mm of rubber on the toe of the Otaki detracted from their sensitivity at first.
Credit: Eric Bissell
Edging
Compared to the edging mastery of some of the other high-performance shoes in this review, the Otaki fell a bit short in this metric. The downturned, aggressive toe on the Otaki makes it hard to step down on dime edges. We preferred a less aggressive shoe for vertical, technical climbing and slabs.
Going for an edging maneuver in the Otaki's.
Credit: Eric Bissell
Pulling
The aggressively shaped toe box and stiff last make the Otaki a pulling and pocket-climbing master. These shoes are designed for steep, technical rock climbing, where toeing in on small pockets is the name of the game. This is where the Otaki really shines; on any kind of overhanging terrain, the Otaki is suddenly able to edge and stand on anything. The narrow shape of the toe fits easily into small pockets, and the shoe is sensitive enough for you to feel and pull onto the rock.
Stiff, precise, and sensitive in both heel and toe, the Otaki's will help you level up (or at least that's what we hoped as we got humbled in the forests of Fontainebleau!).
Credit: Eric Bissell
Crack Climbing
The Otaki is not necessarily designed for crack climbing, so it is no surprise that it did not shine in this metric. It's stiff and downturned, making it both hard and painful to get into cracks. Because it lacks flexibility, the Otaki doesn't mold very well into tight finger cracks. If they are sized for performance, the Otaki can be fairly painful when torqued in a hand crack; we would not recommend this shoe as a crack-climbing specific shoe.
Though certainly not an Indian Creek splitter, this little crack was the perfect place to test the crack climbing abilities of the La Sportiva Otaki.
Credit: Eric Bissell
Should You Buy The La Sportiva Otaki?
The La Sportiva Otaki excels at overhanging climbing, where heel hooking and precision footwork come into play. The Otaki breaks in to be fairly comfortable, but they are designed with performance in mind rather than all-day comfort. If you can take them off in between burns, the Otaki may be the ticket to rock climbing glory.
What Other Climbing Shoes Should You Consider?
The Otaki are competitively priced to other performance shoes. Many of these models are designed for advanced-level rock climbers, and you will definitely get a shoe that delivers a high level of performance for the price. If you're not working on tough projects and would rather opt for a more versatile shoe with all-day comfort, check out the Unparallel Up Lace LV. For entry-level climbers, we love the La Sportiva Tarantulace, our top choice for its balance of price and performance.
—
Jane Jackson
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