La Sportiva - Mutant (Original Model)

Mutant is a champ at scrambling. I’ve taken it up to low five without issue. It’s got big lugs but the rubber is great and sticks well to rock. 

I have not taken a mutant that far but they are what I bring for class 4 scrambles in Colorado alpine so they shouldn't let you down there.

I remember seeing some of your older posts about the mutants and mods you did. I have a pair of the v1 mutants and love them but wonder how the v2s stack up in your opinion. 

This would be the holy grail of UK shoes wouldn’t it. Best I’ve found off the shelf is the La Spo Mutant but I would rate the Thundercross as a better ‘running’ shoe if that makes sense. The mutant is a bit more like a workhorse than anything sporty. I actually stuck a pair of Inov8 boomerang insoles in my Thundercross which transformed them a fair bit. Left field option - resole an old pair at the Key Cobbler. The 5mm black Megagrip Litebase sole actually works really well on all types of terrain ive found. Same as the one on the Nnormal Tomir. Won’t do you for steep downhill fell running but good enough for sloppier less steep stuff.

Best shoe for mixed UK terrain in terms of grip is the La Sportiva Mutant in my opinion. Sticks to wet Lake District rock and is decently lugged. Would be perfect for the ultra. Of the ones you mention, I’ve raced the Thundercross and the Genesis and got on fine. The sense ride would be less grippy than those 2 although a great shoe in itself. What didn’t she like about these? I’ve not ran in it but apparently one of the best shoes for UK out there at the moment is the new Inov8 Trailtalon. Looks great.

I’m surprised at the Zegama not performing - they have Vibram Megagrip on the outsole don’t they? Tends to work on wet rock. For scree you’d likely benefit from deeper lugs though. La Sportiva Mutant is probably your best shoe for wet Lakes in my experience. Generally the rubber that works on Lakes wet rock is VJ Butyl, La Sportiva Frixion White (the best I’ve personally tested) and Vibram Megagrip on various shoes. Edit: saw you ask about Salomon. Their Contagrip hasn’t been great at wet rock stuff traditionally but I know lots of people love the newer SLab Genesis. Lots of mountain runners wearing that particular shoe for big mountain races.

The Normal Kjerag Brut has a fantastic outsole for muddy and wet slopes but you should expect premature wear if you run on more abrasive surfaces. The La Sportiva Mutant are a good compromise but not as light as the Kjerag

Generally I want more than 5mm for mud - I'd reach for salomon speedcross or sportiva mutants.

I loved the Jackal 1 (haven’t tried the newer model but it looks great) and currently am in the Mutants for seriously rocky/bouldering/loose gravel and they’re like I have gecko feet on lol. I did have an issue with the Bushidos however; the middle of the sole doesn’t have any grip on the bottom, literally just a plastic plate with branding on it. I found myself slipping on rocks right jn that section of the sole which led to some of my biggest spills.

For technical terrain you probably want La Sportiva if you don’t have wide feet. Bushidos or mutants are the usual recs. Note that a shoe that is good for difficult terrain won’t be as comfortable for long miles, and vice versa so there’s a trade off there. If you aren’t actually running consider approach shoes too. They’re much better for climbing.

You could use the same shoe for trails, hikes, and easier/moderate scrambling but I would strongly recommend separate shoes for road. Roads will eat up trail shoe outsole lugs/tread and when they are worn smooth, you lose much of the traction you'd need for trails so they end up being heavier road shoes. La Spotiva Mutant has been ok but it is heavy for a trail shoe. Don't know exactly how wide your feet are, Altras and Topos fit my feet best but the Nnormal Tomir 2.0 has been good after breaking it in over 50-70 miles. Lots of outsole lugs, durable upper and midsole.

My pick right now would be either the Normal Tomir 2. It fits my feet well, has big grippy lugs, and achieves a decent balance of cushion without being too much or too stiff since it doesn't have a rock plate. Toe bumper has saved my toes. It runs on normal trails just fine but on technical stuff I'm looking for stability and grip which the Tomir does well for me. Close behind would be the La Sportiva Mutant. Main reason it loses to the Tomir 2 is because for me, the Mutants do not do technical stuff any better than the Tomir 2 while the Tomir 2 also runs better than the Mutant so it's more versatile. Just my experience.

I think it's Horses for Courses with footwear. It's not a one size fits all solution, you've got to pick the right bit of kit for the job. In addition it depends on your level of fitness and getting your body used to hiking with loads  Generally for walking, I'll wear trail runners all year around. Grippy non maxed cushioned ones, generally I like La Sportiva Mutants or Karcals. These are really popular and designed for mountains/long distance. Yes your feet will get wet but they'll dry off, whereas goretex boots will never dry out.  For anything technical or day hiking, I'll take approach shoes. Great on rock and really supportive while being comfortable. The La Sportiva TX4s seem to be the most popular choice. For winter or when I know I'll be on rough ground or bogs. I'll take lightweight B2s, these are really waterproof, very supportive and the stiff sole is good for rough ground. Less comfy than trail runners, but still pretty good. My advice would be trail runners, if you're going somewhere boggy invest in waterproof socks. Also get vapor barrier socks or bread bags, of you're camping. When you get to camp take your wet socks off, put dry ones on and then the bag/vb socks over. This will stop your new socks getting wet and will dry out your shoes.

For me La Sportiva's shoes have been unrivalled for durability. My first pair of mutants have roughly 1500km in them, though have now been downgraded from a fell shoe to a trail shoe as the lugs have worn down. If the Bushido's are so clearly working for you, I'm not sure why you would move away, but the Mutants should perhaps be a considerations. My personal view of Speedgoats is that they shit clumpy things with even shittier grip on muddy terrain, plus a horrendously high stack. Mine lasted me 50km before they became gardening shoes. Doesn't matter how durable a shoe is if you don't get on with it, hence why the Bushidos seem the obvious choice for you.

The more cusdhioned Inov-8 mudtalons did me for 80km last week. The La Sportiva mutants are decent too. Actually too cushioned for pure fell racing, but not bad over longer distances.

I have been searching for the same thing!  For a wider feet take a look at La Sportiva Mutant or Scarpa Ribelle Run Kalibra HT. Both have stickier rubber and scramble really well. Those two were a bit too wide for my narrow feet so I will wear Akasha 2s until the end of time which my favorite shoe of all time. 

I never liked the Bushido, but have run in the Akasha and Mutant a fair amount. The Prodigio Pro fits my foot a lot like the Mutant but with a much more responsive midsole and more forefoot room. The Prodigio Pro isn't an evolution of any existing LaSpo shoe, though -- it's a much bigger forward leap. Responsive, sticky like the Mutant, nimble, and far more stable in the heel than the Akasha. Would I scramble low 5th Class in the Prodigio Pro like I do in the Mutant? Probably not on purpose... But long runs are a dream in them.

I feel just as unlikely to slip* in my LaSpo Mutant trail runners as I did in my old boots. Both have aggressive lugs to prevent slipping. Is there something about boots besides lug pattern that you think is helpful in the Dolomites? Edit: spelling. I neither slip nor sleep in my shoes 

I've done the Sangre de Cristo Range Traverse twice in Mutants and all the 105 mountains in the Highest Hundred challenge in Mutants (which includes all the 14ers), including a few multi-day fastpacks. They were my daily driver for years. I also guided in Gates of the Arctic, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, and RMNP in them. I've also done a few Nolan's attempts in them too. If your foot is a size D width or less, try em out. For a more runnable version of the Mutant, the Jackal II BOA has the same grippy rubber, an incredible upper, wider room in the toebox, more stack height, less drop. I feel less confident on technical downhills in them and climbing, but I've tried the CT Unsupported FKT in them and also for training for attempts. I think I did the first 7 segments of the Colorado Trail in < 48 hours in them.

I did the [Sangre de Cristo Range Traverse ](https://sangrestraverse.longmayyourange.com/)twice in La Sportiva Mutants (I run for LaSpo) and I'd do it with them again.

I have Size D width foot -- they're snug, but fine. I don't want a roomy toe box when scrambling.

A lot of people will recommend a wide variety of different things. Some will say Speedgoat, some will say high stack is your enemy. Some will say Tecton, others will say plates will kill you. And then obviously there’s what does or doesn’t fit your foot. If you have the fitness to be doing this kind of an effort, then you probably have spent a good amount of time on trails, and have your own experience to draw from that will tell you what works for you, probably better than any of us can. Shorter answer that’s probably what you’re actually looking for: I would use my Nnormal Kjerag for this. Some other La Sportiva models could be ideal, like Prodigio pro or mutant perhaps. But definitely stay away from (in my opinion) Salomon rubber and definitely no cowboy boots.

I own several pairs of mutants and have used them for a few longer mountain runs…approx. 34-36 miles or so (~7hrs max.) Excellent shoe. They were quite popular around Chamonix last summer and I met a number of alpine climbers who used them for hiking. Fantastic approach shoe. They’re not particularly cushioned (though get a little less firm with use) and are a bit narrow, however. They’re designed to hug your foot. I can’t speak for how they’d handle on high alpine CO trails specifically, but they’ve been great for anything I’ve thrown at them. Nice deep lugs…Well protected…Their major downside is their weight. Takes some getting used to. I’ve found that when you’re tired you reallllly need to make sure you pick up your feet when jumping over larger rocks.

La sportiva mutants for anything 4-5.8

La sportiva Mutants have been the standard mountain running shoe in Colorado since their release. If they are good enough for Anton they will be good enough for you. Don’t waste time with the bushido, it’s trash. I personally use the mutant or the prodigio pro/max for mountain running up to low 5th class.

I'm using la Sportiva Mutant. Its very supportive and neutral. Not that max cushion, but has a high drop. Was running a 100k in the alps with it and everything was fine.

Leaning toward Mutants as there is more protection on the toe box. But the cushion on Prodigy looks dreamy…I think I’ll stay La Sportiva for now as I know the shoes fit me perfectly. Thank you for your advice!

I haven’t! At a quick glance, I’m weary about the lack of protection on the toe box. But, take hard scrambling out of the picture this looks like an ideal shoe for tech-distances. Great suggestion I’ll keep this on in my pocket, ty!

From my experience shoes that worked best on such terrain are Salomon Genesis and La Sportiva Mutant. Other La Sportiva shoes should do well because they are generally targeted for mountain running. Also, from my experience, Dynafit shoes are well suited for mountain running. Finally, if you want to see a selection of shoes and gear in general that is targeted towards mountain running take a look at Skyrun store (https://skyrun.skimo.co/). This is a real physical store in Utah. I ordered from them several times without any issues.

This has been discussed just a few days ago on this subreddit. I recommend finding that post. But to.summarize, the shoes that were recommended the most are La Sportiva Bushido and La Sportiva Mutant. In my experience, NNormal Kjerag is also quite decent.

Here is my excessive collection of trail running shoes - all of them still have some usable mileage, although a number of shoes are nearing retirement Salomon * S/lab Ultra 3 * 2x S/lab Genesis * 2x S/lab Pulsar * S/lab Pulsar 2 SG La Sportiva * 2x Prodigio * Kaptiva * Bushido 2 * Mutant * Akasha NNormal * 2x Kjerag Dynafit * Ultra 100 * 2x Alpine * Feline SL Hoka * Zinal * Speedgoat 5 Also have 3 pairs of road shoes Note: obviously I didn't buy these all at once. Many of these are several years old.

I've done some scrambling wearing La Sportivas - both Mutant and Bushido. That included some alpine climbing such as Mount Stuart in Washington state. In general I prefer Mutant as Bushido is a bit too narrow. Also, Vibram Megagrip outsoles have very good grip on rock, including wet rock. I wonder why a post like this gets downvoted. It is perfectly appropriate for this subreddit, much better than many other posts.

I'd wear La Sportiva Mutant. Also, I would not risk a new shoe that I haven't tested before on at least a 20 mile run.

I absolutely love the La Sportiva Mutant, I think that extra stack height feels a bit more runnable than the Bushidos, but somehow doesn’t detract from comfort on scrambling. They are without a doubt what I use when there is running and scrambling involved. I’ve had them on a lot of summits in the Cascades and Olympics in Washington and Oregon.

Mutant would be my choice as well

I’ve done everything in the akasha 2 from 50k to low class 5. It’s my preferred scrambling shoe. I have done a lot of flatiron scrambling in the muntants but I just don’t like them as much as the akasha (just personal preference, no real reason) That being said I have done a lot of class 3 in all sorts of trail runners. Here is my take - what makes a good scrambling shoe makes a bad long distance shoe (or in your case a carrying a heavy pack shoe) I would recommend finding a shoe that fits your foot and is comfortable, has decent lug depth (4-5mm) and isn’t a max cushion shoe. Being confident in scrambling abilities is significantly more important than the shoe.

La sportiva makes great technical shoes for sky running. Differing levels of protection and width. But most all have good sticky vibram rubber. I like the kaptiva and mutant for tech. The bushido is also low sprung and techy. But a little too narrow and low volume for me. I’ve also got some miles on the Nnormal Kjerag 1.0 and they’re impressive as well. Look for lower stack and sticky rubber and then find one that fits your foot…

Don’t overthink the gear as a beginner. I wear La Sportiva Mutants for a ton of activities, they fit both the approach shoe and trail runner niche. I wear them on everything I’m not roped up for and have top roped 5.7 on granite for fun in them so they’re pretty darn capable. Otherwise I wear La Sportiva Aequillibriums which are nice and light and cover down on most everything else. For actual rock climbing I prefer lace ups. TC Pros are great if you have a pro deal but otherwise not worth it imo. You may or may not actually need something like the Nepal Cube, depends on your frequency of real winter stuff. If you don’t live in the Cascades you probably should rent them as needed

I love love love ultratrail joggers when hiking. Super lightweight and smooth on trails and rocks alike. Get wet? No worries, they dry fast. Notebly Im on my fifth pair of LaSportvia Mutant. LaSportvia Raptor comes highly recommended if you have slimmer feet. Downsides? Dont do it if youre packing heavy (plus 20kg). Also it takes some getting used to less support around your ancels so be extra careful were you step for the first week or so. Dont take goretex variants, you want breathability and quicker drying.

Like others I would advise varying your drop in your shoe quiver for training if you can afford it. Hammies/calves for me get pretty wrecked from low/zero drop (0-4; mostly Topos) but high drop (8-10mm; NNormal Tomir and Sportiva Mutant) will sometimes give me funny knee feelings especially if I'm really pushing it on the downhills. Medium drop (6mm) seems to be a happy spot for me (for racing at least) and incidentally the same drop as my all-time favorite shoes (NNormal Kjerags). I have multiple 50Ks in them ranging from Speedgoat with 12K vert to fairly flat races with \~3K vert and haven't had anything tweaky.

I second the Mutants, I’ve ripped them up low fifth class solos and they’ve performed great, same goes for the prodigio. Love La Sportiva 👌

I found the Prodigio has a hard piece that slices under your outside ankle bones on off camber terrain, so they were terrible for me but ymmv. They fixed it with the Prodigio Pro. The La Sportiva Mutant has been my go to tech/scrambling shoe since they released it but they seem to be sold out of most sizes everywhere so I’m not sure if they’re discontinuing it..