The Five Ten Five Tennie approach shoe is back, improved, looking good and ready for action.
If you were resigned to running shoes or hiking boots for getting to and from the crag or big climbs, there’s a revival, of sorts, that will change your plans. The Five Ten Five Tennie is back, the first “approach” shoe that began focusing on the round-trip efforts of a climbing adventure more than 30 years ago.
The Five Tennie has a narrow profile and light weight that can take you downtown, on a lightning-quick ascent of Engineer Peak or car-to-car ascents of big walls in Black Canyon. The shoe has retained its original look, although the upgrades, from heel to the padding inside, are made from advanced manufacturing techniques and materials. No scrimping here!
The rubber around the toes, the rand, is high-friction climbing rubber and the shoe is double-stitched throughout to put the kabosh on “blow outs.” The one-piece, sock-like entry is tongueless with a new lacing system that allows the shoe to be adjusted quickly to keep loose on hot days or cranked for technical use.
An approach shoe needs to handle a rugged mix of terrain to be useful, and the Five Tennie manages traction on varied rocky surfaces with the improved Stealth Dotty Tread. Straight from the labs of adidas/Five Ten R&D, the “dots” on the sole are gifted with horizontal geometric notches, providing better traction and versatility.
There’s more. “I was hiking a local trail in the Five Tennies, and I felt like running,” said one tester. “I took off, caught a rhythm and forgot I was wearing an approach shoe.” He lauded the cushiness of the shoe, the result of bolstered EVA (ethel vinyl acetate) over the old shoe.
$125
