UKC

Red Chili Creature Comforts - Mescalito

© Red Chilli
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Red Chili - Mescalito

Until very recently I believed that you couldn't climb hard without super technical rock shoes. This is a result of staring at too many pictures of Dave Macleod cranked into tiny rock shoes, pushing on a foot hold the size of a quark and thinking, “if I wore shoes like that maybe I could climb that hard, or at least look like I do.” Dave climbs in a different league to me, he needs to sacrifice comfort for that level of performance. I, and the thousands of other VS to E3 climbers who religiously cram their screaming toes into super tight stickies, don't. Enter the Red Chilli Mescalito, one of several rock shoes available that are super comfy yet still technical enough for ninety percent of British climbers.

The first rock shoes I owned were a pair of blue Scarpa Helix's. I was around twelve or thirteen and remember being pretty chuffed as I left Needle Sports with my new purchase. During the Helix's lifetime I began climbing regularly. They were a great shoe, but my shocking footwork and endless lunch hours at Penrith wall, quickly brought about their demise. By this time I was beginning to consider myself a climber, I had started to read the mags and I wanted to climb hard. However, a quick browse through On The Edge, showed that no one who climbed hard wore Scarpa Helix's. Thus began my somewhat ridiculous belief that I couldn't climb hard without super technical and often painful rock shoes.

My next pair of shoes was the brand spanking new Scarpa Vision, the full page advert on the back of Climber shouted out, “visionary performance” and apparently they were based on the legendary Scarpa Dominator, whatever they were.

After the Visions I went through a succession of Five Ten Anasazis,both the Pinks and the Velcros, excellent shoes, but maybe overkill for Lake District mild extremes. Last summer disaster struck, at the bottom of Comes the Dervish my Pinks, their edges well rounded from rough rhyolite, refused to stick on polished slate micro edges. Desperate for the Dervish, I climbed back down and ran into 'Beris in search of new shoes, which came in the form of some asymmetrical down-pointing toe crunchers. 'Neither were they overkill for my needs, and yes sir they'll see you up the Dervish', the shop assistant assured me, a bargain at £50 too. What he had failed to inform me however, as I tumbled from the overlap an hour later my calves burning and feet in spasms, was how painful the things are if worn for longer than five minutes on a slab.

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Tom's rock shoe hall of fame
© Tom Ripley

To further damage my pride, as we were packing up, an old guy arrived ready to conquer the Dervish. He put on a pair of ankle boots, similar to EBs, which he said he'd had bought in 1983, three weeks before sticky Boreal Fires had been released. For those not in the know Boreal Fires were the first shoe to use sticky rubber as we know it today. The sticky rubber revelation meant these non-sticky relics had been in his cupboard ever since, near enough new, but they would have to do as his normal shoes were being resoled. From the car park I looked up to see him pulling through the overlap.

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Tom on the Padder
© William Ripley, Mar 2008
My next pair of stickies was the Red Chili Mescalito, which I won from Climb Magazine, by writing the letter of the month. I was initially rather sceptical; thinking they'd be only OK for easy stuff, but then I realised that I only really climb easy stuff and they are brilliant. The Mescalito is a super comfy shoe, but with a technical fit. OK so I may not be able to stand on edge 0.4 of micron wide, but that isn't a common occurrence on Centaur or Saxon.

The Mescalito is slip lasted with orange suede uppers. This creates a comfy, soft, photogenic rock shoe that will stretch a little to mould to your feet. Red Chili has sewn on fabric eyelets and a plastic strip to prevent them from over stretching. The fabric works well, making the lacing fast and easy to adjust, but I'm not convinced by the plastic strip, which has already begun to snap. The shoes also have a large, padded, wicking tongue, which is excellent further increasing their comfort and absorbing sweet. The shoe's toe box is quite wide, leaving them without the defined point of a more technical shoe like the Five Ten Anasazi , but this greatly increases their comfort, meaning I can leave them on at belays without passing out. The rubber, an aspect of rock shoes which is surrounded by far too much hype in my opinion, is Vibram and, if clean, very sticky. The Mescalito has a large sticky rubber rand too, protecting the uppers and making toe/foot jams more secure.

Red Chili describe this shoe as,"a versatile, performance orientated shoe that's designed to work brilliantly across the widest spectrum of styles. A semi-asymmetric profile supports the toe and combines perfectly with a sculpted, speed –laced upper, to provide a wrap-around feel that fits more feet more easily. Laterally firm but with a responsive flex this shoe will edge with the best but is equally at home smearing on granite or grit."

My Conclusion: The Mescalito is a super comfy yet technical rock shoe, Ideal for Saxon, Vestpilliran and the Walker Spur*. Perfect for the VS to E3 climber, but only if they fit. Very good value at £60 too.

Red Chili shoes are distributed in the UK by Wild Country.

Similar Models: Sportiva Mythos, Evolv Defy, FiveTen Gambit.

*The author hasn't climbed any of these routes yet, but intends to take his Mescalito's with him when he does!

Want more Wee Tam?

Read his celebration of Black Diamond Oval Wire Karabiner as a racking karabiner, HERE, and look forward to his review of some climbing helmets coming up.

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Tom Ripley
Tom Ripley (aka Wee Tam), 18, is a well known climber who lives in the Lake District. He climbs rock, ice and frozen turf.

Tom in his own words.

"I'm really enthusiastic about climbing, and try to fit as many trips in as possible around my studies. I've lived in Cumbria since I was two. I reckon I'm lucky to live in a beautiful part of the world, at Watermillock on the edge of Ullswater. My love of the hills started from a young age, and I've been climbing since the age of six. There are too many amazing places to climb in the Lakes, so I couldn't say where my favourite crag is. But I've had some great days out on Esk Buttress, and walking through a cloud inversion on Swirl Edge in the winter is probably one of the most memorable.

Discovering new places with new friends is one of the things I enjoy most about climbing in the Lakes. A good beer at the end of the day is hard to beat too!"


For more information the website



5 May, 2008
I don't normally read gear reviews, but this one was superb. Mick
5 May, 2008
I recently bought a pair of Mescalitos, and they're great. I used to have a pair of Spider's that were about 2 sizes too small, and I can climb just as well with the correct size mescalitos (so comfy - no more aching toes)!! Would recommend trying them. Andy.
5 May, 2008
Aye Mick - a cracking review which brought a warm smile to my face on this whisky - hangovered morning. Gosh, Im envious of young Tom and all that climbing,travel and exploration still ahead of him. Brilliant!!! P.S. Tom - try submitting some articles of this quality to the mags - better than a lot of the dross thats printed and you could get some freebies/earn some money for your next big trip :o)
5 May, 2008
Hi David, Sounds like you had a good session last night! A while ago, I suggested to Tom that he got into gear reviewing seriously (under the aegis of UKC maybe?). There are a lot of duffers like me who need more than a bit of guidance. Will give you a shout when back up north. I've not failed at anything at Pex since, err... I've been back down in Dorset. All best wishes, Mick
5 May, 2008
Don't worry Mick. I'm giving Tom some guidance. He is very keen. You will find that at UKClimbing.com we are upping the ante on real gear reviews, rather than cutting copy from gear catalogues and giving terse one liners. Significant is that there is a thread attached to each gear review so that all who have experience of a particular product can, if they wish, have their say. Hence now we have: "If you have a - insert product - please feel free to add to this review by posting your thoughts on this thread." People's comments are a very important part of a Gear Review at UKClimbing.com. That's the great equalizer and eliminates much of the BS that we read in gear advertorials masquerading as gear reviews. Ooohhhh - Aaaah. Mick
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