Five Ten Stonelands VCS

Sport / Edging

The Stonelands shoe has a slightly more aggressive fit than comparable Anasazi shoes, and the VCS edges better than both my Mocc or old Anasazi lace-up did.

That’s not to say these shoes are edging machines. They’re certainly not on the level of, say, a Miura VS (or even Miura lace), Scarpa Vapor, or anything in Five Ten’s own “UFO” shoe line. But those comparisons are somewhat unfair, comparing apples to lawn furniture.

Relative to other trad or “all-around” shoes, the Stonelands VCS sits in the upper half of the “edging” scale, but is not quite at the top. The VCS is better at edging than the Moccasym, but not as proficient as either a comfortably-sized Miura lace or TC Pro.

The TC Pro achieves its “best in class” edging by virtue of  sheer stiffness. This comes at the cost of any sensitivity you might benefit from in a softer shoe.

The Stonelands, by contrast, is a very sensitive shoe and, while it doesn’t edge flawlessly, it edges admirably well for the level of sensitivity it allows.

This is a great balance for me. I am constantly frustrated by shoes that can’t hold an edge, but I’ve also come to depend on some degree of sensitivity.

The Stonelands strikes this balance better than any other shoe I’ve worn except the Miura lace (but since the two shoes fit quite differently, one will likely work better than the other on a case-by-case basis).

Most of my time in the Stonelands was spent on trad routes in Eldorado Canyon, Vedauwoo, or in Rocky Mountain National Park though the shoe did get some time on bolted routes in Clear Creek Canyon in Golden as well as the New River Gorge in West Virginia.

In the sport area, I was impressed by how well the Stonelands VCS edged—especially on step-throughs, etc.—considering how comfortable it is. But ultimately I  think it’s going to be outgunned by shoes designed for edging or steeps like the La Sportiva Solution or Scarpa Vapor.

In the sport climbing world, the Stonelands VCS is an intermediate-to-advanced shoe. Not quite as helpless as the introductory Nago by La Sportiva, but probably not the right tool for the job if your first and only love in climbing is clipping bolts on steep, pocketed routes. However…

Five Ten Stonelands, Blister Gear Review.
Dave Alie in the Stonelands on a greasy slab climb at New River Gorge.

Trad

Trad climbing in the Stonelands is a different story altogether.

Sized properly, (see “Sizing” above), it’s a very comfortable fit and I can wear it on longer routes if need be—though my feet do ache a little bit at the end of six pitches (including wearing them at belays).

The extra edging it provides over a shoe like the Moccasym comes at no cost, and is a real improvement. Despite the wider toe box, the shoe’s front profile is thin and made for very secure footwork in cracks of all sizes.

Cracks

I think sizing the Stonelands tight might improve edging a bit, but it’s not going to turn the Stonelands into your go-to shoe for Rifle or the Red, so why bother if it’s going to make the shoe painful in cracks?

Too loose, and you’ll lose the improved edging. Too tight, and you’ll regret it on anything smaller than thin hands. And if the shoe is too tight, it’ll be a bear to wear socks when you take it into the alpine or on the brutally sharp granite that characterizes Vedauwoo or Joshua Tree (I’m soft, I know).

Now my trad climbing weapon of choice, I took them on a Fourth of July trip up Directissima on Longs Peak’s Chasm View Wall, a route that had been on my list for a while.

Directissima, a gorgeous route recommended for anyone interested in alpine climbing, involves cracks of all sizes, including a devious “off-width” at the back of a chimney.

The Stonelands held its own on the varied cracks, climbing comfortably from thin hands to off-width. It also confidently held on to the holds during the unexpected (and gloriously exposed) face moves that form the brief crux.

I am able to get into cracks easily with the Stonelands’ thin profile, and the rubber at the rand grabs nicely to the outside edges of finger cracks.

Heel

The heel cup on the VCS will feel a bit different to those familiar with the Anasazis.

It pulls forward with the same slingshot-type band of rubber, but doesn’t pinch down quite as much toward the top.

It felt relatively secure in hooks, and is sensitive to the rock you’re trying to grab, but it isn’t a heavyweight in the heel-hooking category.

While it’s more comfortable than the Anasazi heel, I didn’t notice a tremendous performance improvement. If you’ve bouldered successfully in the Moccasym, these will work fine. If you felt that the Mocc’s heel was the shoe’s downfall, you might have the same issue—albeit to a lesser extent—with the Stonelands.

Five Ten Stonelands VCS, Blister Gear Review.
Five Ten Stonelands VCS heel.

Drawbacks

If the Stonelands has a kryptonite, it’s steeps and pockets.

Tip a climb past vertical and, while you can still climb in the Stonelands if your footholds are bomber, the shoes don’t help much as far as toe-ing in and holding on.

Your core has to make this up, so you’ll work harder than you’d have to with a downturned shoe. The wider toe box also makes pockets tougher.

The Stonelands tapers closer to the front than the Anasazi shoes do, but it starts with a boxier toe so it doesn’t really capitalize on that rapid taper. In the end, the shoe feels a bit clumsy at the mouth of tiny pockets where other shoes might find greater purchase.

Bottom Line

Having not climbed in the lace or slipper versions of the Stonelands, I can’t speak from experience about the benefits or drawbacks of reversing the traditional stiffness trend between lace-ups and slippers.

I can say that the VCS strikes a nice balance between sensitivity, precision and comfort.

If your “all around” includes steep routes, or if elite-level sport climbing is your game, you might want a shoe with a more substantial downturn or more aggressive profile than the Five Ten Stonelands.

But if you need a shoe for trad climbing or a comfortable shoe to wear all day that still provides precision and retains some sensitivity, this is about as good as a climbing shoe can get.

4 comments on “Five Ten Stonelands VCS”

  1. Have you used the 5.10 hueco? I’ve really enjoyed the shoe, but its lined and my feet sweat a lot…looking for an unlined all around performer to use in alpine and on multipitch climbs. Thanks.

  2. Hi Dave,
    I am considering to buy a pair of Stonelands to climb in Yosemite, amd mostly cracks. My street shoe size is 14 US.(in tennis or running shoes). My feet measures 302 mm exactly. Which size do you think I should get? Which of the three versions (slipper, velcros or lace-up) do you think it would be better?.
    Thanks,

    Pep

    • Pep,
      Your feet are a bit bigger than mine- not by a lot, but enough that I think you’ll want to go with the 14 rather than the 13. The size 13 was a little smaller than I had expected it to be, and it’s all-day comfortable now that they’re broken in, but the 13 would probably fit you like a sport climbing shoe which would miss the point entirely with a shoe like the stonelands. As or which version to get, I’ve been happy with the velcro and I haven’t tried the other two extensively so I hesitate to make a hard and fast decision. that said, you should have a reasonable time finding your answer based on your preference for shoe stiffness. Occasionally it can be hard to work a stiffer shoe into finger crack-sized spaces, but that shouldn’t hold you back in a place like yosemite where you’ll be climbing on granite (as opposed to polished sandstone), and are likely to find footholds here and there, or at least get more purchase out of your rand smears.

      Ultimately, it does come down to preference- many people climb very hard in super soft slippers like the mocc, and the TC Pro (one of the stiffest shoes on the market) is no slouch in yosemite, either. If it were me, I would probably go with the slipper to take advantage of some extra rigidity, but if you have the chance, I would absolutely recommend finding a shop and at least trying them on. Besides, 14 is as large as they go and it’d be nice to make sure those are going to be workable in tight jams.

      have fun in the valley!

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