Scarpa  Ribelle Cross 2 Mid GTX Hiking Boots - Men's

This is a great boot overall if you want a light weight, comfortable and versatile hiking boot for fast and technical day hiking. I’m usually a Men’s 10.5, so I ordered the 44 and the 44.5 after reading reviews that they may run large. I ended up using the 44 as it seemed close as far as fit went, maybe a bit of extra room in the toe box. I have average arches and average width feet. I then took the shoe out for a double bagger summit attempt of two 14ers in CO, Greys and Torreys in Mid April, figured this would be a perfect test, it’s a relatively fast day hike, with a little bit of everything in April, water, snow, rock, scree, scrambling, and use of micro spikes. The shoe performed exceptionally well with all of this. It was 50mph winds at the summit of Torreys that day, about 35 degrees and I was on micro spikes and snow for 60% of the hike, and my feet were always comfortable and dry, and down low where it was 50 degrees and sunny they weren’t hot, so somehow they managed to keep my feet both warm and cool when needed. I submerged them in water multiple times and my feet never got wet. The grip on wet rock was great, and they felt reliable in the scree fields. With micro spikes on there were no issues, there’s a plastic lip on the heel that holds the rubber uppers perfectly, like they were made to take spikes. The first couple miles the boots felt a little stiff in the sole, but as the miles ticked in this seemed to break in nicely too. Great ankle support, no real hotspots, decent cushion without being overly plush. They do feel like they want to go fast. The only issue I had was the sizing, after 3-5 miles it became clear the 44 was too big, as the toe box area seemed to get larger and my foot slid around which took away some of the confidence in moving fast with them, especially downhill. So for that reason I give them a 4 out of 5, I need to return them and size down a half size unfortunately. I’m pretty confident one half size down is the move with these boots for most average size feet. My girlfriend also bought a pair in her appropriate size and will also be returning to size down a half size with hers as well, her experience was the same as mine on the hike. Overall, I’d say this shoe strikes a great balance of trail runner type feel, with great stability, protection, and the grip of a hiking boot which is a hard balance to find in a boot. Durability wise I’d give these a 6 out of 10, wouldn’t buy these if you expect a boot to last you a decade, but would buy if you want a fast light boot for racing up technical terrain with confidence and don’t mind having to replace after a few seasons. Just size down one half euro size, you can thank me later!