Campman Outdoor Gear & Apparel

No matter how much sport climbers hate to admit it, there are plenty of high-quality climbs with approaches longer than five minutes. And while some are adept at the timeless flip-flop approach, for most of us, a trusty pair of approach shoes is a must.

We were after a set of approach shoes that thrives in technical terrain. This led us to the Salewa Wildfire Edge Approach Shoes. More performance-oriented than many approach shoes on the market, the Wildfire Edge attempts to blend the worlds of hiking and climbing with unique features and a performance fit.

The Wildfire Edge is comparable to other approach shoes in that it features an edging platform and sticky rubber outsole. To differentiate the shoe from the rest, Salewa gave it their Switchfit adjustment system. The Switchfit shifts your foot forward into the toe box for precise footwork in technical terrain. And to round things out, they added a durable EXA-Shell material in high-wear areas to keep these shoes from blowing out too quickly. While the result isn’t for everyone, these shoes are nearly in a league of their own when it comes to truly technical approaches.

Features

Switchfit Adjustment

Traditional approach shoes are designed for more technical terrain including rock hopping, easy slab climbing, and scrambling. And most climbers are used to cinching down the shoelaces when the going gets more serious.

Running with this idea, Salewa added an additional pair of eyelets to the Wildfire. These eyelets are attached to each other by a harness that wraps around the heel and onto the opposing side. For non-technical approaches, these eyelets can simply be left unlaced. When you need a more performance fit, you can lace through the eyelets. This pulls the harness forward, bringing the heel in closer, and pushing the foot forward in the shoe.

This system provides an on-the-fly adjustable performance fit for technical scrambling, giving you more power and security at your toes instead of simply making the shoe tighter through the midfoot.

POMOCA Speed MTN Outsole

Using POMOCA’s tried-and-true Speed MTN outsole, Salewa added an element of stickiness that you won’t find in any old hiking boot. A combination of lug sizes—3mm in the front and 5mm in the back—offers traction in a variety of conditions, from muddy trails to talus fields. Salewa also added in a smooth edging plate just under the big toe to ensure you can handle 5th class scrambles to the belay anchor.

EXA-Shell

Perhaps the most overlooked component of the shoe is the rubber EXA shell on either side of the upper. This material protects the suede exterior from damage in high-wear areas. It also connects the outside edges of the shoe to the shoelace eyelets via a system of crisscrossing strings, snugging up the sides whenever the laces are pulled tight.

On the Trail

New approach shoes are always a good time. With the Wildfire Edges, we were curious to test how they felt in “hike” mode and how they felt in “climb” mode when we used the additional eyelets to engage the Switchfit system.

Hiking

We took these out to Tensleep Canyon in Wyoming for five days of climbing and also put them to use on longer local approaches in American Fork Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Whether sport climbing or trad climbing, we carried a heavy pack full of gear and ropes for the day ahead.

With a relatively stiff sole, these shoes offer plenty of protection against rocks and unpaved terrain. The outsole also performs admirably on everything from dirt to mud to wet rock. This provides traction you can count on when carrying a heavy load.

That said, these would not be our top choice for high-mileage hikes with a fully loaded pack. Clearly oriented to more technical scrambling, the Wildfire Edge has a relatively narrow foot box that starts to feel tight when your feet swell from hours on the trail. When your feet are already feeling extra lateral pressure, it’s hard to want to tighten them down using the Switchfit system.

Also, there’s no getting around this — the Wildfire Edges are on the heavy side. While they weigh in at only eight ounces more per pair than some of our favorite approach shoes, that half-pound gets to be a drag when you’ve been hiking for longer than 30 minutes.

Climbing

Once it comes time for more technical terrain, these shoes really start to shine.

For any slab moves, scrambles, or talus fields, we’d quickly lace the additional offset eyelet and cinch down the laces tightly to engage the Switchfit system. You instantly feel the heel cup being sucked in closer to your heel, and your foot shifting forward slightly for a fit that’s reminiscent of a climbing shoe.

We tackled granite slab and plenty of rock hopping through talus without issue. These shoes gave us the confidence to keep moving when our friends would stop to pull out their climbing shoes for the same sections of rock. The more technical the approach, the more obvious the advantages became.

What We Like

• Switchfit Adjustment: We were skeptical about this system when we first tried the Wildfire Edge. But there’s a noticeable difference in fit when you wear these shoes with and without using the optional eyelets. When combined with the side connectors that link the shoelace eyelets to the EXA shell, you get a shoe that provides a snug, technical fit, and it’s a real advantage when the approach turns vertical.

• POMOCA Outsole: We’ve used FiveTen’s Stealth rubber, Black Diamond BlackLabel rubber, and Vibram compounds, to name a few, and the POMOCA outsole offers a degree of stick that rivals the best soles we’ve tried. Part of this is due to the relatively low-profile lugs, which make the outsoles grip rock incredibly well, but clearly, this tacky rubber is made for challenging approaches.
• Climbing Performance: We wanted to know just how far we could push these shoes in the vertical world. The Wildfire Edge passed the test with flying colors. While we would never actually use them to climb a route, they do make us feel more secure when tackling the 5.4 slab that guards the belay anchor of our project.
• Durability: The EXA shell is just what we hoped it would be. After two weeks of adventuring in these shoes, they only showed cosmetic wear, particularly on the outside edges. And what might end in a devastating blow-out of other approach shoes is nothing but a scuff mark on the Wildfires

What Could Be Improved

• Weight: All of the features that make this shoe great also make it heavy. You might not put them on and instantly feel like Metal Mario, but they do weigh more than other shoes in the same class. By comparison, they’re more than 25% heavier than the Black Diamond Mission LT and the popular Scarpa Gecko approach shoes. When the approach involves a lot of scrambling, they’re worth the weight because of the added durability and climbing capabilities, but they’re overkill on mellower approaches or hikes.
• Sizing: We were lucky enough to be able to try on multiple sizes before taking the Wildfires out for a spin. Our experience is that, although they run slightly narrow, it’s still worth sizing down. Size down a half size for a relaxed, comfortable fit, and size down a full size for maximum precision.

Conclusion

The Salewa Wildfire Edge Approach Shoe provides a singular value add to the approach shoe market with the Switchfit adjustment system. By letting you go from a more comfortable, relaxed shoe to a performance-oriented, slab-eating machine by simply threading a low-profile eyelet, Salewa has created an approach shoe climbers have always wanted. And they did so while keeping the price in a competitive range.

It’s true that some climbers will take issue with the drawbacks, specifically, the narrow width and heavier weight. But for trad climbers, alpine climbers, and even sport climbers looking to get away from busy crags, the Wildfire Edge is an approach shoe that checks all the boxes. Especially the one that says “climbing”.

About Campman

Campman is an outdoor retail store located in Salt Lake City, Utah, that specializes in gear and equipment for camping, skiing, backpacking, climbing, and everything in between. We understand that the difference between a bad memory and the adventure of a lifetime can come down to the gear you take with you when you head outdoors, and we want our customers to have the best experiences possible. When it comes to getting outside, we get it, and we’ll get you the gear you need to get there.

Questions? Feel free to contact us by phone at (801) 999-8117 or by email at sales@campman.com.