Tenaya Mastia Review
By Tom Hoyle
I'd never tried a pair of Tenaya shoes before, so when the New Zealand importer offered me the chance to try a pair I was very curious to see what they were like. Tenaya shoes are now worn by a number of exceptional professional climbers—people like Alex Megos, Chris Sharma, Jimmy Webb, Ethan Pringle, Angie Scarth-Johnson and Drew Ruana, so they must work. But I was still sceptical I would enjoy them, or even be able to get a pair in my size. Given my experiences getting shoes big enough in the past, the Mastia looked to be the shoe in their range most Sasquatch-friendly, so that is the model I went for.
Tenaya describe the Mastia as able to deliver "maximum power for standing on tiny holds, but also … unrivalled responsiveness in all situations." This is the holy grail of rock shoe performance—can it live up to this promise? And is this the full story of this shoe?
As I have discussed before in rock shoe reviews, the primary design compromise and niche use positioning for rock shoes is between a supportive platform and the sensitivity of the shoe. For lower-angled terrain, you have more weight on your feet and a shoe's ability to support the foot and provide power to a small foothold is a crucial performance factor. For steeper terrain, even though the footwork might need precision and the footholds may be small or marginal, the amount of weight transferred through the shoe is still going to be less in most circumstances—purely due to the angle of the terrain putting more weight through your hands—so the shoe's ability to 'stick' and the sensitivity required to manage this become the primary factors in performance.
A shoe is generally targeted towards one end of that spectrum or the other, with allrounder shoes attempting to strike a good balance between both. In my experience, there's no one shoe that truly excels at both of these categories of power and sensitivity. Many experienced climbers will have the foot strength and foot conditioning to err on the side of wearing softer shoes, because they can make them work on lower-angled terrain on most routes below their limit, and they prefer the sensitivity a softer shoe affords them and rewards their polished technique.
Tenaya aren't the first to market a shoe as delivering maximum power and unrivalled responsiveness—and they certainly won't be the last. Is it pure marketing hot air? If you take the above context into account, such claims are always hyperbolic, but within that context we can consider the performance claims as relative. So, for an 'aggressively curved shoe' designed for steep terrain, Tenaya suggest this shoe is relatively powerful, without compromising responsiveness. Is that a fair description? I think it is. Having used this shoe on lower-angled terrain than its shape suggests it is most at home—the face climbs of the Wānaka area—I've been impressed with the level of support from the shoe, particularly given how comfortable it is. Once the terrain gets steeper, such as bouldering indoors, the sensitivity of the shoe is evident and it conforms to both macro and micro holds admirably.
If I was trying a long face climb near my grade limit, I'd opt for a stiffer, flatter shoe, just to give my feet a bit more help. But the Mastia is good enough that I'm not going to complain about how it performs if my overhanging project has a vertical headwall to finish. On something like the Moon Board, a cave boulder, or spray wall, I think the Mastia performs very well. It doesn't have the maximum 'stick' and sensitivity that something like the old Five Ten Team VXi, Scarpa Drago or Unparallel Leopard have, but those are very specialised shoes with no support and fast-wearing thin rubber—they're designed to conform to volumes and smear, which massively undermines their edging power. I'd very likely complain about them on the vertical headwall of my steep project! So for real world climbing, with a variety of moves, I think the Mastia strikes an excellent balance of support and responsiveness. As a steep terrain biased allrounder, it'll tackle most anything you throw at it. But I think the real story with this shoe is how comfortable it is while doing all of this.
The Tenaya website offers excellent information on the comparative fit and performance characteristics of their shoe range and helps you choose a model in the niche you're looking for. As shown above, the Mastia is rated 4.5 (out of 5) in the FWR (foot width response) category. Indeed, this is the most high-volume-foot friendly climbing shoe I've come across. I have a moderately wide forefoot, but not a high arch that means I need to opt for high volume footwear, generally speaking. Those with high arches can really struggle with ski boots, mountain boots and other specific-use footwear where fit is crucial. The design of the Mastia has plenty of room in the mid foot, plus an elastic gusset that allows the shoe to expand in that area and make it easy to get on and off. A single velcro strap in this area allows you to cinch the shoe down securely and get a good fit in this area—no matter your foot shape.
The clever use of different lining materials in different parts of the shoe and a stretchy super-breathable mesh tongue under the elastic all add good comfort touches and shows Tenaya have really crafted a fine shoe. The split sole design allows the shoe to conform wonderfully, and this combined with the stick Vibram XSGrip rubber formula mean you can smear the shoe onto the wall where it makes sense for balance and expect it to stick while you move the other foot, rather than having to search for the right-shaped rock feature to snag the shoe on. The build quality of Tenaya is now right up there with Scarpa and La Sportiva, plus they also make use of the same Vibram XSEdge and XSGrip rubber formulas as those brands. Historically, Tenaya have been regarded as the cheaper little brother to the big brands, but it now seems they are competing with those leading brands and producing shoes as well made and thoughtfully designed as any company out there. I'd always had the perception that using a Tenaya shoe would come with a performance disadvantage, but if it has been the case in the past, it certainly isn't true anymore.
Also impressive is the size range available. The Mastia is available in sizes 2-12UK and many of their other models are available in the massive range of 1-13UK. The New Zealand importers of Tenaya have a full size range and I was able to actually try on the biggest Mastia and found it was too big! This is the first time that I can recall, in 23 years of climbing, that I have got to try on a shoe and found it too large. For me, it is quite the revelation to wear a climbing shoe that is actually the right size, rather than just big enough to be manageable. Having spent a lot of years climbing in shoes slightly too small, it has been very enjoyable putting on a pair of shoes without ripping off the pull on tabs or straining a tendon (I've genuinely put quickdraws through the pull on tabs of shoes in the past, in order to be able to yard them on with enough force, sometimes because my fingers don't even fit in the tab).
Previously, I've moaned about importers not bringing in a full size range and I've been forced to buy the largest size made online without having the opportunity to try them on, hoping that it will fit. Often, these shoes have been too small for my UK12.5 foot. With Tenaya's range there really is a shoe for everyone, both in terms of size and foot volume. If you have a problematic high volume foot I highly recommend the Mastia as a high performance shoe (Jimmy Webb wears it) with an accommodating fit. And if you have any other shape of foot and have never tried a Tenaya, I recommend giving them a go, you might be surprised.
Personally, I'm looking forward to trying another model down the track as I probably don't need the volume of the Mastia and might get a touch more performance out of something like the Indalo. But I'm very satisfied with the Mastia as an allrounder in a quiver with a flatter edging shoe and something super-sensitive and sticky for my most desperate manoeuvres.