Tenaya Tatanka Review

Tenaya is a Spanish shoe company that has been around since 1997. They pride themselves on making high performance climbing footwear, with a focus on comfort, which of course is all the rage in the shoe industry these days. Starting in 2013, they are being distributed in the US for the first time through Trango, with four models currently available in the States. I got a pair of the Tatanka’s back in March, and they quickly became my favorite all around shoe this past spring.

Upon slipping them on, they felt immediately comfortable. There were no hot spots that required breaking in, and they were good to go right out of the box. The synthetic leather stretches in the right spots while climbing, but doesn’t stretch out, meaning the shoe holds its shape over the course of its useful lifetime.

On slabs, the Vibram XS Grip rubber sticks like it’s supposed to, and offers purchase even when you don’t think your foot should stay. Smearing is also easy with these shoes, and I’m not one who is usually comfortable without putting my foot on a “real” hold.

The aggressive toe profile means you can really get purchase in any kind of pocket and allows you to pull with your feet when the terrain gets steeper. I’ve also comfortably climbed cracks with them, and the combination of comfort and performance has me choosing these shoes for almost anything I’ve been out climbing recently.

The only drawback I’ve found with these shoes is that they don’t edge particularly well once the holds get small. The shoe is soft enough that it tends to roll off of edges, meaning you have to “smedge” more than edge, which I typically find to feel less secure than a shoe that has more of a bite.

Regardless, this is a great shoe that excels at a wide variety of climbing. If you are primarily climbing steep edges you might want to check out the Masai instead, but for everything else, these are hard to beat.

Sizing Notes: I wear a size 12 street shoe, 43 in Sportiva’s, and 12’s in Five Tens. I got these in 44/10.5, which seems perfect. I could probably go down a half size if I really wanted to.

Retail is $150. For more information, check out the Trango website.

Disclaimer: Wait! Before you go handing over your credit card number, ask yourself, do you really need to buy more new stuff? If so, this product is worth a look. In the spirit of full disclosure, this product was provided to SplitterChoss.com for the purpose of reviewing. Don’t worry, though, our integrity can’t be bought!