The original classic pink Anasazi from the 1990s returns better than ever with a lower-volume heel and C4 rubber. Leo Houlding was rumored to have saved a fresh pair of Pink Anasazi’s from the 1990s for a rainy-day project, which came during the season he finally redpointed his 10-year project on El Capitan: The Prophet. Needless to say, these shoes excel at a certain type of technical face/crack climbing. But these shoes are all-purpose, and will have a place in the gym or at the sport crag.

Edging
I really appreciate that shape of the toe—slightly asymmetrical, but rounded—which allows you to edge any which way you can imagine. The medium-stiff sole of 4mm of Five Ten’s proprietary and ultra-sticky C4 rubber never rolls up over your toes when edging. It provides real support and excels when footholds get small.

Heel/Toe Hooking 
The Pink Anasazi Lace-ups were average heel hookers, and average to poor at toe-hooking.

Smearing
Smearing was nearly equally as impressive as the edging. The shoe bends and flexes enough with your foot to allow you to smear into tiny dishes, yet it retains enough support for all-day edging comfort.

Pockets 
The slight point to the toe gives this shoe an advantage on pockets as well, so long as you can “edge” on the rim of those pockets.

Cracks
The Anasazi climbs cracks really well—especially hand and fist cracks—due to their rigidity along the lateral axis. Even most finger cracks were no match for the “pinksters.”

Comfort 
Five Ten, in my opinion, has long suffered from making shoes with a poorly-fitting heel that rides up too high over the ankle/Achilles tendon (at least in my experience). Many of those problems have been addressed with the new Anasazi Pink and its lower volume heel.

This shoe could easily be sized up for all-day comfort or smaller for toe-curling single-pitch performance. The synthetic lining is pretty comfortable for single-pitches, but in hot-weather, the shoe has trouble breathing and becomes less comfortable.

Value/Longevity
Not the most expensive shoe on the market, and certainly not the cheapest, the Pink Anasazi are long-lasting thanks to the durable, sticky rubber sole.