FROM THE Field

Our editors often find themselves peppered with questions at the crag about the gear we use personally. Given we all work in climbing (amongst other things, between the four of us we have 13 jobs!) and are active members of our own climbing communities, it makes sense that people want to know what we’re really using and why. From the desk crag bag of VL’s Managing Editor Coz, comes the second instalment of our highly requested field review gear segment.

I’ll be brutally honest, I used to think that insulated slippers were the Crocs of the adventure world. I’d see people kicking around in them at the gym, crag and campsites, and internally roll my eyes at the added spring in their step seemingly coming from their heated clown shoes, as I’d come to call them. This explains my own shock after getting a pair of The North Face Nuptse Mules in January, instantly loving them, and promptly declaring them to our VL team as my 2023 gear pick of the year. What a turnaround! Initially, I’d felt like a bit of a hack (or a “leisure athlete” as they’d say in the snow sports community..) given my presumptuous mocking of said heated clown shoes in the past, but as I sunk deeper into their toasty embrace, I began to welcome the inevitable. They’d won me over.

“I manage a climbing magazine. People will laugh at me,” I wrongfully thought, as stomping around in my fresh scuffs over the last six months post-purchase, has garnered the most shoe-related compliments I’ve ever received. While the excitement about my ripper-slippers has left me wondering what it says about my regular shoe choices– after receiving exactly zero compliments about those to date– it’s got me excited to fully embrace the “leisure athlete” moniker and tell you why I’ll never go anywhere without my Nuptse Mules ever again.

As climbers, we put our hoofs through the wringer. From long walk-ins with heavy packs, smooshing our piggies into shoes the shape of disappointingly small pizza slices, cramming our said pizza-feet onto tiny footholds for however long our sessions last, to walking around the gym with aggressive shoes still tightly tied (yeah, I see you!). Our feet deserve a bit of respite.

If you can imagine what it would feel like to walk around with your tootsies inside a warm, freshly-campfire-toasted marshmallow (without the squelchy, sticky mess a literal marshmallow would entail), that’s what it feels like donning the

Nuptse Mules when the temps drop. The 550-certified Responsible Down Standard (RDS) goose down fill is responsible for their insane warmth, while the durable, 20% recycled rubber outsole is responsible for keeping you upright & slip-free, stopping you from looking like an actual clown. It’s also the reason why you can motor across almost any terrain from the comfort of your new favourite Scooby Doos, and why they’ve accompanied me on every adventure since I got them.

As a newly minted “leisure athlete” living in Lutruwita/Tasmania, I got the Nuptse Mules as added external motivation to get out and get after it in the depths of winter, and while I was right, I’m still surprised by just how much use they’ve gotten. Like most outdoor climbers I know, I’m into multiple adventure sports, which means my heatersneakers have weaselled their way into all of them. I’ve slipped them on between climbs, after long trail runs, and swanned around at the campsite after a day on the mountain bike, and I’ll be packing them out to huts this winter. Every time, I’ve been stoked to have a set of red-hot-foot-caves to thaw out my tired, frosted paws at the end of whatever outdoor tomfoolery I’ve been up to.

Unashamedly, my shoe rotation now looks like this:

• Short commute to the gym–Nuptse Mules ✓

• Winter belay duties–Nuptse Mules ✓

• Shoes between climbs–Nuptse Mules ✓

• Sore feet after a run/long walk in–Nuptse Mules ✓

• Quick trip to Woolies–Nuptse Mules ✓

• Snow adventure pack list–Nuptse Mules ✓

• Kicking back to read VL–Nuptse Mules ✓

Overall, I’d rate them 5 out of 5 toasted marshmallows.

Pros:

• Packable

• Warm AF

• Grippy AF

• Collapsible heel with elastic side panels makes them super easy to slip on/off between winter send attempts or burns at the gym.

• Webbing pull loop at the heel so you could rack them, if you were really serious about taking them everywhere!

Cons:

• The Nuptse Mules aren’t water resistant. So for all you bog-dwellers out there, you’ll find the same design features in their synthetic sister version, the ThermoBallTM Traction V Mules. These puppies have a non-PFC water-repellent finish and given they’re synthetic, they’ll keep your flippers warm even when wet.

Best for:

Those interested in keeping their stompers warm in winter and making bold fashion statements.