Scarpa Ribelle Run 2 Review

For many trail runners, taking hard earned fitness to the mountains is why we run. We seek big days, ridge routes, scrambling, link ups, cross country, and summits. Getting to, from, and between all of these is when we run, while the objective itself often requires something closer to climbing. For these kinds of days, we need gear that does it all and does it well.

I love when gear caters to very specific needs. Personally, I want real mountain running shoes on my feet when I head into more difficult terrain. I don’t want meshy, sloppy, fragile, slippery, trail running shoes when the bulk of my day is going to be spent bashing my feet on rock and snow.

Scarpa is a legend in the climbing world, for rock, mountaineering, and alpinism. In the last – years, they have also made specialized trail running shoes for everything from dirt roads, to Skyrunning, to ultras, and especially for the mountain running and light alpinism niche.

Scarpa’s most specialized mountain footwear is the Ribelle line. The Ribelle Run 2 and Ribelle S HD are dream shoes that fill roles for big mountain days. 

Ribelle Run 2 

I’ve been running in the Ribelle Run for several years now, and have found them great for hybrid mountain days–running to scramble up something. The full rand of the Ribelle Run provides serious armour for talus hopping or for when your movement is much closer to climbing than anything that can be termed running. Scarpa’s proprietary Presa sole technology provides the perfect combination of sticky rubber, grip, and durability- in all conditions.

For 2025, the Ribelle Run 2 is out with an all new fit and improved features.

The original shoe was always a bit narrow for me, so to compensate, I wore a larger size which worked better for longer days, but left me snagging my toes on obstacles. My immediate reaction when putting on the Ribelle Run 2 was the front of the shoe had been widened and my toes freely wiggled right up to the end of the toe box, perfectly. 

Even more than the original Ribelle Run, your foot slides into the shoe as if it were a sock while the improved ankle cuff seals your foot in place and keeps out any debris. Gone is the shiny plastic construction that, while durable, wasn’t a heavy breather. The Ribelle Run 2 is made of a much more breathable mesh.

Overall, the Ribelle Run 2 is a bigger shoe than the Ribelle Run, in fact visually it appears to almost be a small alpine boot. But on the foot, it is a different story. It’s a cushioned runner with a very solid, bomber chassis, and sticky rubber. Thanks to being absolutely locked into the shoe, the feeling while running technical trails is of precision and stability. It makes for a nimble little tank.

I have a sizable collection of the original Ribelle Runs in different sizes and all of them are still going strong with up to 600km on them. Time will tell how well the Ribelle Run 2 holds up to abuse and kilometers, but based on the construction and Scarpa’s history, I expect them to be around for many big and memorable mountain days.

The Ribelle Run 2 is a go-to trail shoe that shines in tough mountain terrain when you need to do more than run. I would agree with Scarpa’s category for these in that they are a short to medium distance running shoe. But that’s different for every runner. You’ll just need to find out what that means for you.

UPDATE November ’25: After putting a few hundred kilometers on the Scarpa Ribelles, I had two eyelets blow out from the narrow laces cutting through the loops. Looking at the design, this issue now seems so obvious. Be warned.

Ribelle Run S HD

Since we’re talking about the Ribelle line and what’s available for mountain runners, I may as well further introduce what Scarpa has to offer. While the Ribelle S HD has been around for a few years now, I’ve noticed that it is still relatively unknown.

No shoe has ever elicited more, “What are those?” It’s the perfect shoe for some specific needs, and recognized as such. Imagine an ultralight, crampon compatible, alpine boot that you can run and, front point, and will keep your feet dry. 

The Ribelle S HD is ideal for light alpinism in the Alps, especially:

• Trail running to glaciated peaks with soggy snow travel and crampon use
• Alpine rock climbing that require front pointing for approaches and the descent
• Much lighter and smaller in the pack than a pair of alpine boots
• Increased confidence heading into unknown “mountain running” terrain

The Ribelle S HD weighs 440 grams while Scarpa’s high end alpine boot, the Ribelle Lite HD, weighs 655 grams. If light alpinism is your thing, and you’re looking to move through less technical terrain, but with the option of being able to use crampons, then the S HD is ideal. For alpine rock climbers who carry their boots in their packs, again, the S HD saves weight and is probably more comfortable for the descent. For the sake of comparison, the Ribelle Run 2 weighs 325 grams. With the Ribelle Run S HD, you may not have as comfortable of a run, but you get a whole lot of all around mountain performance for such a small weight gain.

Which Ribelle to choose?

“The Ribelle line is great for playing along the line between speed and technicity in the mountains. If you want to focus on going fast in technical running terrain, the Ribelle Run 2 is your go-to.  If you want to notch it up and get into more alpine terrain, then the Ribelle S HD is the tool for the job, thanks to the semi-rigid sole and the ability to put semi-automatic crampons on it.”

–Hillary Gerardi, Scarpa athlete & badass

Gear Review Disclaimer: At ALPSinsight, product reviews are a result of either finding gear we love and wanting to support it, or working with brands we partner with and believing in the gear enough to want to heap praise in support of what works well. If we don’t like something, we just don’t review it. We do not publish sponsored posts but do get some product for free with the agreement that we truly must like it enough to review.