

To try to simplify things, I’ve broken shoe building into two main categories: Last and Structure. Most people, even though they won’t fit into everything, will still fit a number of models in any one category and so it is worth talking about how climbing shoes differ so if you are lucky enough to slide your foot into a number of glass slippers you can make an informed decision about what you want to climb in them.

However, now, more than ever, there is a huge amount of technology and design built into climbing shoes. Get me in a pair of Cobra’s though and I’ll happily go from pushing my grade on steep sport to chucking a lap up Sweet Dreams in them. They’re great shoes but they don’t fit my foot (imagine a house brick shape) at all and even if I buy a pair a size or so up as my ‘comfy’ pair, it’s just loose in some spots and still too tight on others. I wouldn’t even climb a flight of stairs in the things. Kilian Fischhuber won multiple world bouldering cups in a pair of La Sportiva Katana’s for crying out loud.

Anyone who has climbed in more than 3 different models of shoes will know that when it comes to rock shoes what rock shoe works for you, what are the best performing rock shoes etc. As I start writing this, I almost feel like a large part of this article is utterly useless.
