The Engineered Boulderer

Recently I noticed problems with several of my shoes. The sole of the shoes I use pretty much every day suddenly started crumbling. I really haven’t seen anything like this before and couldn’t believe that the sole of a pair of shoes could disintegrate like that.

Around the same time I noticed that the heel of my climbing shoes was very loose. When I did heel hooks I sometimes pulled off the shoe, and at the very least I couldn’t pull very well with the heel.

Of course this meant that I had to get a new pair of shoes to use for everyday use, and a new pair of climbing shoes.

I have had quite a few different pairs of climbing shoes by now, and have discovered that I really like how La Sportiva shoes feel. This does, however, pose a problem in Denmark. The only place to get La Sportiva is a shop that is not geared towards climbers, and they usually have very poor selection. In short, I wouldn’t be able to try on the shoes and would probably have to buy them online… Not an ideal solution.

Because of these problems I figured I might try some different shoes to see if another brand of climbing shoes fit my foot. I went to several of the Copenhagen outdoor shops and tried all the slippers and velcro shoes they had. I already know I don’t have the patience for lace ups when most of the climbing I do is bouldering.

I also wanted to try the Scarpa Vision V (V is for Velcro), but they didn’t have it in my size. I was told that they would get new deliveries in the beginning of November, so I might try again then. Since I was in town anyway yesterday (see more below) I thought I take the opportunity to try on the Vision V. I think it was a match made in some climber’s wet dream. I tried standing on small holds, and I tried doing some good heel hooks, and the feel was just excellent. I couldn’t keep myself from buying them, and look forward to getting out to the wall tomorrow to try them out.

The real reason I was in Copenhagen yesterday, however, was because I wanted to see if I could find some shoes in Friluftsland for approach and everyday use. I need some shoes that will look nice enough that I can wear them to work, and that will also work when I walk around between the rocks at Kjugekull, or when I scramble over rocks to get to the crag (when I start doing some more sportclimbing in the spring).

I tried on several different shoes, but in the end the choice was between the Oxygen and the Zen both from Italian shoe manufacturer Scarpa (same brand as my new climbing shoes). Both were extremely comfortable and light. The Oxygen is a trail running shoe, while the Zen is a dedicated approach shoe, complete with friction rubber for light climbing in the toe.

In the end I opted for the Zen, it was more toned down with light grey suede upper (as seen in the picture below), compared to the red and grey upper of the the Oxygen. Also, what I wanted was an approach shoe that I could also use to work and in my free time. For these purposes the Zen won by a hair width.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 11:29 pm and is filed under Climbing, Hobbies, Life, Me. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.