Kit: Rock Shoe Fitting Guide

Confused on which shoes to buy? Overwhelmed by choice? Let’s narrow the field for you

This article originally appeared on my personal blog back in 2020 shortly after I’d finished working in outdoor retail. It is reproduced here in it’s latest guise.

There is such a massive range of climbing shoes to choose from these days. Multiple different models, with many variations, from a huge array of manufacturers, how on earth is anyone supposed to know which one to get?!

Then we throw in the fact the market is constantly changing. I’m quite fortunate, personally, in that my preferred shoe (La Sportiva Solutions) hasn’t changed much since it was first released but otherwise, there are very few that stand the test of time. For anyone writing a buyer’s guide to rock shoes, that creates a problem, because providing a list of different brands and models will quickly be out of date.

So I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to lean on my 12+ years of fitting and selling rock shoes to climbers in outdoor retailers and teach you how to make the decisions for yourself.

With rock shoes, there are basically three different categories that I use: beginner/prolonged use; intermediate; and technical. Categorising rock shoes in this way is a bit overly basic and there will be much crossover but to give us a structure to follow, it works well.

I’m going to describe each of them here but I’m going to do it in a slightly unusual order. You’ll see why if you read through.

These generally have very little volume in the toe box, as they’re designed for your toes to be quite flat, and as such a bit more comfy. The sole will generally be quite flat, or even rise up a little around the toes, again for comfort. They’ll be pretty symmetrical and the heel will go straight up at the back.

For this group, grab a pair of your street shoes. Do it now. Now look at them, and you’ll see what i mean: they go up at the toe, because they’re designed to bend in the middle (at the metatarsal head if you want to be technical), so anything that stayed flat or turned down would be uncomfortable. They’re pretty straight, as your foot is pretty straight, and in a street shoe, or beginner shoe, there is not great advantage in bringing the heel closer in to the centre line of the body.

Put simply, these grade of shoe are designed either for people who aren’t used to the peculiar fitting you get with climbing shoes, or for people who want to wear them all day without taking them off; on a big mountain route for example.

If you’ve not had rock boots before, start with Beginner ones.

Technical Shoes

Pretty much the opposite: down turned toe, asymmetrical, “sling shot” heel to push the toes forward are all features in an advanced shoe. They are not designed to be comfortable but in truth are also not designed to be worn for long periods of time, or for use on easier grade trad climbing. I’ve done a three pitch VS in a pair of Sportiva Miuras, and soon began to regret my possession of strictly technical bouldery shoes. I’ve bought other models of shoe to use on longer or easier climbs since.

There are reasons for the uncomfortable aspects to these shoes. Toes turn down for two main reasons: firstly to enable the climber (normally on a boulder or steep sport climb) to “claw” at the rock and keep the feet on when climbing a roof. As soon as the feet pop off the wall (as much as it looks cool and enables a good power scream) all body weight is now being held by the arms, and this WILL tire you out quicker. Your legs carry you round all day without batting much of an eye, your arms just aren’t designed to do that. So keeping the feet on is important.

Secondly, it allows more power to go through the toes and into the wall. Anyone looking at these shoes should’ve experienced committing to a foothold and finding it stick, and it’s the same principle: if you put pressure through the foot hold, it will increase friction on the rock and is more likely to stay there. A sling-shot heel will shove the toes forward to try and accomplish the same sort of thing. You’ll also find with an advanced shoe that the volume in the toe box is much higher to make room for those bent toes; another thing to watch out for.

The one advantage of these for me is advice on fitting is generally pretty easy: if you’re buying these sorts of shoes, you’ll be pretty into your climbing by now; you’ll know what you’re looking for/at; and you’ll be willing to put up with the discomfort/pain as you know about stretch of rock boots.

However, if that sounds a bit alien, and you’re thinking to yourself that I sound like some sort of old-Chinese woman, self-harming, feet-torturing lunatic, then chances are you want to keep reading…

Intermediate Shoes

These shoes pretty much sit in between, and it is this group which tend to be for most climbers.

This is certainly the compromise category, covering a massive range. Often people will skip the Beginner shoes and head straight for these, and with good help in their fitting, this can be fine. I’ve fitted Red Chili Spirits to beginners for years, and they’re absolutely fine if the climber is willing to take that bit of discomfort for a while. The trick here is to eliminate the beginner shoes and the advanced shoes and see which ones compromise well out of what’s left.

This is the grade of shoe where my adage Tight by not Painful starts being said to people repeatedly, as Advanced rock-shoe purchasers will go as tight as possible, and Beginners will go as comfy as possible without being street shoes.

How Should They Fit?

This is a massive sticking point and possibly something you would’ve expected me to cover first but there’s a reason I’ve gone through the categories differently first. The category of rock shoe will have a massive bearing on the way you fit them.

Fitting for All Rock Shoes

There are some general rules for any pair of rock shoes: they want to be close fitting. We’ll come to the nuances of this in a minute but even a beginner pair don’t want to be baggy. If they are, standing on any smaller holds becomes a lot more difficult.

When I first started working for Snow + Rock in 2007, I emailed all the manufacturers, to ask their advice on fitting their shoes. All (except one) replied with words along the lines of ‘tight but not painful, no dead space in the shoes’ which I now summarise as fit like a sock.

The exception was La Sportiva, who said “two sizes smaller than your street shoes”. This is an old school myth that I’ll cover below but for Sportiva, they have adjusted their sizing so it works. The effect was the same as other manufacturers.

How To Fit Rock Shoes For You

I’ll make this super simple for you:

1. In the shop, take off your shoes and socks. Place your foot flat on the floor and look at the shape. You’re looking for two things: the width of the forefoot compared to the ankle; and the length of your toes
2. Pick your selected categories of shoes off the shelf and turn them sole-up. It’s generally best to pick two at once here and keep the one that best matches your foot. You’re looking for the shoe with the shape that best matches your foot. Pick the two closest options to compare against each other
3. Begin with your usual street size and ask to try the shoe in that size and the size below.
4. Every two pairs of shoes, try on both feet and decide which pair you prefer. Disregard the others
5. Repeat until you have one option left. These are the best ones for you (available on the day)

DO NOT ask the staff to “try on all the shoes in the shop”. You really don’t need to and speaking on behalf of shop staff everywhere, all you’ll do is annoy them. Going through this process should narrow the options down to about 2 or 3 choices, speed the process up for you and save the poor staff a lot of boxes to carry around the shop.

Specifics For More Advanced Shoes

As you move up the spectrum of category, it gets a little more complicated, although we can summarise. Essentially, harder climbs will often have smaller footholds. Therefore, they often require tighter fitting shoes.

Some people (and I used to do this, so please don’t think I’m judging) will try and cram themselves into the smallest possible size. The idea here is that the shoe should not roll around the foot when standing on smaller holds. And that much is true! But it shouldn’t necessarily mean you can’t walk at the same time.

I’ll leave you with an example: in 2024, I discovered the trick of being able to stand in the holes in the wall at indoor centres. You know, the ones the bolt goes in. That came AFTER I’d gone slightly bigger on my shoes. But crucially, my footwork had improved by now.

Other Properties of Rock Shoes

There are a few things that I’ve not mentioned so far that you may be wondering about. These properties are important but don’t have any bearing on the grade you’re climbing. Nevertheless, let’s go through some more details

Stiffness

A shoe – and this goes for mountain boots, walking boots, street shoes, loads of shoes – are built with three main parts: the upper (the colourful bit you see); the sole (climbers and mountaineers often fixate on this unnecessarily); and the forgotten part, the midsole. If you can, grab a pair of winter mountaineering boots and you may be able to see the layers on the side.

The midsole is, in essence, a piece of material roughly the shape of the sole of the shoe (sometimes this can cover just the forefoot but the point still stands) that hides in between the upper and the sole. It is the midsole that gives the shoe it’s stiffness.

Generally speaking:

Notice how there’s no difference in grade here. Many dedicated climbers will have both a stiff and soft pair, depending on what they’re climbing.

Closure System

The other that has yet to be mentioned is how you close the shoe. After all, it’s handy if the shoes doesn’t slide off your foot while you’re climbing!

We’ve generally got three options here:

Material and Stretching

You might be expecting some more columns here, regarding how much each material stretches. I’m not going to as in my proffesional opinion, the effects of the material on the stretching of the shoe are vastly overstated.

Rock shoe uppers are typically made from either leather (suede and nubuck are variations of leather) or from synthetic materials (think oil based, like nylon). The common thinking is that leather stretches more than synthetic but I will counter that by saying even rubber stretches if you place enough pressure on them.

If you wish, or if you’re desperate with a pair that are too small for you, you can consider pre-stretching. I used to do this to prevent my shoes bagging out before wearing out. The principle is simple: GENTLY warm the shoes at home on a radiator or with a hairdryer. Stick them on your feet. Let them mould to your feet while they cool. Once cool, take them off and repeat. BUT BE WARNED: you may damage the rubber and the glue binding it all together.

Myths of Rock Shoe Fitting

This ‘simple’ post is getting more than a little long but there are a few old myths that I’d like to dispel.

• DON’T BUT THEM ONLINE! I once visited the La Sportive factory in Trento, Northern Italy and trust me, they are individually hand made. So even the same shoes in the same size can have differences. I genuinely won’t want to buy a pair unless I can try them on first. Head to one of the bigger outdoor retailers (V12 in Llanberis or Needlesports in Keswick among many others) for a weekend away at the same time.
• Go for an established brand, not Decathlon own brands etc, as the quality will pay dividends in the end. This is also the only time you will hear me discuss the qualities of rubber, as the own brand shoes i’ve seen get their rubber from god-knows where! They might be cheap, but it’s for a reason, so spend the extra and enjoy the perks of something that works.
• Other than that, ignore all the hype you hear about rubber. Yes, in the lab, the 5.10 might be stickier, and the various climbing forums are full of discussions about Stealth versus XS-Grip, but lets face it, once you’re on the crag/wall your footwork has to be so good to be able to notice the difference that other factors like fit and brand loyalty count for far more. 5.10 shoes at the moment do not really fit me as well as some Sportiva ones, so the rubber is irrelevant really, it’s just marketing.
• There are no ‘indoor’ and ‘outdoor’ shoes. Some climbers use their most worn out shoes for indoor training and there’s an argument to be made but I’m not convinced. If you train in worn out shoes, you’ll perform as if you’ve got worn out shoes. Have a ‘performance’ pair and a ‘comfy’ pair, it works much better.
• Brands don’t have a width to them. They cottoned on to the fact if they only make narrow shoes, they only have a market of people with narrow feet. So the big brands make shoes with lots of different widths. View each shoe individually.

Still Not Sure?

And with that, i’ll leave you to go shopping! But if you’re still not sure what to go for, You can always get in touch. I’ve been known to play the part of personal shopper, once or twice, and while this isn’t something I’ll do very often, a day of outdoor bouldering in North Wales can easily be combined with a quick trip to V12…

Disclaimer: technologies such as these change by the season, rendering some of the above advice out of date very quickly. All comments are right at time of writing and are hopefully usefully transferable to up to date products. For any problems, please e-mail [email protected]