Choosing Climbing Shoes for the Mountains

Which shoes do I use for long mountain routes?

OK there's a short answer here and it's.... TC Pros, about a size bigger than if I was fitting them for cragging. But if you want to learn a bit more about the rhyme and reason then I'll give a bit of a run through below.

800m of climbing classic alpine rock on the Petites Jorasses - Contamine Route

Choosing the right shoe:

Most brands make a shoe for all different disciplines. In short, unless you plan to do a lot of toe hooks in the mountains then you don't need a shoe with a lot of rubber on top of the toe. If you aren't climbing steep ground then you don't need a down turned shoe, and if you aren't padding up a uniform slab then you don't need a slipper. I'll write a quick piece about the different styles of shoes another time... maybe... but it is quite a dull topic.

Getting the Right Fit:

First up - how do we normally choose shoes for sport climbing or for trad climbing?

Well there's variability in shoes when they're manufactured. Some companies have more tolerance than others and this is why some brands feel different even when you try on the same size.

So if you want to be very precise then you need to try on the actual shoe and buy it there in the shop. Trying it on in a shop and then ordering online may not work as well as you think when you're looking for the best fit (particularly with less established brands)

But there's a starting point for getting the right shoe and the right size of it. My rule is to try on the same model of shoe in 3 sizes. If they all feel just about OK then you can tell the vitally important part - that the model has the right shape for your foot. I wear La Sportiva, and I can wear the same shoe in a few different sizes because the general shape conforms to my foot really well. Other brands don't work as well for me, and this is something you'll have to experiment with yourself.

OK so we have the right fit for our normal cragging shoe and now we need to think about choosing climbing shoes for the mountains. They can be colder (socks sometimes) and the routes are always longer. altitude and heat can make your feet swell (some people suffer more than others). And the heat can make the shoe distort and tighten in different places. The result is that we need a more comfortable shoe so that we can sustain the whole route without hobbling further up. Having a precise shoe is pointless if you're in so much pain you don't want to stand on your toe.

Takeaway point - Altitude and heat will cause foot swelling and shoe distortion - this can be really painful when you're spending a full day on your feet. So get bigger shoes.

We're also generally heavier in the mountains - carrying a bag and maybe a larger rack for the longer pitches. The effect of this isn't simply that things are a bit harder, but that we can actually pick up some weird injuries. If you have long feet then the leverage on your achilles is huge when supporting all of your weight. If the back of your shoe is digging in to the achilles then this is going to get very painful.

Normal (tight fitting) shoes are designed to support your foot by grouping your toes together and creating a stronger single point. Without this support, all the force is absorbed by the tendon under our big toe, which can easily be damaged and will soon become very painful. Shoes that are too loose don't offer this support so it's important that when upsizing your mountain shoe, you look for some added stiffness to the sole to compensate. I have a couple of friends who have experimented with carbon insoles for climbing shoes because of this.

Takeaway point - tight shoes offer support for your toe point. loose shoes don't offer this support so you can pick up injuries. Therefore you need to consider stiffer shoes when upsizing.

After trying a number of different shoes I have arrived at the La Sportiva TC Pro as my go to mountain shoe. I'm able to get a comfortable fit, with a supportive last which means that I can still use small holds without the shoe rolling off my foot. It's also very good in cracks, and the stiffness means that on the occasions where you're scrambling around on easy ground are also very comfortable.

I've also tried (extensively):

Boreal Joker - a big floppy boat

La Sportiva Katana - my normal "comfy" trad shoe

La Sportiva Mythos - a very soft, slipper like shoe

I don't use AI in any way to write these reflections. I try to sit down and write it in one "take" without combing through the text afterwards. Often I have been thinking about the subject for a while so I don't need to pause for long to get the thoughts down. Other times I'm just pontificating.