Rock Climbing Shoe for Weak Foot?

[Max Dilthey]

Hi All, I'm going to be bouldering locally and at the local gym, but I can't put weight on the ball of my right foot. I know, that sounds silly, but I have to spread out the pressure. I need a climbing shoe with a super-stiff sole or a rock plate. I was looking at the Five Ten Guide Tennie. Any other shoes I should be looking at? Will my local gym even let me boulder in approach shoes? Thanks for any info/help, Max

[Tom D.]

I think you should let your foot heal, otherwise it's going to be that much longer before you can climb comfortably. Since that's not what you asked, back in the mid 90's, I climbed with foot pain and the guy at REI, who was a well known local climber and guidebook author told me to get the best edging stiff sole type shoe that fit my foot, no rock slippers. After trying on many shoes at many stores, it turned out to be a Scarpa boot style climbing shoe (I have a long narrow foot with an enormous big toe) and he was right about what I was looking for. Unless you have a similar shaped foot, it will likely be a different shoe for you, but I think 5.10 and LaSportiva make stiffer soled shoes as well. I don't really climb anymore, but still occasionally bring the shoes when I go to Yosemite just to play on the boulders. That being said, the local climbing gyms around my area let you climb in approach shoes, tennies, or whatever you bring (within reason).

[David Chenault]

The LaSportiva TC Pro is a proper climbing shoes that is pretty darn stiff. Not sure if that will solve your problem, but worth investigating.

[James holden]

Dont climb till ur foot heals up Take it from someone whos stupidly kept climbing through injuries A few months of not climbing wont matter in the long run … Chronic injuries that dont go aways because you didnt let yr body heal will hound you for years ;)

[Dave G]

IIRC Max has a congenital foot problem, in which case it isn't going to heal up. I used to climb and boulder to a pretty high standard in my youth and I'll say Re. shoes, even more than trail footwear, it comes down to foot-shape, and tolerance for tightness. My recommendation is to find a decent local climbing store, where there is somewhere to test the shoes, you can feel the stiffness by hand, then go from there to determine fit. You should also be aware of "downturned" lasts which may allow you to put more weight onto your toes, rather than the balls of your feet. Technique-wise, especially on overhanging rock get your hips perpendicular to the face, which puts your body in a better position biomechanically and allows you to weight the outside of your foot. Dave

[Dale Wambaugh]

Would taping also help?

[David Moreno]

When I started climbing in the late 90's I met a guy who had chronic pain in the ball of his foot. It was based on a stress fracture that had never quite healed right. He'd tried everything else to no avail, and wasn't about to give up climbing, so he tried something inexpensive but considered drastic. He purchased cheap thin insoles for regular shoes. He cut them to fit into his climbing shoes, and took them to his local rock climbing supply store. He put them into various sizes of the same shoes he'd been wearing, tried them on, walked around the store, edged, etc… using the stores stairs and concrete floors as a guide for fit. He then bought the size that fit the best with the insoles installed. He said that it lowered the pain by at least 50% and made climbing much more tolerable. He also said that he was now able to do climbs again that had become impossible after the injury. Note: He did lose some sensitivity, which would have to be compensated for. But switching to much harder soles would have the same sensitivity loss, and could still potentially cause just as much pain. I'd suggest trying his method (at least in the store) first. It might save you money from multiple purchases and extra pain in the process. If it doesn't work for you, you're only out the money of the inserts. Hope this helps. Let me know if you try it.

[Max Dilthey]

Thanks to all. Going to follow up with a few of these suggestions. As was mentioned, it's a congenital problem and it won't heal. We'll see how it goes! The Five Ten shoes were not a perfect solution because I didn't get the sizing quite right. I don't think they'll pull double duty as I imagined.

[Ryan Bressler]

Do you need to support that area or protect it from pain? Guide Tennies are pretty soft and don't climb that well. There used to be a lot more board lasted rock shoes that were very stiff under foot. Indeed some people still prefer such shoes for old school technical edging routes. You might try to find a used pair of la sportiva kaukulators or synchros, boreal aces or ballet golds or similar. Many modern stiff edging shoes (five ten anasazi pink and vcs, sportiva miura and miura vcs) achieve their stiffness by squishing your foot and curling your toes downward into a position where it is quite supported by the upper of the shoe…one tends to place the tips of their tows precisely in such shoes so it is possible to avoid weighting the ball of your foot entirely but you may not yet have the technique for this. Still worth trying on a pair if you can, especially if you need more support then protection. Dave's suggestion of the tc pro's is a good one. If they don't work for your foot (they don't work for mine) i'd look for similar, stiff, long route oriented shoes from other brands. Off hand maybe try on the evolve astroman (maybe one of the last board lasted shoes available?), five ten anasazi guide and scarpa techno and see if any are stiff enough in the area you need.

[James holden]

The evolve astroman has a piece of plastic in the sole for stiffness ;)

[Jake D]

Max, I had a friend who wanted a really stiff shoe for wide crack climbing. He had someone make him a carbon fiber insole that made it very stiff. that might work. you could put them into a normal flat climbing shoe like Sportiva TC pro or Mythos or 5.10 anasazi lace. etc

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