Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, you can reduce your risk of falling from heights with these highly-rated climbing shoes
Rock climbing and bouldering are activities that test both your physical and mental strength, regardless of whether it’s done inside a gym or outdoors. However, it doesn’t matter how strong or experienced you are if your shoes aren’t made for the sport. Even then, you should want the best of the best so you can have one less thing to worry about as you’re scaling rocks. With that said, here’s a list of brands supplying the best rock climbing and bouldering footwear as of 2023.
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La Sportiva
La Sportiva provides some of the best climbing footwear out there for both men and women. In fact, La Sportiva is trusted by the likes of Adam Ondra, who is regarded as the world’s best climber alive. For those looking for top performance, sensitivity, comfort, and durability in their rock climbing and bouldering shoes, then the La Sportiva Solution is your top pick. For beginners, it’s recommended that you start with shoes like the Tarantula and Miura.
Scarpa
Another household name in this field is Scarpa. For trad climbing, you can’t get a much more supportive shoe than the INSTINCT, while the DRAGO is among their highest quality shoes made specifically for bouldering. The VAPOR is also recommended for male and female climbers who need stable and top-performing all-around climbing shoes.
Five Ten
Acquired by Adidas in 2011, the popular Five Ten is particularly well-loved by traditional climbers. Some of the more highly-rated footwear include the NIAD VCS and HIANGLE, which are made for both the gym and the outdoors. If you’re a beginner to sport climbing or all-around climbing, then you can check out the NIAD Lace.
Evolv
Not to be outdone, Evolv attracts the world’s top climbers with its high-end and quality-made climbing shoes. Top picks from this brand include the beginner-friendly DEFY shoes, the powerful bouldering Agro shoes, and the Shaman shoes that are perfect for stability while executing precise footwork on steep climbs.
Butora
Butora footwear is carefully crafted by Korean climbers and shoemakers with decades of experience in shoe-making. This expertise and level of understanding with regard to the sport are most evident in their top sellers, namely the Acro and the Acro Comp. The Acro is designed for steep sport climbing and bouldering, while the latter shoe is more flexible, making it best suited for indoor bouldering.
