I'm looking for some new climbing shoes which will do well in thuggy grit cracks. Listed some potential preferential features below. I realise that not many shoes will have all of these properties but thought this would give a good indication of what I'm looking for.
- Flat profile - good for minimising pain in jams.
- Thick/durable uppers, maybe with some extra rubber protection on top of the toes.
- Good for smearing - as not many grit routes are continuous crack.
- High tops/ankle protection for offwidths
- Narrow fit, as I've got quite a low profile foot.
The Butora Altura seems like it is perfect for all of the above, and even comes in a wide and narrow fit, but they are not sold by UK retailers so are really expensive to ship here and if they don't fit will be a pain to return. Thought about getting the TC Pros but they are very stiff so was unsure if they would be any good for grit smearing.
At the moment I have the old Five Ten Stoneland Lace ups, which are perfect as they are flat profile and very durable. They are not designed to be a 'crack climbing' specific shoe but work very well on the grit. Unfortunately they are not in production anymore. Like these, I thought it would be useful to see if anyone else has been surprised by any non crack climbing specific shoes which actually perform really well on grit style cracks, or if anyone knows any shoes that are mainly sold for the crack climbing US market that we can buy over here.
Thanks, George.