The Emperor’s New Shoes

Dave recounts the details leading up to a good-karma moment at REI where he recently purchased a new pair of rock climbing shoes. Let’s hope this purchase sates his rampant gear lust for at least a week or two.

After giving Jess a hard time about letting her old rock shoes get too worn out for a resoling, I turned around and did the exact same thing. I’d had my old shoes resoled once a couple of years ago, and the new rubber certainly made a difference, but somehow I neglected things until one day I discovered a hole worn all the way through the rand and into the leather beneath. It looks like someone needs a spoonful of his own medicine. The shoes are still functional, of course, but now another resole is right out.

This is a real bummer because rock shoes are notoriously difficult to fit, and I really like the fit of my old La Sportiva Cliffs. They fit like a glove, and unfortunately, they smell a bit like a locker room. At least there’s one benefit to a new pair of shoes. I’ve been apprehensive about getting a new pair for some time, as my first pair of climbing shoes was a complete disaster. They were a pair of size 5.5 Boreal Lasers that induced immediate bouts of hammer toe. They climbed quite well, for about 2 minutes, until the pain became so unbearable I couldn’t stand on anything. Of course I tried every trick in the book to coax just a bit more stretch out of the unlined leather shoes, but there are limits to everything. I eventually gave them away to one of Jess’ co-workers for her daughter to use. It’s no wonder my next pair was a flat-footed comfy shoe. While the Cliffs aren’t a high-performance shoe, they are certainly comfy, and they’ve served me well for almost 10 years! I can only hope this new pair lasts as well as the Cliffs.

We’ve been sitting on a 20% off coupon from REI and our annual dividend since they came out last month. The dividend isn’t all that big because we like to buy our outdoor gear from a variety of different stores, but it’s nice to take advantage of the two together when you plan to buy something expensive. I’m a bit miserly regarding some purchases, and I definately think $130.00 for some shoes a bit ridiculous. After trying on quite a few different shoes and sizes, I’d settled on the Mythos from La Sportiva. The fit is actually a bit similar to my old Cliffs with a slightly different toe box. I kept trying on slightly smaller sizes looking for just the right fit until REI ran out of shoes. The size 40 (euro sizes) was the smallest the salesman could find. It felt pretty good, but I would have preferred trying on the next smaller size in order to really make certain that the 40 was the right size for me. I also discovered that my right foot is a bit larger than my left foot. I don’t recall this being the case in the past, so maybe it’s a side effect from the bad sprain I suffered last year from a climbing fall. (Read the blog post here.)

Oddly, another guy was looking at the same shoes, and was complaining that he really needed a bigger shoe for his left foot than his right. We had about the same size feet, so when a pair of 39.5 Mythos appeared in the women’s section, we took turns trying on both sets of shoes. Ultimately Steve and I ended up swapping the left and right shoes from the two pairs. It’s a pretty good fit; very snug, but not at all painful with just a tiny bit of space near one of my little toes. After trying on both pairs in rapid succession, I got to the point where I had to look at the label to tell them apart. The laces are so adjustable, I felt more difference from adjusting the laces than I did from the shoe. I bit the bullet and purchased a mixed pair of 39.5/40 Mythos that I hope will fit even better in the future than they did at the store. When all of the various discounts and credits were applied, I got the shoes for about $85.00 (tax included). Not too bad for a new pair of rock shoes. Of course, the real test will be unleashing them on a climb and seeing just how well they fit after a little break-in period, so I’ll have to post an update in a few weeks.