Crack Foot

Making my second trip to Indian Creek shortly and want to go all out with the footware after having an amazing time on the last trip. Don't think that I'm in for the TC pros (who spends that much on a shoe?).

I'm thinking about purchasing some Mythos a half-size larger than my tight sport/trad/bouldering booties. I cannot wear 5.10s; they don't make them long enough for my goofy feet.

I'm also wondering what the pros & cons of crack climbing with socks would be.

Thanks in advance for the advise.

If you buy your Mythos sized perfectly, they will be sloppy big in a short time.

The other problem with mythos in the creek is that you will SHRED your laces and the overly complicated lacing system on the easy stuff (handcracks). Also on the tighter stuff, I found that the metal eyelets at the very bottom would press painfully into your foot on thin hand sized cracks. I would recommend picking up a pair of junker shoes as cheap as possible for learning at the creek, as just about anything will get torn up out there. Not like you need precision edging power anyways, just stuff it in and twist until it hurts!

That's to say, don't get carried away with the footwear. I might as well be wearing a pair of old edging shoes (like I did on the last trip).

I guess I'm really wondering if there's something slightly more comfortable for this style of climbing or do I just need to grow a pair?

Also, no one commented on the sock idea. Again, I think I just need to grow a pair.

For steep (ie vertical or overhanging) cracks in the fingers to thin hand sizes it helps to have a mildly snug shoe with a bit of downturn. That way you can really dig the toes in the crack as much as possible.

For any other size crack and for any crack that is less than vertical, having an nice comfy shoe is the name of the game. Wearing socks is a good idea. Gives you a little extra padding and will help protect your ankles a bit. A shoe with a stiff sole helps with heel-toe camming and smearing in offwidths.

Sure wish someone still made a decent heavy-duty crack shoe... like the old blue Kaukulator from La Sportiva for example (great rubber coverage, stiff sole, but a precision fit). Nothing beats those IMO for thin hands to hands to wider cracks...

being your 2nd trip, I assume (and maybe wrongly) that you won't be doing anything too narrow. Maybe just buy some cheapo shoes like the La Sportiva Cliff and tape/protect the laces somehow.

Thanks Ben!

Any other insights into the Sportiva Cliff shoe? I think those can be snagged for $60 new from some of the online retailers.

for those really narrow cracks I recommend buying a pair of flippers (think scuba diving). That way you can really get about a foot of so of the flipper in the crack. You can get rubber put on the bottoms to help smear.

Jeffeos wrote:That's to say, don't get carried away with the footwear. I might as well be wearing a pair of old edging shoes (like I did on the last trip). I guess I'm really wondering if there's something slightly more comfortable for this style of climbing or do I just need to grow a pair? Also, no one commented on the sock idea. Again, I think I just need to grow a pair.

I know you don't want 5.10, but my favorite shoes for the creek are mocs. They don't have laces to worry about and are super comfortable once you break them in. You might want to consider looking at other brands that have a pair of slippers similar to the mocs.

As far as the sock thing goes, I'm all about them. I started wearing socks when climbing at the creek on handcracks for the pain, and now I wear them on basically anything below my limit because it is so much more comfortable. Maybe this makes me a noob, but I climbed for probably 8 years without ever wearing socks, then switched to socks for only hand cracks for a couple of years, and for the last year I have been wearing them on most everything and love it;)

I've used lace ups like Mythos at the creek and never had any pain from the eyelets; socks helped my jams in the hand and wider cracks. I also use socks when it's cold, especially if it's windy too.

I take my acopa sceptres and they are as good as new with only one resole so far. If your technique is ok, you shouldn't be dragging the top of your foot along the rock anyways.

If you download the SAC toolbar for your browser you can just keep your eyes out for whatever comes up on there. Usually $40-50 for some decent shoes fairly often.

a cheap version of the mocs would be the purple mad rock maniac slippers. get them just big enough to where your toes are almost flat.

Unless the heat is brutal, +1 for socks on cracks. I find biking socks or thin dress socks fit best(ie-minimal bulk or seams), but if it's a big multipitch day with chance of shade or wind, I'll wear thin wool knee highs.