Sasha D => Sportiva?

Hey everyone,

So first off, this thread is about speculation regarding athlete sponsorship, so if you don't care about that, I'd recommend not reading any further. Anyways,

Sasha DiGuilian has been a longtime 5.10 athlete, yet she has been photographed repeatedly wearing pink La Sportiva Solutions recently. Any ideas as to what's going on? Is there an endorsement switch in the works, or is she just using the fact that she's pretty well established to wear whatever she wants? Haven't seen any official announcements, but it's pretty weird that she would do so many high profile climbs using a different company's shoes.

redbull.com/us/en/adventure…

facebook.com/sashadigiulian…

I was at the Red a few weeks ago and saw her wearing pink solutions also.

Who?

Someguy changed shoes ya say? Good for him.

Not nearly as cool as puccios Michelob ultra sponsorship plastered all over the instagrams

The Sasha things seems kind of weird, athletes of her caliber are usually pretty versed in wearing their sponsored items, even casually. Notice she always has something that says Redbull on her head. Maybe she has an offer from La Sportiva and she wants to make sure she likes their stuff before switching sponsors. Climbing shoes are a little different than a lot of other sponsored stuff. Getting a shoe that fits and works well for you can be kind of hard. If you're a cyclist you can pretty much ride any bike with top of the line components and you're not going to notice a big difference in performance.

As for other sponsorships like BD, they could be the rock gear sponsor, or the clothing sponsor, etc. It used to be a little more clear cut before BD started making clothing. For example, Alex Honnold is clearly sponsored by TNF for clothing, but BD for gear, and Sportiva for shoes.

Why do you care? This kind of bullshit reminds me of the nincompoops that discuss sportsball minutiae for hours on end. I sure as hell hope climbing isn't headed in that direction permanently. Like, honestly, who gives a shit? When this sport that we all love starts revolving solely around hero worship and who is wearing what, how much they make, who is sponsored by who, we've all lost something that is integral to why we all fell in love with it in the first place. It's not about money to anyone except those that climb at a high enough level for it to actually be somewhat about money. I understand wanting to be compensated for a life devoted so something. No one can dirtbag it forever pouring your time and resources into something that doesn't support your basic needs- so I get that part of it. Believe me. But just look at the pro ball sports and what that nonsense has become over the past 30 years. This line of questions leads only one place, and it's nowhere good. Leave the bullshit to the people that want and need to make money off it.

don'tchuffonme wrote:Why do you care? This kind of bullshit reminds me of the nincompoops that discuss sportsball minutiae for hours on end. I sure as hell hope climbing isn't headed in that direction permanently. Like, honestly, who gives a shit? When this sport that we all love starts revolving solely around hero worship and who is wearing what, how much they make, who is sponsored by who, we've all lost something that is integral to why we all fell in love with it in the first place. It's not about money to anyone except those that climb at a high enough level for it to actually be somewhat about money. I understand wanting to be compensated for a life devoted so something. No one can dirtbag it forever pouring your time and resources into something that doesn't support your basic needs- so I get that part of it. Believe me. But just look at the pro ball sports and what that nonsense has become over the past 30 years. This line of questions leads only one place, and it's nowhere good. Leave the bullshit to the people that want and need to make money off it.

This is your opinion and it was specifically addressed in the OP's first statement. If you'd like, you're welcome to start a thread about how no one cares about sponsorships. Don't make yourself look like a fool on someone's thread, especially if what you're saying has already been deemed impertinent to the conversation.

Jack Stephenson wrote: This is your opinion and it was specifically addressed in the OP's first statement. If you'd like, you're welcome to start a thread about how no one cares about sponsorships. Don't make yourself look like a fool on someone's thread, especially if what you're saying has already been deemed impertinent to the conversation.

The problem is with the way the, OP's question, as it is formed, requires a black & white
conclusion that one Brand. Bans or Limits the use of another brand.

It Seems to me to be a stupidly uniformed, poorly worded, negative attack on a smart savy business person .
Some sponsors have some requirements, other sponsors have No requirements.
When you get there, in you're career, you learn to have good advisors, who make sure that you benefit at least as much as the. sponsors do.

EDIT:
11/5/16

You do realize she gets shoes and stuff for free. . .

Ted Pinson wrote: Actually, no...not at all. I have nothing but respect for DiGuilian and follow her because I enjoy reading about/seeing her many adventures in climbing. She is indeed a very savvy promoter (probably the best), which is why she is able to do what she wants. Up until now, she has been VERY careful about promoting her brands and has never been photographed wearing anything but 5.10's, which was why her suddenly appearing in Solutions was very unusual. This suggested to me, as many others noted, that she might be considering switching to Sportiva. While different brands obviously have different requirements and KJ did wear TC Pro's at one point on the Dawn Wall, this seemed out of character for Sasha. As a final reminder: nobody is forcing you to read or comment on this thread. If you don't care about what shoes Sasha wears, then don't read or contribute to this thread.

I do not care what shoes others wear.
you think you can tell others when, where or what to post ?
Really ?
I also don't care who sponsors who
or what someone is doing wearing products From a company that has not made a public statement of support .
Why do you ?

Funny way to show that you "have nothing but respect"
Ted you do realize by starting this topic You may be responsible for causing her a hassle .
is that your idea of how to show support!

don'tchuffonme wrote:Like, honestly, who gives a shit?

The Corporatocracy demands that we engage in idolatry and materialism so that they can maintain subliminal psychological control of the masses. They care A WHOLE LOT.

You don't see as much brand ";contamination"; with others things such as clothing nearly as much as you do with shoes. BITD you saw aliens on racks, these days you see Totems (rightly so). Unlike most other gear, shoes do seem to matter more so one could understand high end climbers needing the right tool for the job. KJ used TC Pros on the Dawn Wall for example.

There are all sorts of challenges in the Sponsorship world. Look at BD and Patagonia athletes and soft goods. The companies are smart enough to know when the big picture athletes profile is bigger than what shoe they have on. Adidas values SD brand more than subsidiary Five Tens much smaller market.

"Like, honestly, who gives a shit? "

Proceeds to share opinion...

pkeds wrote:"Like, honestly, who gives a shit? " Proceeds to share opinion...

Haha, yep.

Jack Stephenson wrote: This is your opinion and it was specifically addressed in the OP's first statement. If you'd like, you're welcome to start a thread about how no one cares about sponsorships. Don't make yourself look like a fool on someone's thread, especially if what you're saying has already been deemed impertinent to the conversation.

This is a logical fallacy. I didn't say no one cares. Obviously someone cares, or else the thread wouldn't exist. If you'd like to see climbing become about things and money and have pro climbers wearing jumpsuits with patches to push products, then by all means, please express your vehemence with me not wanting to see that. My comment isn't impertinent. And to answer the OP, maybe she's switched and the peons that are regular unsponsored climbers aren't privy to the contractual agreement yet. Please wait in baited anticipation of the knowledge of who's wearing what and how much money they make because it's so very important.

OMG OMG OMG
it was just yesterday the youngster was climbing in mad rocks. ahhhh how the kids grow up so fast these days.

don'tchuffonme wrote:This is a logical fallacy.

No it isn't.

don'tchuffonme wrote:If you'd like to see climbing become about things and money and have pro climbers wearing jumpsuits with patches to push products, then by all means, please express your vehemence with me not wanting to see that.

But this is.^^^

Read the OP before popping off on a horrible hot take. You don't control what gets people off.

don'tchuffonme wrote: This is a logical fallacy. I didn't say no one cares. Obviously someone cares, or else the thread wouldn't exist. If you'd like to see climbing become about things and money and have pro climbers wearing jumpsuits with patches to push products, then by all means, please express your vehemence with me not wanting to see that. My comment isn't impertinent. And to answer the OP, maybe she's switched and the peons that are regular unsponsored climbers aren't privy to the contractual agreement yet. Please wait in baited anticipation of the knowledge of who's wearing what and how much money they make because it's so very important.

I remember when I felt like my opinions were so important that I had to yell them from the rooftops.
Now I just do my thing and let the rest of the world do theirs. Lower blood pressure just means easier sends.

^^^
Truth.

I don't care a lick about who is sponsored, by whom or for how much. However, I've been involved with a few sponsored teams and the topic of sponsorships and how athletes view/use them is interesting to me.

If it's a topic of no interest to you then go read something else. sheesh

Michael Schneider wrote: The problem is with the way the, OP's question, as it is formed, requires a black & white conclusion that one Brand. Bans or Limits the use of another brand. It Seems to me to be a stupidly uniformed, poorly worded, negative attack on a smart savy business person . Some sponsors have some requirements, other sponsors have No requirements. When you get there, in you're career, you learn to have good advisors, who make sure that you benefit at least as much as the. sponsors do.

Actually, no...not at all. I have nothing but respect for DiGuilian and follow her because I enjoy reading about/seeing her many adventures in climbing. She is indeed a very savvy promoter (probably the best), which is why she is able to do what she wants. Up until now, she has been VERY careful about promoting her brands and has never been photographed wearing anything but 5.10's, which was why her suddenly appearing in Solutions was very unusual. This suggested to me, as many others noted, that she might be considering switching to Sportiva. While different brands obviously have different requirements and KJ did wear TC Pro's at one point on the Dawn Wall, this seemed out of character for Sasha.

As a final reminder: nobody is forcing you to read or comment on this thread. If you don't care about what shoes Sasha wears, then don't read or contribute to this thread.

Maybe she was borrowing Courtney's shoes. They're pretty tight and obv the Woods clan loves Solutions

Has she been seen wearing Solutions in any recent months other than October? If not, maybe she was simply wearing the pink Solutions in observance of breast cancer awareness month. And FWIW, pink is her favorite color.

Anyone remember when Sasha was sponsored by Mad Rock before she jumped over to FiveTen?