Quick List – Best Women’s Climbing Shoes
• La Sportiva TC Pro
• La Sportiva Testarossa
• La Sportiva Muira VS
• La Sportiva Solution
• La Sportiva Skwama
• Scarpa Vapor V
Different shoe companies generate different brands of women climbing shoes annually. The different rock faces around the globe play an enormous role in this. Whether you are hiking around Las Vegas for your favorite sandstone cliff or foraging through the forests in Thailand, companies build climbing shoes to perform differently in different scenarios.
Women climbing shoes are very different from men’s shoes. Before the innovation of women climbing shoes, women depended on men’s or unisex shoes for rock climbing. Thanks to innovation, women can now wear shoes that are built to suit their needs. These boots are characterized by; narrow and long toe boxes, higher arches, and a lower instep.
The best women’s climbing shoes
Before purchasing any shoe, it is good to understand how you are going to use it first. Climbing shoes vary in style, fitness, design, and specialty. Generally, there are four types of climbing shoes for women. They include aggressive shoes, beginner shoes, all-round shoes, and traditional shoes.
Just as the name suggests, beginner’s shoes are meant for beginners. These shoes have a flat design that enhances your balance when climbing rocks. These are the best shoes if you have terrible footwork and undeveloped muscles.
All-round shoes are for versatile rock climbing. They are built to take on anything. With this pair of shoes, you do not have to go for other climbing shoes. The reason being, you can use them in any rock climbing activity.
Traditional shoes are mainly built for technical climbs. This is the best shoe for climbing a rocky and cracked area. They have asymmetrical design and a slight downturn, to enhance your accuracy during technical climbs.
Aggressive shoes are high-end shoes designed for steep terrain. It is impossible to wear these shoes for long since they have a curve that pushes your toes towards the ground. If you want the best aggressive shoes, always ensure that the shoe has a comfortable fit.
Following are a few women rock climbers sharing their favorite shoes.
From our Rock Climbing Women community
Habit, mindfulness & lifestyle coach, Blake Cason, MS had this to say about her favorite shoes:
Testarossa
“These little babies are great for technical edging and soft enough that you can feel my new texture in the footholds, which can be great when you’re not quite sure if you’re on the right spot! The rubber being soft also makes them more comfortable for breaking in and wearing a little tighter, which unfortunately I do. With the redesign of the heel they are way better at heel hooking with more rubber and shape to the heel so it is more aggressive. I like these shoes as a universal shoe because they also climb really well and steep terrain. The softness means you can point your foot and your toes and hook onto holds where you need to. A really incredible universal shoe!”
La Sportiva Womens Miura VS Rock Climbing Shoes
Upper Material: leather
Lining: Dentex
Closure: hook-and-loop
Muira VS
“I love Muiras for slab climbing and technical avert or oververt climbing where you want a stiffer shoe to support you a little bit more. They have a flatter toe box so they can get your foot right up onto tiny edges and hold you there.”
TC Pro
“All hail the TC pro! I used to joke that these came with one about your for a guaranteed send from Tommy Caldwell himself. While that may not be true, these are so expertly designed for granite climbing it feels like it. They are a flat shoe so really well designed for slab climbing where you want to paste a lot of your foot down, they have a stiff enough rubber that they don’t collapse in cracks, always a good thing! If you wear them fitted enough they are also really great for edging. if you ever try to climb anything remotely steep in them they do feel very weird because you can’t point your foot at all pretty much. But there are plenty of other shoes for that!”
Connect with Blake: startyourpivot.com | @blake_cason | @pivot.wellness
Maiza Lima also has 3 favorite women’s climbing shoes.
“TC for crack climbing because it protects my toes very well.”
La Sportiva Womens Solution Rock Climbing Shoes
Upper Material: leather, Lorica
Lining: [toe box, arch] HF
Closure: hook-and-loop, Face Lacing System
“Solutions for steep sport climbing. Talk about my favorite shoe ever!
It performs so good and it holds the tiniest edges but also it’s downturn to grab those overhanging foot holds. “
“Skwamas my new favorite because it’s perfect for the area I’m climbing at. Smears on those non existent feet without hurting my toe nails. Great for technical face climbing.”
Bennett Rahn says, “My favorite all around pair of shoes are my TC Pros – good on granite slabs, good in sandstone cracks, comfy enough on long multi-pitches, but techy enough to trust your footwork. When I wore them in the creek I was the only one without sore and gobied ankles, when I wore them on the Chief in Squamish I was the only one who didn’t want to take off my shoes between pitches. If only they weren’t so pricey! But I guess you have to pay for perfection.”
From Around the Web
McKenzi Taylor founded Rock Climbing Women in 2013 after moving to a new city as a new climber seeking more climbing partners (and new friends!). Since her first taste of climbing in Spearfish Canyon, SD, McKenzi has been at the rock face seeking and sharing the thrill of climbing. She credits the support of a consistent climbing partner and community as the motivation to continue developing her skill, whether it’s trad, sport climbing or bouldering. A full-time business owner and mother, McKenzi’s on a mission to get her kids outside and learning to adventure alongside her.
