By John Walter I love the spring. The weather gets warmer, the days longer, and gear manufacturers parade out their new lines of equipment. A new year means new gear, and the climbing shoe industry is no exception.
Climbing shoes are one of the essential pieces of equipment for rock climbing.
Climbing shoes, however, actually assist the climber to get up the rock. So will the latest pair of climbing shoes make you, or your customer better climbers. Do they really make that much of a difference. Perhaps surprisingly, climbing shoes don't add a great deal to your climbing capabilities. As one very astute observer put it, it's more likely that the shoes don't impede the climbing abilities of the climber, rather than making her a better climber.