Another characteristic of climbing shoes is their softness or stiffness – the elements that provide the climber with differing from each other properties. Normally, boulderers pick the soft climbing shoes, while top-roping or cragging climbers pick the stiff alternatives. The grounds for these are the following: soft shoes allow the climbers’ feet to be more sensitive to the climbing surface and thus do all the work by themselves; stiff shoes are not as flexible and thus give the climber better support and grip to the surface. Although it might sound like soft climbing shoes are more suitable for beginners, it’s actually the other way around. Stiff shoes offer the support that beginners are very much in need of, while also not putting a whole lot of pressure on the feet that is not used to climbing yet. Moreover, you will find it easier and more secure to stand on tricky edges with stiff shoes on due to their thick soles. Soft shoes, however, will come in handy when hooking your toes or heels while climbing which is hardly possible with stiff shoes. Besides, you can go down one size to get a snug fit from your soft pair of climbing shoes.