9 February 2016

Euro 400 for shoes that climb one grade harder?

Marius Morstad, who has been supporting the shoe industry with innovations for 25 years, hopes that the barefoot climber, Charles Albert, will inspire producers to take the next step. "Make the shoes softer, use sticky rubber all over the shoes and make them fit the foot without to much tension, use thinner rands and soles and look for ways to support the big toe without take away sensitive. This will accelerate and facilitate a natural evolution in climbing as a sport, the moves are there now and a new generation of climbers also, the future is already her." The production knowledge is already there. It is just a matter of cost versus demand. La Sportiva has pushed it with the no edge concept where sales have been low but are picking up and also their athletes have been able to cutomize mid-soles etc. With more climbers making the sport more commercial, and possibly Olympic medals to compete for, he thinks that the new generation of specialized shoes and prices are soon to come. It will start with guys like Adam Ondra getting custom-made shoes making him able to climb harder. In most of the other sports there is a huge price difference but until now this almost does not exist in climbing. Once the climbers are ready to pay Euro 400 for shoes that could sometimes make them climb one grader harder, they will start being produced.
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