These Boots Are Made For [Climbing]

Heads up- this is a strange one.

Whilst showering last night, I wondered what in the world I would write about for today.  I reminisced about what I had done this past week and nothing was even remotely interesting.  The most exciting thing was ordering a new pair of climbing shoes.  Now that may not seem very interesting (and it's not) but it made me think about the past pairs I've owned.  I rounded up all the old shoes I could find and started to think about the significance of each pair.

Shoes

My first official pair was the blue 5.10s.  Technically my first pair was a red version of these my dad and I shared but these were the first to be just for me.  This is the pair where it all began.  I started competing in these shoes.  I was absolutely terrible and the shoes probably added to that but I can always look back at the photos of awkward 15 year old me barely off the ground wearing these at competitions.

I don't really remember this next pair at all.  Some sort of Evolvs.  I think the rubber blew through really fast.  In case you were wondering, duct tape is not a good replacement for climbing rubber.  I believe I climbed my first crack in these shoes.

Ah the Evolv Defys.  I wore this pair the first time I ever climbed outside.  My dad and I went to Smith and hired a guide for two days.  The second day we climbed up Monkey Face which was pretty neat.  This must have also been the pair I used my first sport climbing season for competitions. I wasn't able to find these but was able to snag this picture, once again, awkward 15 year old me barely off the ground.

When I was actually starting to do better in competitions, I upped the shoe game.  La Sportiva Miura VS were my next pair.  I believe when I got these they had just been released.  I remember at a competition in Tacoma a guy who worked at the gym came up to me and said he had been trying to get a pair but they were impossible to find.  Lucky me.  I loved these shoes.  I went to nationals in the first pair.  The second pair were the shoes I took to college/Colorado.

Pair #1

Pair #2

La Sportiva Solutions are my current shoes and the ones in the mail.  These shoes are amazing.  When my second Mirua VS pair broke, I went to the store to get a replacement.  I saw these and after trying them on, I was hooked.  The summer between sophomore and junior year when I was in pretty peak climbing shape, I climbed the hardest I ever have in the first pair of these shoes.  I climbed a certain difficulty on my first try which I had been trying to do for years which was very exciting.  The second pair I took to Dublin (which got used one time) and did some hard outdoor climbing with.

Pair 1

Pair 2

Now you know more about my shoes.  Bet you've always wanted to know more about that huh?  Also, I realized I've had a lot of climbing shoes.

 

That's all for now.  Bye.