CLIMBING SHOES

Being a Clydesdale climber - hovering north of 200 lbs - creating a climbing shoe that could provide the necessary stiffness to support my weight, but still have the sensitivity to feel the subtleties of the rock was a challenge I hoped to solve creating my first pair of shoes.

While I worked as a cobbler for Rock and Resole, I disassembled and recreated thousands of pairs of shoes in every brand, which helped me understand a variety of techniques to use rubber to add strength and tension to the shoes.

Working with leather was new to me, and developing the upper pattern was a fascinating challenge.

The shoes were functional, and climbed well, but as with any project I learned a lot and am excited for future iterations.