We offer a shoe fitting service at our Showroom near Milnthorpe, Cumbria.

For those unable to make a visit the below guide can help narrow down your purchase options.

Purchasing Climbing Shoes Online

Purchasing rock climbing shoes online can be a tricky undertaking. The following short article outlines our “suggested” rock shoe fit formula. This system offers the customer between 2 and 4 sizing options – in accordance with their pre-measured foot size – for each of the rock shoe models we stock, with each sizing option offered being appropriate to varying levels of performance.

How we work it out

Let’s take the example of the Five Ten Anasazi VCs. We initially measure the foot of the rock shoe tester* using a copy of the 'Rock Shoes Sizing Chart' this gives us a standard by which the tester and the customer can both work from. The tester measures their foot to be a EU 44 (for example), and then establishes (by trying numerous sizes) the size he/she would use in this particular shoe for the following categories:

• A) Technical Fit – Hard Bouldering, Hard Sport Climbing and Elite Trad Climbing.
• B) Semi Technical Fit – Hard Trad Climbing, Mid Grade Bouldering and Sport Climbing.
• C) Traditional Fit – All purpose Trad Climbing, Sun Rock Sport Climbers and Circuit Bouldering.
• D) Entry Level – Beginners or people who only climb a few times a year.

Example Result:

The Result Explained

Therefore the tester who measures EU 44would use a EU 42.5 for category A, EU 43 for category B, EU 43.5 for category C and as the shoe tested is an example of a technical shoe not designed for category D, - is given.

*We used multiple “testers” and based our recommendations on their agreed decisions.

Sizing Yourself

So here’s how to use the system:

1. Download the Rock Shoes Sizing Chart and print off a copy, making sure the document has been printed to its actual size (i.e. make sure the printer isn't preset to print documents at 80% for example - it must be 100%).
2. Measure your foot following the instructions on the sizing chart.
3. Then use the table below to get an idea of how many sizes you should be dropping/adding from the measurement you established (on the chart) to tailor the rock shoes you wish to purchase to your specific needs.
4. A volume rating (Low/Medium/High) is provided for each shoe. The male tester has medium width, medium volume feet so anything that was a perfect fit was judged as ‘Medium’ volume, anything with very little room as ‘Low’ volume and anything with lots of room in the body of the shoe as ‘High’ volume. 
5. A foot type rating is also provided to suggest the most appropriate foot type for that particular model.

NOTE: The sizing adjustments we recommend take stretch into account - i.e. we equate for how much a shoe will stretch after a few sessions, when recommending size drops.

Please note: some shoes on our site are clearance lines (short term SKU’s), and as there is often not a full size break we do not add them to the Sizing Chart. If this is the case we suggest you give us a call for sizing assistance.

Recommendations

The information recommending how many sizes to drop is working in full sizes (both in UK and EURO) where possible. Example: Your foot size is UK10 and you wish to buy the Anasazi Velcro in a Category A fit, you would therefore require a UK8 in that rock shoe. If the same person wished to buy the Scarpa Booster in a Category A fit they would require a EURO 41.5.

WARM YOUR SHOES - Never try your NEW shoes on when they are cold out of the box. Leave them in a warm room for an hour or so before trying them on, this will make them much more soft, supple and plyable. 

Use Our Climbing Shoe Recommender App

Once you have established you size use our interactive App to find a shoe that suits you best

Disclaimer

Please note that although all efforts have been made to give accurate information, regarding assisting you with the sizing of your rock shoes, due to the nature of specialist footwear and the variances in peoples feet we cannot guarantee our formula 100%. As such we are unable to refund return postal fees on the basis of an inaccurate fit based on the above information – remember it’s a guide, if you're unsure pay your nearest climbing shop a visit for in-store fitting.