I'm A Believer!

I have always been skeptical about whether rubber over the toes really helps when toe hooking.  So I decided that I'd set a boulder problem at the gym that would utilize the power of a toe hook.  Now the problem I set can be done with a heel hook, but in my opinion it feels more secure with a double toe.  I am now a believer!  Recently I have been using my Climb X Rock Stars for everything and I mean everything.  This problem made me realize that the toe rands really work and really well for that matter.  Now just as a cross reference I have tried using my Climb X Drifters on the same problem and even though I can stick the move while toe hooking with them I can also feel them sliding around on the hold.  Compare that with sticky toe rand that covers the Rock Star which never slipped.  Needless to say I am now a believer in toe rubber!

ABS Youth Nationals 2011

Well I spent the last four days in Boulder, Colorado for youth nationals and man was it sick!!!  We went because the girl I coach Zowe Gardener got a first round invite.  We left around noon on Thursday and arrived round 730 that night in Boulder.  We got her all checked in and headed back to the hotel.  Zowe didn't have to climb until 912 the following night so needless to say we had a little time to kill.  Bobby, who is Zowe's dad, and I decided that the next morning we would run a Flat Iron while Zowe relaxed at the hotel.  We decided to do Fandango which is the classic 5.5 because we thought we could run up there do it real fast and get back faster that way we didn't leave Zowe for too long.  But needless to say things hardly ever go as planned.  We found the trailhead easy enough and started hiking completely stoked about the climb.  When we arrived at the first Flat Iron and thought we were on route but we ended up on the wrong one.  Anyways everything turned out fine and we had a blast!  I have to mention that I wore my Climb X Zions and they were awesome!  Even though they are a soft shoe it was nice to be able to feel everything that my toes were on.  Anyways a little while later we were back at the car and on our way to pick Zowe up and get some food!

That night was qualifiers and they would take the top 18 out of the 34 competitors to the next round.  Zowe was in the middle of the group and as we watched our nerves started to quicken.  She came out flashed the first problem, that gave me a big sigh of relief not because I didn't believe in her but because you never know what's going to happen.  She make good work of problem 2 and 3.  Problem 4 which was a delicate slab problem with a vital hold on the opposite wall that was easy to miss gave her a bit of a problem, but when the results came out we were in 15th place and going to semifinals!  Zowe had to be into iso at 645 and was scheduled to climb around 720 the following night.  We all slept in that morning and just relaxed together.  That night we watched Zowe on her problems and she climbed really well.  Now she didn't end up making it to finals, but we ended up in 13th and we'll take that :) now it's time to start training for SCS!!!  I should have pictures up from this adventure soon!!!

2011 Zion Review

If Climb X makes an all around shoe this would defiantly be my nominee for it.  You can go from 5.11 slab to 5.13 overhang without changing shoes.  Although I sized these to be comfortable I was not disappointed with their ability to still perform well.  Not gonna lie I was rather scared at first about my choice, but I am very satisfied.  These shoes are rather soft, but because of that they are great to use right out of the box.  I personally like the fact of how sensitive these are, now it does cause a little foot fatigue on longer routes.  Now I sized these the same as my Emotions which is an 8.  Now the Emotions were tight almost to the point of being unbearable.  However, the Zions are comfy with a slight curl in my toes.  For a good performance shoe I would recommend going down 1.5 sizes.  Personally I think I would go down to a 7 for these shoes to be a high performer.  But in all for a well rounded and comfortable shoe I would go with a .5 or 1 downsize.  In all this shoe is defiantly been upgraded from the 2010 model.  So if you're looking for a new all rounder you should check this shoe out!

2011 Emotion Review

My first impression upon pulling these bad boys out at the Winter OR was damn these shoes are sick!  At first I thought I might have sized them too small, but they have conformed to my feet and are almost bearable.  Now they are slightly stiff for a downturned shoe but my hope is that after a few more session they will become more sensitive.  My Rock Stars started out the exact same way as these have but have finally gotten sensitive enough that I feel comfortable bouldering in them.  Yet oddly enough the Emotions feel stiffer, but perform really bouldering with them right out of the box.  Now when compared with the rest of Climb X's shoes line the Emotions are incredibly downturned.  Now I have worn them on routes on both vertical, steep and all the terrain in between.  On steeper ground I found that they may preform slightly better, but thats really what they were made for anyways.  Now sizing wise I found that these shoes run surprising small for the size.  In the old Rock Star model for instance I wore a 7.5 and it I think I could have gone down to a 7 and still been comfortable.  But in the the 011 Emotion I'm wearing an 8 and it is painful!  I think if I would have gone with an 8.5 it would have been perfect, but what can you do!  So my recommendation would be to go down a .5 size from your street shoe.  I wear a 9 in my hiking shoes and I think that an 8.5 would be perfect.  All in all these shoes have been preforming great and are a must for my climbing pack.