What Rock Climbing Shoes do Professional Climbers Wear?

“What climbing shoes should I buy?” is the most common question new climbers ask – often followed by “What shoes do the pros wear?“. It turns out there is no single perfect shoe, but there are definitely a few favorites out there.

There are a tonne of articles and an infinite amount of opinions out there – today we’ll be focusing solely on what climbing shoes the pros wear. While it’s great to have one pair of all-rounders that can take on many types of routes, it’s common for people to have a few pairs to use in different situations.

Just Want The Most Popular Climbing Shoes Pros Wear?
These are the shoes most commonly worn by the pros. Definitely read up and try on a few first though. These are not the best shoes for beginners!
– Sport Climbing + Bouldering – La Sportiva Solution / Women’s Version
– Big Walls – La Sportiva TC Pro
– All Round – La Sportiva Miura Lace / Women’s Version

Pro Tip – No pair of shoes is going to turn you into Ondra. This article is just an exercise in seeing what works for different people. It also saves you the experience of googling feet in a public café and trying to explain what you are doing.

If you are new to climbing, we really suggest getting something suited to beginners instead. If you buy one of the below as your first pair, expect either to return them pretty soon after or suffer! Instead, check out our article on the Best Climbing Shoes For Beginners.

What Rock Climbing Shoes Does Alex Honnold Use?

Alex Honnold’s climbing shoes of choice are the La Sportiva TC Pros which are the Tommy Caldwell signature shoes. In the “Free Solo” documentary, Honnold climbed the Freerider on El Cap wearing TC Pros the entire way. These shoes were designed by Tommy Caldwell specifically for granite big wall climbing in Yosemite.

He used to wear the La Sportiva Miura a lot – including on his free solo of the Half Dome in Yosemite. The Miura is a popular shoe with a slight downturn that does well as a mix between comfort and performance. It’s good all in one we’d suggest if you are newer to climbing, instead of getting the TC Pros which are more specific to big walls.

Honnold is a big fan of the La Sportiva Solutions for harder sport climbing. He wore them for his hardest sport climb yet – “Arrested Development”, a 9a / 5.14d in Mount Charleston.

Read our full article on Alex Honnold’s climbing shoes, approach shoes, and harness …when he wears one.

Read More – Who Is Alex Honnold?

What Climbing Shoes Does Tommy Caldwell Wear?

Tommy Caldwell’s climbing shoes are the La Sportiva TC Pros – which he designed for all-day performance specifically for Yosemite style big wall climbs on granite. With Vibram XS Edge rubber, a flat toe box, and a little padding above the toes and around the ankle these are great for tiny edges and cracks.

Tommy Caldwell wore La Sportiva TC Pros when he climbed the Dawn Wall. He’s since updated them very slightly for a little more resilience, a touched-up rand, and a little more precision.

He also uses La Sportiva Solutions when training at home and bouldering. The Solutions are a very popular climbing shoe for hard routes. They’re very down-turned and aggressive for the smallest footholds and smears.

Tomoa Narasaki’s Climbing Shoes

Tomoa Narasaki’s climbing shoes are TN Pro from Unparallel. They are a custom pair designed with Tomoa’s input and look like a version of the Unparallel Regulus. He was Japan’s biggest hope for Olympic Gold, especially after he won both the Combined and Bouldering events at the IFSC Climbing World Championships 2019.

However, he just missed out on an Olympic medal, taking fourth at the Sport Climbing Olympic men’s finals in 2021.

In Lead and Bouldering, Tomoa Narasaki’s climbing shoes were Unparallel Regulus climbing shoes. They are stiff, down-turned, and aggressive shoes for steep and challenging bouldering and sport climbing. In Speed climbing, Tomoa used the Unparallel Up Mocc.

A word on Unparallel shoes
– When the Five Ten brand got bought by Adidas – the designs didn’t. Also known as UP, this new company was formed by Five Ten engineers who took a lot of the old styles from Five Ten and fixed small issues with them. The Regulus seem to be an updated version of the Five Ten Hiangle with a less stretchy/baggy toe box.

Read More – Who Is Tomoa Narasaki?

Adam Ondra’s Climbing Shoes

Adam Ondra’s climbing shoes of choice vary depending on what he’s climbing. He most often wears the La Sportiva Solutions and says this is his favorite shoe. This is a very popular shoe among high-level climbers as they are aggressively down-turned. It gives an ultra-precise edge on the big toe for the smallest holds, as well as power through the foot when pushing up.

He is sponsored by La Sportiva so tends to wear their shoes. In Hachioji and Toulouse, Adam Ondra wore the La Sportiva Solutions for most of the Bouldering and Lead rounds. He also wore the Women’s Solutions too.

Low Volume Climbing Shoes

Women’s versions of shoes are often called Low Volume (LV). Essentially the same design with a slimmer middle and heel. Getting the right climbing shoe is more about the fit than anything else.

Adam is a fan of the La Sportiva “No-Edge” shoes and climbed in both the Futura and the Genius. Previously he wore Five Ten shoes, doing “Dreamcatcher” in the Anasazi VCS and the classic Moccasyms.

Ondra used to wear the La Sportiva Miura VS very often, taking down some of his hardest routes in these – including the world’s first 9c “Silence” in a prototype called the Miura XX that had a very limited release. He wore the XX on his left foot and the Solutions on the right. He also pulled the same two shoe trick when he wore a La Sportiva Miura VS on his right foot and a La Sportiva Futura on his left while climbing “Terranova”.

What Shoes Does Alex Megos Wear?

Alex Megos is now the second person to climb 9c / 5.15d (since downgraded to 9b+) and is hot on Adam Ondra’s heels as the best climber in the world! Alex has been with Tenaya for a few years and seems to love their shoes.

Alex Megos’s favorite climbing shoes are the Tenaya Iati. He wore these on the 9b+ “Perfecto Mundo” and the new 9c (downgraded) “Bibliographie”. The Iati are stiffly downturned with a pointed toe and tight heel. They are fairly stiff and perfect for hard overhung terrain and boulders. He also wears the Tenaya Tarifa for some boulder problems.

What Climbing Shoes Chris Sharma Wears

Over the years Chris Sharma’s climbing shoe choice has changed depending on sponsors, what route he is trying, and because in his long climbing career the technology has changed so much. He is currently sponsored by Tenaya and wears a few different shoes from them.

Chris Sharma’s climbing shoe of choice right now is the Tenaya Mastia. He uses it as an all-rounder for bouldering and hard sport routes. It’s a great shoe that fits different foot shapes fairly well, has a moderate downturn and aggression, and has a very molded heel cup. Tenaya are putting out some very good shoes right now and this is their latest and greatest.

Other shoes he uses from Tenaya include the Oasi and the Iati. Both are aggressive, down-turned shoes that he uses for hard sport climbing. The Oasi is more suited to overhangs and the Iati is a little stiffer and supportive on face/vertical climbs.

Sharma used to wear Evolv shoes when he was sponsored by them. He worked with Evolv on the Shaman – and an updated Shaman 2 release – a great edging and hooking shoe with very sticky rubber, as well as the Pontas. Chris was also the climbing stuntman for the remake of the Point Break movie and wore the Evolv Nexxo in the climbing scene.

What Climbing Shoes Does Janja Garnbret Wear?

Gold medalist in the 2021 debut of Climbing at the Olympics, the Slovenian powerhouse has a clear favorite shoe. Janja Garnbret‘s climbing shoe is the Five Ten Hiangle Pro.

She’s used Hiangle shoes for basically everything in the past few years. There have been a few different versions from the original 5.10, through to the new Adidas 5.10 Hiangle, then the newer Hiangle Pro. She uses them for bouldering and sport climbing indoors and out, as well as speed climbing.

Not many climbers keep the same shoe for speed and most opt for a lighter slip-on like the Cobra.

The Hiangle Pro is a popular shoe that most climbers use for hard bouldering. As a bouldering shoe, they are sensitive and malleable but they have a stiffness that is evident when you push onto tiny edges. The Women’s version is just a Low Volume (LV) version with a slimmer foot and heel.

The version Janja wears is the third version of the shoe which can be bought in white or black. There isn’t a Women’s or Low Volume version of this shoe and it should fit all feet if you get the right size.

Read more – Who Is Janja Garnbret?

Miho Nonaka Climbing Shoes

Miho Nonaka’s climbing shoe is the Tenaya Oasi for most lead and bouldering competitions. She is sponsored by Tenaya and Adidas (who now make climbing shoes under the Five Ten brand) but mainly wears Tenaya shoes. Miho also sometimes wears the Women’s version of the classic La Sportiva Solution.

Miho Nonaka climbed incredibly in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and managed to take Silver! In recent competitions, it looks like she is wearing an unreleased demo version of some new Five Ten shoes…

Read More – Who Is Miho Nonaka?

Daniel Woods Climbing Shoes

Daniel Wood’s climbing shoes are his new pro model – the Evolv Phantom. The Phantoms were designed by Evolv with input and testing by Daniel himself. In the last weeks of testing the latest release model, he managed to climb three 8C+ boulders!

The Phantoms are designed for the hardest overhanging boulders with a bunch of design features tuned to the task. The toe is very down-turned and tight with a lot of power going into the big toe hook, with a strap system that’s perfect for dialing in the fit. These were our choice for the best bouldering shoes in this year’s best climbing shoes round up.

Daniel Woods is sponsored by Evolv and has used a lot of their shoes. The Evolv Agro used to be one of his go-to shoes. He said it had his “favorite heel on a shoe ever”. They are an aggressive and downturned shoe that is great for hooking on to edges, with a very well-designed and tight heel.

He also contributed with Paul Robinson to the design of the Evolv X1 though for a long time Daniel Woods wore exclusively La Sportiva Solutions.

What Climbing Shoes Does Ashima Shiraishi Wear

The main climbing shoe that Ashima Shiraishi wears is the Evolv Shakra. It’s a version of the Evolv Shaman designed to fit Women’s lower volume feet a little better. Ashima wears Shakras for outdoor sport climbing and bouldering, as well as for indoor competitions including the IFSC World Championships in Hachioji.

Ashima Shiraishi’s climbing shoes are the Evolv Ashima. It’s an aggressive laced shoe made in a smaller size for children or those with smaller feet. She also used to wear a few different pairs of custom-made shoes as a younger climber, crushing at the age of 8.

What Climbing Shoes Shauna Coxsey Wears

Shauna Coxsey’s climbing shoes are the Five Ten Anasazi LV Pro, which she uses for most of her climbing. Shauna actually helped design these shoes as she used to wear the classic Anasazis. The Pro version has more heel tension for heel hooks and a larger rubber toe patch for toe hooks. Overall it’s slightly more aggressive and suited for modern competitions and hard sport climbing.

She sometimes wears the standard Anasazi LV in comps and in speed climbing. Shauna also wears the Five Ten Hiangle Women’s. This is another aggressive shoe aimed at boulderers and for overhung sports climbs.

Read More – Who Is Shauna Coxsey?

What Climbing Shoes Does Magnus Midtbø Wear

The Norwegian youtube star and former high-level competitor definitely has a favorite. Magnus Midtbø’s climbing shoe is the Scarpa Drago for most of his bouldering and lead climbing. They are an aggressive shoe that fit tight, with a downturn and asymmetry to match.

Lately, he’s been wearing the new Scarpa Furia S, which is a similar rand (shoe shape) to the Drago. It is more flexible and has Scarpa’s newer closure system that allows it to fit different foot shapes better. He is currently sponsored by Scarpa and previously by Five Ten.

What Climbing Shoes Does Sasha DiGiulian Use?

Sasha DiGiulian wears the Women’s La Sportiva Solutions often. They’re a very popular performance climbing shoe with a sharp down-turn and precise toe. She also sometimes wears Five Ten shoes like the Hiangle and the Anasazi LV Pro, both in the Women’s or Low Volume (LV) versions.

Sasha Digiulian’s climbing shoe choice is pretty specific because she is sponsored by La Sportiva and Five Ten so wears a mix of their shoes. She also runs in the Adidas Adizero running shoe. It’s a shoe made out of 95% recycled material taken out of oceans.

Margo Hayes’ Climbing Shoes

At the top level of hard sport climbing – shoes do make a difference. Margo Hayes almost always wears the La Sportiva Solutions Women’s climbing shoes. Probably the single most popular climbing shoe used at a high level for their precision and downturn. These were the shoes Margo wore when she climbed Papichulo 9a+

Margo Hayes has worn the La Sportiva Genius and Futura in competition – both are No-Edge technology shoes. She has also worn the Kataki in comp.

What Climbing Shoes Does Alex Puccio Wear?

Alex Puccio mainly wears Scarpa Instinct VS Women’s. These are brilliant shoes that are very popular among indoor boulderers – especially in competition. She has worn the Five Ten Dragon in competition and in bouldering, as well as the Instinct VSR.

Reza Alipour Shenazandifard Climbing Shoes

Current Men’s Speed Climbing World Record holder Reza Alipour wears the La Sportiva Cobra. A minimal down-turned shoe that slips on and off. It is designed to be light and streamlined – built perfectly for indoor walls and the plastic holds used in Speed Climbing or gym climbing.

Jonathan Siegrist’s Climbing Shoes

Jonathan Siegrist uses the La Sportiva Testarossa lace-ups as his favorite shoe, Skwama as a softer shoe for better surface area contact, and the Otaki for edging and precise footwork. He has also used the TC Pro and Solutions. He’s a bit of a climbing shoe nerd – and we appreciate that.

Jimmy Webb’s Favorite Climbing Shoes

Jimmy Webb wears Tenaya Oasi shoes for most of his bouldering. He is newly sponsored by Tenaya – a newer brand with a reputation for high quality and amazing performance shoes.

Previously he was sponsored by Five Ten and used to use the Five Ten Team as well as the Hiangle.

YiLing Song Climbing Shoes

YiLing Song – the previous Women’s Speed Climbing World Record holder also wears the same La Sportiva Cobra that many speed climbers wear. They are lightweight, aggressive, and tuned to indoor walls and plastic holds.

What Climbing Shoes Does Paul Robinson Wear?

Paul Robinson wears the Evolv Oracle for most of his bouldering and climbing. The Oracles are a rare laced aggressive shoe. They have the downturn, pointed toe hook, and rubber over the top that you’d expect from a hard bouldering shoe – but with a comfy and adjustable lacing system.

Paul also helped with the design of the popular X1‘s and the new Evolv Phantoms.

Nalle Hukkataival’s Bouldering Shoes

Nalle Hukkataival climbing shoes are the La Sportiva Solutions, which he seems to use for literally everything. They were the shoes he used on the hardest boulder problem in the world – the 9A / V17 “Burden of Dreams”. The only time it seems he’s ever used other shoes was when Nalle attempted the Dawn Wall and used – of course – the TC Pros.

Beth Rodden’s Climbing Shoes Of Choice

Beth Rodden loves to wear Miuras for bouldering, sport climbing, and trad. She’s been wearing them since they were first released 20 years ago! She also wears the classic Solutions.

Futaba Ito Climbing Shoes

Futaba Ito wears the Women’s version of the La Sportiva Skwama. They’re a great, versatile climbing with a down-turned front foot and a flexible mid-sole. For Speed climbing, she wears the light and fast Cobras. Occasionally she wears the Women’s Solutions that many others choose.

Brooke Raboutou’s Climbing Shoes

Brooke Rabatou wears the La Sportiva Solution in the Women’s version for most of her bouldering and lead climbing. Brooke was one of the USA’s biggest hopes in the 2020 Olympics Climbing event, but placed fifth overall. She climbed alongside teammates Kyra Condie, Nathaniel Coleman, and Colin Duffy.

Read More – Who Is Brooke Raboutou?

What Climbing Shoes Does Ai Mori Wear?

Ai Mori tends to wear the La Sportiva Futura shoe. The Futura is one of La Sportiva’s “No-Edge” technology shoes, in which there is no sharp edge at the toe. This allows for a little more leeway when placing your foot on indistinct holds or when smearing. It also has other benefits like your toe being closer to the front of the shoe and more feel when adding pressure.

Mawem Brothers Climbing Shoes – Mickael + Bassa Mawem

Both Mickael and Mawem Bassa wear Mad Rock climbing shoes and are sponsored by the company. They wear a few different models, including the Shark, Red Line, Remora, and the Drone. Mad Rock isn’t the most popular brand but they put out some top-of-the-line shoes. Personally, we’d say their designs and models are really under-rated.

The Shark is a performance shoe with an aggressive downturn and a concave front foot. This allows for great power through the toe while also fitting different foot shapes well. A suction cup heel design and rubber all over the top of the toe mean this is a bouldering and sport climbing beast.

Despite not being expected to place highly, both of the brothers placed in the top eight at the 2020 Olympic climbing event. An incredible achievement, despite Bassa Mawem getting a pretty horrific injury starting out in the Lead finals.

Read More about the Mawem Brothers – Mickael and Bassa

Akiyo Noguchi’s Climbing Shoes

Akiyo Noguchi‘s climbing shoes for most disciplines are the La Sportiva Skwama Women’s. For Lead and Bouldering, these are popular, performance-oriented shoes with a good toe rubber wrap around. When competing in Speed, Akiyo wears the La Sportiva Cobra as do many others.

Having taken Bronze at the 2020 Olympic Climbing event, Akiyo has now retired from competition climbing. However, she still climbs and is often seen wearing the Skwama.

Read More – Who Is Akiyo Noguchi?

Jakob Schubert’s Climbing Shoes

After an incredible performance in Lead, Jakob Shubert took Bronze at the 2020 Olympics sport climbing event. He’s been sponsored by La Sportiva for years so wears their shoes, but has an obvious favorite.

Jakob Shubert’s climbing shoe for almost everything he does is the La Sportiva Solution. The updated model is his most used, though he does occasionally use the new Solution Comp version. For Speed Climbing, he uses the La Sportiva Cobra 4:99. It’s a really popular shoe that basically every Speed climber wears for its lightness.

Read More – Who Is Jakob Schubert?

What Climbing Shoes Does Nathaniel Coleman Wear?

Before the Olympics in 2020, Nathaniel Coleman hadn’t been seen in many competition climbing headlines. From day one in Tokyo, his performance was world-class. In the finals, Nathaniel really pulled out all the stops to take first in the Bouldering part – ending up with a Silver medal at the first Sport Climbing Olympics in history!

Nathaniel Coleman’s climbing shoes for the Olympics and most of his climbing were the very popular Scarpa Instinct VSR. Scarpa does a few variations of the Instinct, and the VSR is the slightly stiffer version. It’s a very well-designed shoe with a great toe-box and a nice downturn.

The Instinct VSR are especially good for longer routes and lead climbing, and because of the stiffness are better matched to taller or heavier climbers. He also uses the Scarpa Drago, as well as the more bouldering-focused Instinct SR.

Read More – Who Is Nathaniel Coleman?

What Climbing Shoes Does Alberto Ginés López Wear?

Tokyo 2020 saw a breakout performance from Alberto Ginés López. After a shock 1st in Speed Climbing, he managed to round out the rest of the competition and take Gold! Though it wasn’t expected, it was well deserved after the huge amount of work the young Spaniard put in.

The climbing shoes Alberto Ginés López wore were a mix of the La Sportiva Theory and the popular La Sportiva Solution. The Theory was specifically designed for indoor bouldering and competition climbs. It has an innovative wraparound rubber that works brilliantly on modern routes that use a lot of volumes.

Read More – Who Is Alberto Ginés López?

Jain Kim’s Climbing Shoes

Jain Kim (Kim Ja-in) is a legendary Korean competition climber who has won three Lead Climbing World Cups and a Lead Climbing World Championship. Though she isn’t actively competing anymore, she does still climb regularly.

She’s also well-known as a representative of Korean climbing in the media. Jain Kim’s climbing shoes of choice are the La Sportiva Solution Comp Women’s. These are excellent climbing shoes for hard, overhung, indoor climbing. They’re definitely a great outdoors shoe as well but are fine-tuned for indoor use.

More great climbing gear reviews
– Best Climbing Shoes
– Best Beginner Climbing Shoes
– Best Beginner Climbing Harness
– Best Beginner Bouldering Crash Pads

If you have a question on what shoes other professional boulderers or rock climbers wear, get in touch on social media and ask us – we’ll do a bit of scouting and find out!

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