Stretching Rock Climbing Shoes

Series Summary

As a sport, rock climbing began at the end of the 19th century in Germany and England. Since then, it has grown into a world-famous sport with hundreds of thousands of participants. There are several different types of climbing, each having its own grade of difficulty and danger. Rock climbing is considered one of the more extreme sports because of the high risk involved, but when the proper rock climbing techniques are employed and safety procedures are followed, it can be a very enjoyable and safe sport. In this free video series, an experienced rock climber provides advice for using rock climbing techniques and explains the use of rock climbing equipment. Discover how to stretch rock climbing shoes, where to find climbing shoes and how to build a rope climber. Learn about equipment needed for rock climbing, bouldering walls and different types of rock climbing. Improve rock climbing skills with these helpful tips.

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Scott, and I'm the owner of Climb On! Indoor Rock Climbing Gym, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Today, we're going to discuss, stretching your rock climbing shoes. Stretching a rock climbing shoe, for the most part, is not a possibility. Breaking your climbing shoe in properly, may be something that you're looking to do. Climbing shoes are aggressively tight. Generally, you're going to have a rock climbing shoe, that's one or one and a half sizes smaller, than your normal shoe. In a rock climbing shoe, you want your toes to come right to the front. You want a little bit of curl in your toe. You don't want your toes, to really be able to move, inside of a shoe. The less movement you have, the more aggressive the shoe is going to be, while you're climbing, the better it's going to hold, on to small footholds. If you're trying to break your shoe in, and you're having problems, one of the things that you can do, is put them on, step into your bathtub, get your shoe soaking wet, and then walk around with them, until they dry. This will help to make the shoe form to your foot. Not generally stretching it, but getting it to where it fits properly. Lots of different types of shoes. The velcro shoe is going to be easier to break in, than a lace up with a leather top. Again, this has been, stretching your rock climbing shoe."