Santa Claus Came To Town… And He Brought Shoes!
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I spent about 4 hours over the course of two days at the local Eastern Mountain Sports store trying on climbing shoes. My tired 5.10 Spires needed to be replaced with something a little more modern with a little more toe and a little less suck. After trying on every shoe, I ended up choosing the La Sportiva Nago.
Of course, I then had to wait a month to actually get the shoes, as they were a Christmas present from my parents. After a month of patiently waiting and growing ever more frustrated with my 5.10s, Christmas morning finally arrived. Sportrock was closed Christmas day, so there wasn’t much I could do with them that morning (unless I wanted to mark up the walls at my parent’s house climbing on doorways and banisters, but I knew better), but the much anticipated day had finally arrived.
To make the Holiday season even more exciting, I had used my last two guest passes on Christmas Eve to take both of my younger brothers with me to Sportrock for a few hours of climbing. We got there right when Sportrock opened, and had the place pretty much to ourselves for the better part of 3 hours. We did mostly top-roping (me on belay while those two climbed) with a little bouldering thrown in for good measure. My brother Jonathan enjoyed it so much that he decided right then and there he wanted to get a membership (the free yoga classes for members was also a big plus in his book). I was pretty excited because not only is he a pretty good climber without having done it much (climbing 5.9s consistently), it also means I’ll always have someone to go climbing at Sportrock with; someone who is on a very similar skill level as I am (and will probably catch up to me quite quickly).
So after spending about an hour and a half at EMS on the day after Christmas with Jonathan to pick up the gear he needed, we met up later that evening to spend some time at Sportrock climbing with our new gear. I finally got to use the Nagos!
I am more than happy with their performance. I hadn’t realized how degraded the rubber soles on my 5.10s had gotten, and I was able to once again keep toes on small jibs and smear really well. It made such a huge difference in both my bouldering and my top-roping. I climbed all of the 5.9s I could on the auto-belay systems (Jonathan doesn’t have his belay cert. yet), and tried a 5.10. I completed about 85% of the 5.10, but got stuck at the top because I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do next (I knew from the ground that would be a problem area, but couldn’t figure it out from there either). Of course, since I was on the auto-belay system, I couldn’t rest and figure it out there, so I held on for as long as possible before letting go and coming back down. I have no doubt I can do the route, it’s just a matter of being a little more fluid and familiar with the first half of the route so that I’ve got more strength and energy for the top half.
I’m going to make sure I adhere to some routine for keeping the Nagos in good condition. My 5.10s got pretty smelly over the years, and I don’t want that to happen to the Nagos. The information sheet that came with them said to simply wipe them down with a damp cloth and let them air out, so I’m going to start with that and see how well that works. I’m also going to test a few methods for removing the “stank” from my 5.10s that won’t break down the leather or rubber.
What else did I get for Christmas? Subscriptions to Urban Climber and Transworld Snowboarding, as well as a chalk bag belt (which came wrapped in a box from Jared – “She went to Jared!”).
What did you get for Christmas? Anything exciting that you can’t wait to get on the wall with?
Posted in Equipment
December 29th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Hey! I also climb in Nagos ( currently switching off between them and a pair of red chili coronoa vcrs ). I am a very picky shoe shopper, and you made a great choice. They've worn really well over time, compared to other shoes, and I plan to have mine resoled in preparation for many pitches of outdoor climbing in 2009. I am one of those shoe mistreaters who tosses hers in the washing machine (in a pillow case so they don't mark up the washer) on occasion… if you do wash them (against manufacturer's advice, of course) be sure to wear them around for a few minutes at a time while drying so they stay molded to your feet.
I can't tell you how many pitches I've climbed in my Nagos… I got them for my Tuolumne/Tahoe trip last year and have been happy with them in the gym and outside. I highly recommend them for newer climbers as an alternative to the shoes newer climbers are generally directed to (Mad Rock Phoenix, 5.10 Spires, La Sportiva Mythos). The nagos, in my experience, offer better performance but don't sacrifice fit and comfort the way a more aggressive shoe might.
Anyway – sorry for the long winded response, I'm just always excited when I see someone wind up with a great shoe! It makes a huge difference!
December 30th, 2008 at 1:31 am
I'm glad to hear you are so happy with yours! The Nago doesn't seem to be a commonly discussed shoe in the rock climbing world, and so I ended up purchasing them entirely on feel without much knowledge on how well they would hold up over time. I'm the kind of person who uses shoes until the very end (I had my Spires for 5 years I think, before replacing them), and I'm glad to hear they should hold up pretty well.
It's funny, I was determined to get myself a velcro shoe for the pure ease and efficiency while working on bouldering problems (since I spend more time doing that than top roping). Unfortunately, I was less than satisfied with the fit of every velcro shoe I tried on, ranging from the Evolve Defys, to the 5.10 Galileos, to the La Sportiva Miuras (my foot doesn't seem to be tall enough to fit those shoes properly), and was forced to settle on a lace up shoe. The Nago caught my eye because it looked to be a good balance between the bouldering that I love and the top roping that I need to work on.
Even though I have only used them twice so far, no complaints yet!
December 30th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I bought mine similarly — I was desperate for shoes after blowing out my old standby's a couple days before a trip. The Nagos were the best fit I could find, so despite my preference for velcro (same as you) I chose fit over function. Fitting velcro shoes can be really hard. The only velcros I've ever gotten to fit REALLY well are an old pair of Mad Rock Frenzy EZ Velcros (but, have tried newer models and they didn't fit as well) and the Red Chili Corona VCRs I'm climbing in now. La Sportivas, Five Tens, Evolvs — no luck, for me, in their velcro models.
I climbed pretty regularly in my Nagos from about June until about September, at which time I switched them out for my Red Chilis. The Nagos are nearing the need for a resole, but I climbed the CRAP out of them… countless pitches inside and out. My only complaint is that, for some reason, I sometimes get foot cramps in them (and don't, generally, in other shoes)… it could be the low volume nature of the womens' model (I tend to prefer the fit in mens' models but couldn't get the nago small enough in mens' at the time). Dunno. But anyway, thrilled that you like them — they're what I steer folks toward at my gym, and when I see a newbie (or, less shoe-obsessed non-noobie than myself) gazing at the meager selection at REI!
Enjoy, and climb on!
December 31st, 2008 at 12:07 am
I've noticed I start to get foot cramps in them as well! How peculiar. I mostly feel it on the outside edge in the middle of my right foot (opposite my arch). I've found that simply unlacing and loosening the shoe a little bit in between climbs resolves that issue.
June 14th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
[...] of equipment I may pick up in the next few months would be another pair of shoes. You may remember, I picked up a set of the La Sportiva Nago’s back around Christmas, and I have absolutely fallen in love with them. However, I already feel like I want something a [...]