I had all but forgotten about the issue until I saw this update today: Massive Product Recall Rocks Auto-Belay Industry.

Much to my surprise, MSA has pulled out of the auto-belay scene entirely. After failing to replicate the problems being reported, and being unable to create a solution for a problem they couldn’t duplicate, MSA decided to cut its losses and abandon the climbing community.

What I find particularly frustrating about this situation is that it would appear MSA had very little to do with the accidents that occurred, and that they were forced to walk away from their auto-belay systems as a result of a few negligent owners who chose not to abide by the recommended maintenance and service schedule for the Redpoint™ Descenders.

On the plus side, it looks like there may be some encouraging technology on the horizon utilizing a magnetic system (similar to systems used in roller coasters) to create an auto-belay device that is safe and reliable, although I don’t see these coming to my local gym anytime soon.

Personally, I miss the auto-belay systems at the gym (even though I always felt a little uneasy using them). Being able to climb by yourself was convenient, especially if you found yourself at the gym without a belay partner.

I will be interesting to see where the future of auto-belay devices goes. I think the need for auto-belay systems will continue to grow as rock climbing becomes a popular alternative to traditional forms to exercise.

I have always, and I mean ALWAYS, wanted a pair of velcro climbing shoes. I’d seen climbers at the gym with them and it seemed so convenient and efficient. But the selection of shoes at the local outdoor store was limited, and I refuse to buy shoes without trying them on first.

On my prior visit to EMS for climbing shoes, when I finally landed on the La Sportiva Nago shoe, I tried on every shoe they had available. When it came to the shoes without laces, I had the same problem with every brand (available): there was too much room in the toebox when the shoe fit comfortably, and when I sized down enough to actually fill the toebox, the shoes hurt too much.

When the time came to get the Nago’s resoled, I decided to head back over to EMS and pick up a second pair of shoes (Why EMS? Because I get 15% off with my Sportrock membership). The selection hadn’t changed much, except for two shoes: the Scarpa Techno and the Scarpa Force.

When I first slipped the shoe on, I noticed something different – there wasn’t a lot of space above my toes in the toebox (very much unlike every La Sportiva, 5.10 and Evolv velcro shoe I tried). I sized down to a EU 41 / US 8 and I KNEW this was the shoe I would be walking out of the store with. A snug fit with no hotspots or pressure points, which was surprising seeing my toes were curled and scrunched up in the toebox. But it just felt right.

That was almost a year ago, and the Scarpa Force is still my primary climbing shoe for the gym and the crag. The shoe is fully synthetic, so you don’t get the stretch that you would with a leather shoe. As a result, the fit is almost exactly the same as it was the day I purchased them, except the shoe is more molded to the shape of my feet (you can see the bumps from the knuckles of my toes in the top of the toebox – click the image to view a larger version).

Perhaps my favorite aspect of this shoe is the power it allows me to place to the toebox. I can toe-in and edge on some of the smallest of features, without a lot of bend at the joints where my toes meet the ball of my foot. Picture a ballerina standing on her toes – I can do that in these shoes (although not for very long!). The support in the toebox is unsurpassed, especially for how comfortable the shoe remains.

The Scarpa Force has proven a more-than-capable shoe for both route climbing and bouldering. It has served me well on V6 and V7 problems in the gym, and 5.11 and 5.12 routes both indoors and out.

I have had only one complaint about this shoe. The rubber has a bad habit of pulling away from the upper material (Suede/Lorica®), as you might be able to see in the picture of my dirty shoes above. A little bit of superglue usually fixes this (and when Rock & Resole resoled them a few months ago they patched them up a bit as well). It’s not really a big deal to me, but it started happening only a few weeks after owning the shoe, which kind of surprised me. Perhaps it is a design flaw, or perhaps it is because I’m cramming my fat foot into a shoe that is probably a half or full size smaller than it should be!

So if you’ve struggled with the fitment of other brands of climbing shoes, particularly with how much space you have in the toebox, check out the Scarpa Force sometime. You might find yourself surprised at how different, and comfortable, the fit actually is, while providing great climbing support.

At $130, the Scarpa Force runs in the upper price range of climbing shoes available, but I think you’ll find them to be well-worth the investment, as you’ll have them for years to come.

http://www.bentgate.com/summersale.html

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?

“What do I do with it after I use it?” you may ask. Well, you can send what is left back to Tough Gear, Inc., along with your story, and they remanufacture it for you free of charge!

While I can’t recall a situation where I have ever needed a stash of emergency paracord, now that I’m getting back into climbing it’s one of those things that wouldn’t hurt to have laying around if you run into a situation climbing outdoors. Plus, they are pretty cool looking!

I’m hoping to get a Paracord Survival Bracelet for Christmas, but if I don’t then I will probably order one for myself shortly thereafter.

PS – I bet these would make great gifts for climbing buddies!

As I mentioned yesterday, tomorrow marks the first of three FF1 classes at Sportrock. I’m going to get there a little early and see if I can knock out my belay certification before the class (I think you are supposed to have that certification to even register for the class, but no one expressed anything to me). Fortunately, I remember all my knots, verbal commands and techniques from when I got my belay certification at JMU back in 2003. I should be able to waltz in, complete the test and move on to learning how to lead climb!

Spent about an hour and a half on Saturday trying on climbing shoes at the local Eastern Mountain Sports location.  I was pretty deadset on getting a pair with Velcro, for the pure ease and efficiency in taking them on and off (or maybe it had something to do with the “cool” factor of Velcro shoes, like the pair of sneakers I had when I was 8 years old).  I tried on every Velcro shoe EMS had, from the Evolv Pontas, to the Five Ten Galileo, to the La Sportiva Miura VS, and everything in between.  Even tried the Five Ten Moccasym, a convenient slip-on shoe. At the end of the day, every Velcro shoe I tried had a fit I was less than satisfied with – each shoe seemed to have too much vertical space in the front of the shoe, allowing for a lot of excess movement in my toes.  I left Saturday morning with a pair of the Five Ten Galileos on hold.

I went back to EMS Sunday afternoon with my Mother (the new shoes were a Christmas present, after all), having already decided I would have to try on the lace-up shoes.  Fortunately, that selection was not as large as their Velcro selection.  My choices included the La Sportiva Barracuda, Nago, and Mythos.  The Mythos shoe felt great on my feet, but their performance on the wall was… eh.  They didn’t feel much better than 6 year old 5.10s, and the toe wasn’t aggressive enough for my tastes.  My choice came down to the Barracuda and the Nago.  When it came right down to it, the Nago had a better fit for my foot, and their performance on the wall felt much better than my tired 5.10s.  So, after another hour and a half of trying on shoes and making the EMS employees go back and forth between me and the stockroom, I settled on the La Sportiva Nagos.

Now I just have to wait until Christmas to start breaking them in and enjoying them.  Until then, I get one last month of comfort from my dependable, experienced, purple 5.10s.  Ah, the memories.