My Review and Thoughts: New ONDRA COMP climbing shoes by La Sportiva

You can read the Czech version here on the HUDY website. 

Having climbing shoes bearing my name is something I never imagined before, and actually even now I find it quite bizarre. It isn't that unusual in LaSportiva's history though - legends like Heinz Mariacher, Manolo, or Tommy Caldwell had or have their own climbing shoes (TC PRO stands for Tommy Caldwell PRO). And even more bizarre is the fact that the climbing shoes bearing my name are designed for the climbing style I'm not so good at (at least historically) - smearing on volumes, standing on small slopey footholds, and toe hooking. 

But the reality is that already during the preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, Luca, Pietro, and I were debating about La Sportiva's lack of a really specific climbing shoe for modern competition bouldering, not only competition bouldering. Simply put, there are possibly millions of people who go modern bouldering and stand on giant boxes more than small footholds! Thus, over time, the idea of making Ondra Comp was born.

Freedom! or Don't get tied up

I myself used to make the mistake of getting my foot tied with too small (and consequently hard) climbing shoes. It didn't bother me at all on rocks, on the contrary, it was great on small limestone footholds, and standing on volumes was still in its infancy when I was a teenager. My foot and toes were "lame" and I trusted that the desired shape could be held only by a perfect tiny stiff shoe. Then, when the fashion of standing on inclined volumes arrived, I wasn't able to stand on anything in these miniature shoes. But when I took the bigger ones, I suddenly felt uncomfortable. There was space in the shoe, my foot was moving and I didn't feel at all the security I was used to. If I was growing up now, it would be much different. You can find volumes on just about every wall, and soft climbing shoes are not an oddity, but almost everyone uses them. It's a fact that on certain rock challenges, stiff climbing shoes are still the alpha omega and will always remain so, but it's a fact that if you climb a wall with soft shoes, your feet and toes get used to it and get stronger, and even on the rock you can stand on small footholds with softer (or bigger) shoes.

Ideal climbing shoes for the modern bouldering

In my Olympic preparation for bouldering, I was aware that it is hard to teach an "old" (O-)dog :-) new tricks. You need to have the best possible weapons for modern bouldering. The head designer Luca and I set some priorities: Standing on inclined volumes while standing on small (slopey) footholds. Additionally, toe hooking and last but not least, heel hooking.

It's not that difficult to make a shoe that's good for standing on volumes. You make a soft training shoe that flexes under minimal load, put a good rubber in there and that's it. But it's also necessary to stand sometimes a small foothold, very often a small slopey foothold. We've developed our own jargon - if standing on something small sharp is "EDGING", then standing on a small slopey foothold will be smeadging (a fusion of smearing = using friction for standing, and edging). For the best possible SMEADGING, you need a shoe that flexes in the sole but at the same time doesn't bend under the toes. 

Compromise or fusion?

The ONDRA COMP is the result of many attempts to reach a compromise on standing on volumes and on small sharp footholds. It flexes in the sole under light loads and makes as much contact with the surface of the volume as possible. But at the same time, you can also stand on small footholds while wearing them. In addition, there is a SenseGrip installed in it - in the toe area, there is "a crown" of thicker rubber around the edges of the shoe, and inside, there is a kind of soft cushion through which you feel everything. When you stand on a small foothold screwed to the volume - the foothold bites into this soft cushion and you have great stability... The same thing happens with a spike on sharp limestone. We're thrilled with the SenseGrip and it definitely has a future in other shoes.

Since the entire shoe is a little less aggressive than say, Theory, it's very easy to straighten your toes and stick to footholds or volumes while toe hooking, which is helped by the maximized surface of the grippy rubber on the top of the shoe. In addition, for dynamic toe hooking, we have installed another cushion - shock absorbing. I find the heel very comfortable and versatile for all kinds of footholds.

Slab, toe hook, heel hook!

The climbing shoe is designed specifically for modern bouldering, not only for me, but I would say for anyone who goes to modern bouldering centers because you will encounter these problems whether you climb 5's or 8C's. But it's more versatile than it might seem. In our country, you can definitely use it for climbing our sandstone slabs, where it often works very similarly to modern climbing centers. The climbing shoe is soft, of course, and its subjective softness is based on the weight of the climber - for children and teens who weigh little, this can really be a do-it-all shoe. Plus, the toes have more room to move and get stronger naturally. Which can have not only a climbing benefit but a positive effect on the entire musculoskeletal system, because everything starts with the feet. For well-built individuals, this will be rather an indoor climbing shoe, and I recommend getting something stiffer to climb rocks. However, I wear it on the rocks as well if I can find a toe hook because it's so much better at those than anything else.

Star climbing shoe

Ondra Comp saved my skin in more than one boulder problem this and last season. It also helped me in the Olympic final, where it almost brought me to the top of the second boulder, which was crucial for a potential medal. What was missing was in my coordination, not in the shoe.

I wish you good friction on your hands and feet and also have fun because that's what climbing is all about!

Photos by Pavel Klement and Petr Chodura.