La Sportiva  Miura Climbing Shoes - Women's

I upgraded to Miuras from La Sportive Nagos at the advice of my climbing partner. He said that I should get them really small - being a firm believer in the "climbing shoes should hurt" methodology. I wear a 7 in street shoes, had the Nagos in a 37, and ordered Miuras in 36, 36.5, and 37. I was dealing with some achilles tendonitis in one foot, on which the Miuras pressed really painfully, regardless of size, so until that felt better, I wore a Miura on one foot and my old Nagos on the other. In the end, I chose the 37, and even those were very tight for several months - I didn't really even need to tie the laces. Now I think I've had them for about 8 months, and they have stretched enough that I could probably leave them on between climbs at the gym. Now onto performance. These shoes edge so well - it's kind of amazing. I can trust my feet on most really polished holds, and the tiniest, most non-existent edges ever. I recently ordered a pair of Anasazi Pinks, and in comparison - well, there was no comparison. I've been spoiled by the Miuras. I'm currently trying to find an all-day shoe for Red Rock, and I'm kinda stuck because I love these so much.

Let me start by saying that these shoes were VERY unpleasant to break in. Perhaps that's true with most climbing shoes, but I recall my previous pair of shoes (which happened to be my first pair) having little discomfort to break in, and they were also unlined leather uppers. That being said, once I broke the Miuras in, I really liked them. The heel is padded along the Achilles and is really comfortable (again, once they were broken in). The aggressive downturn really helps with technical routes, though the rubber is flexible enough to flatten the shoe when I'm standing and allow enough comfort to wear for long periods. I've worn those for indoor top rope, lead, and bouldering and found them to work well in each (though I'll likely save these for rope climbing only and use a different pair for bouldering). I can't speak for how they hold up during outdoor climbing, though I did buy these under the recommendation that they work really well for outdoor sport climbing as well and will eventually use them outdoors.