Got Klettershoe?

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Tarbuster

climber

right here, right now

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 29, 2008 - 11:55pm PT

Good stuff.
Hey, remember in Star Trek when the lady computer would say "working"?
Ha ha.

That's what I'm doing.
You set a good minimal baseline with those models...

I saw a Boreal big wall boot on the wall at Neptune yesterday.
It had a completely smooth sole, which is idiomatic of a big wall boot, but what I saw that I liked was what appeared to be a thin wool lining.

I'm pretty sure that's been around for a while; might have been called the inferno or in inverno. I looked at low cut rock shoes with the same thing.

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Mar 30, 2008 - 12:04am PT

as usual what I want is not quite available
but I'll mess w/ some images and post some stuff
up to share my nerd-ass thoughts, perhaps tomorrow.

alright, where's my wrench...

Mighty Hiker

Social climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Mar 30, 2008 - 12:35am PT

The first rock shoes I had were grey ones, that looked a bit like the Voyager Directissimas. Purchased maybe 1972, more or less an imitation of the Robbins shoe. Unlike the Voyagers, the had a rand. I think they were made by Salewa or someone like that? Then I had Robbins shoes, but soon after the EB appeared. So for a long time the Robbins shoes got used for aid and mixed climbs, and the EBs for free.

I also had some yellow shoes that looked like the Voyager Directissimas, but didn't like them as much as the Robbins shoes. Edit: Yes, the Vasque Ascenders.

Tricounis and hobnails were before my time, though.

Watusi

Social climber

Newport, OR

Mar 30, 2008 - 01:53am PT

Yeah Roy, I loved my Vasque Ascenders ( just after Shoenards) and they took me up many a route from "Terrible Face" at Santee, to multiple Cap. rts...

Curt

Boulder climber

Gilbert, AZ

Mar 30, 2008 - 02:29am PT

Hey Mike,

Vasque Ascenders were my first climbing shoes and I thought they were great. As an aside, Steve Wunsch's favorite climbing shoe was also the old green shoenard.

Curt

Watusi

Social climber

Newport, OR

Mar 30, 2008 - 02:47am PT

Yeah Curt! They were wicked for steep edging!

Jennie

Trad climber

Idaho Falls

Mar 30, 2008 - 06:21am PT

Great thread!

How did the "green" Shoenards differ from the tan (with yellow laces) version, other than color? I remember my dad having one pair of the the green ones but he'd bought several pairs (at once) of the tan model then later mourned cause they weren't available in the late 1980's. He also had a blue gray shoe with the same sole tread pattern but called by another name. ( Vasque?)

Tarbuster

climber

right here, right now

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 30, 2008 - 10:55am PT

Jen,
My understanding from others on this forum, namely Jaybro, is that the green model has a steel shank, and the later tan version has a plastic shank.

Not sure of any other differences; they may be exactly the same in terms of the last, but my vague impression is that the green model is narrower.

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Mar 30, 2008 - 12:58pm PT

some thoughts on the preponderance of low-top rock shoes:

Recall in the early '90's going into bike shops here in Boulder looking for single speed bike, a simple cruiser. Basically it seemed like the pendulum had swung to fat tire and getting shocks to work/accepted was the main emphasis.

Road bike availability was slim and cruisers were virtually not to be found, around here (at that time) anyway.

Now it's different, pretty much all the categories are phat and there's really good selection of all styles.

To me, this is an indicator - better selection, better understanding of the market coming - to rock shoes?

I don't know but, think the support/protection of hi-top styles is functional and needed.

Or, maybe I'm just an Old F.O.S. futz - maybe.

Jaybro

Social climber

The West

Mar 30, 2008 - 04:23pm PT

My memories are in line with Tarbusters, the greens were narrower, had a steel shank and edged better than anything this side of a black beauty.

Word on the street is that the lifetime garauntee on the steel shanked-greens was what did them in. Seems that some, unscrupulus types (not naming any names, but one professor of Mechanical engineering in montana knows who he is...) took a chisel to them about the time the sole wore out, just to get free replacements.

I've got Dru's, Blue meanies and somewhere, megas, great shoes all!

klk

Trad climber

cali

Mar 30, 2008 - 05:43pm PT

Yeah, the Green ones had a metal shank and the Tan had plastic. The tan model also came in widths. I had a pair of 11 Shoenards that hurt pretty badd; then I picked up a pair of Ascenders in 10.5 Wide that fit better than any others-- I climbed at Black Mountain in those even after I got my first pair of Fires.

Kletterschuhe is just German for climbing shoes. Many of the models called "kletters" were actually pretty soft. Kronhofers could be had (at least in Europe) with either a soft midsole that made them a smearing shoe or a stiff midsole that made them better for approaches and edging.

I have a pair that Dan Asay made me-- and yeah, once work calms down I'll post pix. I love mine. But I doubt there's a market for remakes, outside of a tiny slice of the already microscopic big wall market. Even in the Dolomites, where they are really functional, shoes that look more like tennis shoes are taking over.

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Mar 30, 2008 - 06:40pm PT

RE:
"Even in the Dolomites, where they are really functional, shoes that look more like tennis shoes are taking over."

and for folks who want something special, take 'em to the cobbler, same as ever and that's cool too. Not that there's anything "wrong" with the new thing etc.

thanks klk

Maysho

climber

Truckee, CA

Mar 30, 2008 - 07:51pm PT

A gift for you Tarbrother. Photo I got from Doug Robinson and started to make into a flyer back in the 90's.

Shot is of The Man, our Sierra guiding forebear, Norman Clyde. These are some f*ckin Boots, and just ponder where they tread...

Chicken Skinner

Trad climber

Yosemite

Mar 30, 2008 - 07:59pm PT

Norman's boots look a lot like Raffi's.

Ken

klk

Trad climber

cali

Mar 30, 2008 - 08:10pm PT

I am most impressed that Tar has maintained that personal collection. The climbing lifestyle generates a lot of centrifugal force--I found my life constantly being pared down to a minimum.

Not only do I no longer have my Shoenards, Paragots, Kronhofers or Ascenders, I have no idea when I lost them or how or where.

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Mar 30, 2008 - 08:19pm PT

think the nails are comin' back for sure!

Watusi

Social climber

Newport, OR

Mar 30, 2008 - 11:47pm PT

Tricouni, edging...

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Mar 31, 2008 - 01:29am PT

I did a lot of alpine rock climbing in the tan shoenards. Even strapped crampons on them a couple of times for short sections. Loved them. Also used to wear them for route grubbing at Squamish, and found they were comfortable in aiders. And after I had stealth rubber grafted on to the front end, I could climb almost as hard in them as in whatever other rock shoes I owned. They pretty much wore out, but I found an unused pair in a second-hand shop recently, and Locker says he's mailed them back to me with the new rubber on the soles...