La Sportiva Solution

The Solution is an excellent shoe, hands down. It’s been the choice of some of the world’s best climbers for years now, performs equally well indoors and outdoors, and dominates steep boulders and sport climbs alike. Like the Testarossa above, it edges like a dream on tiny foot chips, features sticky and sensitive Vibram XS Grip 2 on both the women’s and men’s offerings, and you get a hefty dose of heel and toe rubber for all sorts of performance on overhanging terrain. Climbers have long lauded the Solution’s pointy toe for pocketed limestone in particular, and like most of Sportiva’s downturned kicks, a P3 platform holds the shape of the shoe over time.