What to look for in a slab shoe

I’m looking for some slab shoes and I need some help. 

I always hear about the TC pro being great for slab, but it is a stiff shoe with harder rubber (edge). But I also hear about how soft shoes with softer rubber are good for slab. Confusing

I have 3 pairs of shoes: LS finale resoled with C4, Miura VS, and Skwamas. Indoors I only wear my skwamas now, I love them. I got them while my Miuras got resoled and I haven’t wanted to go back to them. I’ll probably try to sell the Miuras. 

Anyway, outdoors I have been climbing a lot of sandstone slab. I’ve been using the finales, but when I got them I sized them too aggressively and now I’m wishing my toes were flat. The C4 made them better for slab than before. 

Even though my skwamas are size aggressively with my toes curled, I still prefer them on indoor slab compared to the finales (I haven’t used the skwamas outdoors, too uncomfortable). I love how grippy the XS grip 2 is and I like how to soft shoe conforms to the wall. 

This makes me think I will like a softer flat shoe for slab, but I’m not sure if I’m missing something because there is so much love for flat stiff shoes like the TC pros. 

What do you guys think makes a good slab shoe? 

And what do you think are the best various slab shoes available? Obviously I will try some on and find what fits, but I want to know which shoes/features to look for. 

Thanks

I have tc pros and they climb like boots so you have to smedge or edge for best results, anasazi pinks are great slab shoes IMO

Big fan of the TC pros, I use them almost exclusively, but they are a little stiff for pure friction slab climbing. That being said I find them great for slab climbs that require some micro edging (obviously!). To be honest the old school guide tennies climb friction slab like nobody's business haha, more surface area I guess? I'll second that the pinks are pretty good from limited experience with them. 

Granite slab has micro edges and crystals and nubbins to stand on. A supportive but not too stiff shoe works best for me here. Miura, Anasazi pink. 

All those things don't exist long on sandstone, smearing is the name of the game here. Something soft to maximize surface area. Moccs.

There are exceptions in both rock types but that is generally how to do it.

I like the Katana Velcro with C4, but the climbers ability and technique are more important than the shoe. Still, I'll take all the help I can get with the shoe!

FrankPS wrote:

the climbers ability and technique are more important than the shoe. 

Totally. but I’m getting another pair regardless because I’m not a fan of smearing with my toes curled like I have to with all my shoes now  

It’s a riddle. The answer is: a foot. 

In my experience, a you want a softer rubber for sandstone slabs (assuming you mean western sandstone, sandstone on the east coast is a bit different) because you'll be doing more smearing than pure edging and you can usually get away with smedging on small edges. Any tiny micro edges that are too small to smedge are going to wear away or break off pretty quickly on western sandstone.

I like a moderately stiff shoe with soft rubber. I think my favorite pair of shoes I've had for slab were a pair of katana laces (moderately stiff, although softer than TC pros and Pinks) resoled with C4 rubber. XS edge is the second choice for rubber and onyx is too hard to smear well enough for sandstone slabs.

A slight downturn may help with some smedging or edging but you don't want a very aggressive downturn. The Katana laces had a slight downturn but I wouldn't go any further than those, preferably a tiny bit less. 

Keep in mind that this is for sandstone slabs, granite is gonna be a lot different.

Yeah, I’m on western sandstone where everything breaks off or feels like it will. 

I am planning on climbing in Tahoe a bit next year on granite, but for now it’s pretty much all terrible sandstone

You’ll get somewhat conflicting advice due to the fact that there’s two conflicting schools of thought on how to handle slab (and different rock types, as mentioned above).  If you’re going to edge your way up by standing on nubbins and tiny edges, stiff edging shoes like TC Pros or even your Miuras are the way to go.  If you’re looking for pure friction, smearing your way up, you will want a soft, sensitive shoe like a Mocc.  FWIW, I have found the Anasazi Pink to be hands down the best slab shoe on the planet.  It’s soft and sticky enough for friction, but still edges well enough for standing on those knobs if you have to.  They are the one shoe that has honestly felt like cheating, lol...

I am a huge fan of TC pros. I’ve climbed lots of Cochise .10 and .11 slab pitches in them although they are usually not super polished and maybe more micro edging the pure smearing. My pinks are great  until it’s a little warm out then they seam to get a little soft and fell slippery and I haven’t wore them nearly as much as my TC pros...

Second the TC pros with C4 (RIP) mine are sized comfortably and Iace then maybe a bit loser at the ankle to get enough flex.  I like that they can climb pure friction well but they also are stiff enough to work on edging moves.  In my experience on some granite and sandstone slabs there are some required edging moves that get you past crux’s.

   If I’m just doing a pure friction TR solo sesh I’ve got a pair of reverse curve old Scarpa a resolves with C4.  These are my beater shoes and work well but I definitely miss the edging.  When you need it you need it.   I think a shoe you can size comfortably to drop your heals while still being able to get some edging performance is the ticket.  

Idk lots of opinions on this one.  This works for me but I’m not climbing 12 or 11 for that matter slab.  

Edit: interested in others experience on this as I feel like there could be better shoes out there 

What about Mythos? I usually wear my them if I’m slabbing it up

Bill Kirby wrote:

What about Mythos? I usually wear my them if I’m slabbing it up

Mythos are a good smearing shoe (like mocs), but are one of the worst shoes for edging ever made, so once again, it depends on the type of slab you are doing.

Anazazi Pinks are secret weapons for technical granite slab, but I've never climbed sandstone slab so I can't comment on how their performance would carry over.

Ted Pinson wrote:

You’ll get somewhat conflicting advice due to the fact that there’s two conflicting schools of thought on how to handle slab (and different rock types, as mentioned above).  If you’re going to edge your way up by standing on nubbins and tiny edges, stiff edging shoes like TC Pros or even your Miuras are the way to go.  If you’re looking for pure friction, smearing your way up, you will want a soft, sensitive shoe like a Mocc.  FWIW, I have found the Anasazi Pink to be hands down the best slab shoe on the planet.  It’s soft and sticky enough for friction, but still edges well enough for standing on those knobs if you have to.  They are the one shoe that has honestly felt like cheating, lol...

I'm not sure what you are describing is conflicting, but there's definitely the seeming conflicting thoughts of flat vs downturned on the same type of rock:

Take Dave Macleod's blog:

I climbed the famous death defying slab route Indian Face...and I wore a pair of Scarpa Stix. Some climbers asked me why I would wear an apparently turned down boot on a smeary slab climb? The implication is that turned down boots wouldn’t smear well because they don’t bend back enough to make full contact with the smear. But they do! You just have to let them. This is a limitation of climbing technique, not the versatility of the boot. 

There was also a bit of a spasming argument I had w/ bearbreeder where I pointed out 2 of his examples had the climbers wearing very downturned shoes on friction slabs (Nalle wearing Muira VS on a boulder and some climber wearing Testarossa on a Squamish 5.13 slab).

Conflicting in that one could conceivably wear soft, sensitive or stiff, blocky shoes for the same slab and do fine depending on their technique.  TCs are either the best or worst slab shoes, depending on what you’re doing.

FWIW, for me it's much easier to climb granite slabs in my Miura VS than in my TC Pros. On the other hand, taking a good fall on slab wearing downturned shoes definitely makes your feet hurt for the rest of the day.

Lightly broken in, well fitting Solutions are the best all around slab and edging shoe for me.

I really love using Futuras on sandstone writ large, but especially on slabs. Effectively, you can stand on anything you can get friction on. Slopey smears become bomber, because you can spread so much rubber on them. They're also great for other styles of climbing, especially roofs and the like, since they are nice and aggressive.

The only thing I don't like about my Futuras is that they do not heel hook all that well. 

Ken Noyce wrote:

Mythos are a good smearing shoe (like mocs), but are one of the worst shoes for edging ever made, so once again, it depends on the type of slab you are doing.

 Ok thanks Ken! So I wear Mythos for 5.1-5.7 slab and Miura VS or lace for 5.8 and up or?