La Sportiva Cliff

By Tyler Donaldson

“The Cliff is the climbing shoe of choice for anyone who wants comfort and performance”

About 5 years ago while still living in Boston, MA I got the bug to try this thing called rock climbing.  I had a pair of casual shoes that resembled rock shoes and we had a rock wall at the YMCA where I was a member.  After about a week of struggling in “sponges” I decided that I needed a proper rock shoe if I was going to actually have fun.

Boston is a big city, and most big cities have big box retailers, and Boston has them all.  I started to do some research online, but ultimately I needed to try these things on.  I went to all of the three letter retailers, sprawling out different sizes and trying to make sense of European sizing.  Ultimately, I left those stores unsatisfied and ventured into a local shop,  and got the help I needed. Through trying on all styles and variations of rock shoes I decided that these blue shoes from La Sportiva would do the trick.

Why did I choose the Cliff?  When I first went to the rock gym, everyone climbing there told me that you need tight shoes so you can feel the holds.  When I asked how tight, the reply was always, “so tight you can barley walk” or “if you can wiggle your toes, go 2 sizes down”.  Really?  I tried that approach when testing shoes, and couldn’t commit to a shoe.  I went to about 5 shops and tried on at least 15 different styles and sizes and I always came back to some common sense in fitting a shoe, if your toe hurts that is bad!

I have a medium-to-wide foot and in street shoes a Size 11.5.  Finding a rock shoe that allows my foot some comfort is a pretty tall order, and finding one that is an all around rock shoe with comfort is even harder.   I finally decided that tight is good as long as I can feel my toes, and went with a size 10.5 shoe/44.

The Cliff provides ample room for my wide foot, and is marketed as “a well balanced, all-around climbing shoe”. It hits the right balance for me, combines great performance training in the gym, and on solid rock.  In Boston and environs, I wore the shoe on Pink Granite, Gneiss, Pudding stone, and that great hard granite in the White Mountains.

I have been wearing the Cliff (three different pairs) over the past 5 years.  Just this Spring I got a new pair as the toes were worn out in my last pair.  After five years, I still seek out the Cliff for all of the comfort and support in my climbing.  Along the way I have also tried 5.10 Coyote Laceup and 5.10 Moccasym.  In North Carolina, I have been all over the local climbing gyms and bouldering haunts around Asheville.  The Cliff is the most recognizable of all shoes, and I see them everywhere.  My new climbing partner here in town has a pair, and we both agree that the Cliff is the climbing shoe of choice for anyone who wants comfort and performance.

La Sportiva- Cliff
SRP- $90
Where to Buy
The perfect combination of performance, price and comfort in a well balanced, all-around climbing shoe.

* Unlined leather stretches to fit and an anatomical toe profile makes it comfortable right out of the box
* Vibram® XS Grip rubber—the perfect combination of stickiness for smearing and hardness for edging
* The 1.1mm Laspoflex midsole is supportive yet sensitive—perfect for long free climbs, micro-edging sport routes or training in the gym

COLOR: Blue UPPER: Leather CONSTRUCTION: Slip Lasted LAST: RLN50 LINING: Unlined SOLE: 5mm FriXion® RS MIDSOLE: 1.1mm full length Laspoflex WEIGHT: 19 oz.

La Sportiva N.A. launched a social media web community today called LIVE. The new portal combines all of La Sportiva’s new media, social media and highlights grassroots efforts in the climbing, hiking and mountain running communities into one user-friendly webpage.

About La Sportiva, N.A. — 80th Anniversary
Our mission is to bring you the best technical footwear to explore the outdoors. For 80 years we have been producing innovative footwear and we are looking forward to the next 80 years. Produced and designed in a small mountain town at the foot of the Dolomites, La Sportiva supports 140 families in a unique and enviable environment. Everyday the mountains surround the people who handcraft your shoes.

Being mountain based and family run allows us to draw on eight decades of experience handed down through the generations. With this heritage we can focus on the future and meld new technologies, ideas and innovation with our rich knowledge of shoe making to give you the most amazing products on the market. Products that let you go where you dream to go, do what you dream to do and live how you want to live.

Click on the banner below to check out this great resource for all things La Sportiva.

Boulder, CO— La Sportiva North America is pleased to announce their 2009 vendor partnership with the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, a group of independent outdoor shops dedicated to the sustainability of the specialty outdoor channel and the quality of the outdoor enthusiast’s experience.

The decision to join Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is part of La Sportiva’s holistic approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Part of La Sportiva’s mission is to ensure the success and well being of all of its stakeholders, from employees to retailers to the end customer. This meshes perfectly with the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance’s stated goal: to help retail members succeed, as well as their local economies and communities.

“At La Sportiva, we are committed to the health and well being of the specialty outdoor retail channel. The retail members of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance represent some of the very best retailers in the country. They support our customers who live and love the outdoor lifestyle every day,” said Jonathan Lantz, president of La Sportiva, N.A.

The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is an organization that works to enable business success for its 34 independent, specialty outdoor retailer members. Grassroots advocates for independent outdoor specialty stores on the national level by providing a unified marketing presence to the group. Each member is 100-percent committed to supporting environmental causes in their respective regions.

As part of their membership in the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, La Sportiva has worked closely with the group’s members and board of directors to create an innovative new fund raising program, GIVING GREENBACK$, that will support three different non-profits dedicated to environmental protection, humanitarian causes and renewable energy.

La Sportiva is donating $1 for every pair of Mountain Running® or Hiking shoes sold at participating Grassroots Outdoor Alliance retailers. Together La Sportiva and Grassroots Outdoor Alliance are making steps to create positive changes, one dollar at a time.

La Sportiva will contribute, on the customer’s behalf, to one of the following three charitable organizations:
· Carbonfund.org http://www.carbonfund.org will receive donations for their work in the field of renewable energy.
· The Conservation Alliance http://www.conservationalliance.com will receive funding for protecting habitats.
· Global Water http://www.globalwater.org will receive funding to improve drinking water around the world.

The program is simple. At the time of purchase the customer will receive a GIVING GREENBACK$ card explaining the program and the three charitable organizations. This card will direct them to visit a webpage that will introduce the customer to Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, explain the three charitable organizations in depth, and host an online form to donate automatically. La Sportiva will send confirmation e-mail when their dollar has been donated. The best part about the program is that it is the customer’s choice.

“La Sportiva has long been a supporter of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance and we are very excited to be participating with the GREENBACK$ Program. This kind of programming speaks to the heart of what our members are doing on a daily basis; engaging our customers and encouraging them to act locally and think globally,” said Dave Matz, executive director of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance.

La Sportiva will support the GIVING GREENBACK$ program with national, regional and local support to ensure its success, and the success of Grassroots Outdoor Alliance members. This support will include:
· GIVING GREENBACK$ POP shelf talkers
· GIVING GREENBACK$ shoe eco-pin for each floor model
· In store posters
· La Sportiva Grassroots Outdoor Alliance web page
· GIVING GREENBACK$ consumer seed paper cards
· GIVING GREENBACK$ retail floor staff program cards
· 2 GOA/La Sportiva new school/super cool La Sportiva/GOA beach cruisers (to be awarded to the store and individual sales staff that donates the most money to the causes)

ABOUT LA SPORTIVA
Celebrating their 80th anniversary, La Sportiva brings a strong alpine mountaineering and climbing heritage to their line of performance mountain footwear. This core experience enables La Sportiva to offer the most versatile technical climbing, mountaineering, Mountain Running® and hiking shoes on the market. For more information on La Sportiva visit www.sportiva.com or see us on Facebook  .