Characteristics of climbing shoes [Lowcut Edition]

Hello. This is Sasada, Chofu Parco store.

This time, I would like to talk a little more about mountain climbing shoes the other day. This time it is about low-cut mountain climbing shoes.

Low-cut mountain climbing shoes are an image that has become mainstream recently. A long time ago, climbing shoes had an image of high-cut, hard and heavy, but now there is no such thing, and it has become much lighter.

In addition, with the weight reduction of gears and the trend of trail running, I think that the number of climbers walking in the mountains with low cuts rather than hard high cuts has increased. The main features are as follows.

・There are many shoes with relatively soft soles and uppers. Approach shoes etc. have a solid model because they walk on rocky areas.
・Many of the soles are suitable for low mountains and trail running courses.
・It is lighter compared to high cuts.
・Recently, more and more shoes have been designed to make the human foot more natural. (Zero flat)

Next is the merits and demerits.

▪️ Benefits
・Since the degree of freedom around the ankle is easily effective, the handling of feet is light.
・It is light and soft, so the pace is easy to increase. If you have leg strength, you will not be able to walk anywhere in the mountains with low cut (those who are in mountain races)
・Because walking requires leg strength and skills, it is definitely perfect for training mountain walks. This will lead to improved judgment, such as where the feet are placed.

▪️Demerit
・Because the protection power around the ankle is weak and the sole is soft, fatigue may lead to accidents due to twisting the ankle or reducing the judgment of the place where the feet are placed.
・Because the ankle is low, foreign matter such as pebbles and mud can easily enter shoes if you are not used to walking.
・Because ordinary climbers lack leg strength, they are basically not suitable for rock ridges.

・Since the heels are easy to move around, the size selection is severe.

Wouldn't it be more like that?

Compared to the middle cut and high cut used in the past, the part that low cut is more likely to sprain, is half correct and half wrong. It seems that there is no scientific evidence that the risk of sprain can be reduced when twisting ankle with the protection performance of ankle.

In the past, it was often said in basketball, but in the NBA, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant wore low-cut and participated in all games and won the championship, so we overturned the established theory and created a trigger for the trend of low-cut bash. Now more and more players are playing with low cuts. The signature model of Steffin Curry, the No. 1 shooter, also had a lot of low cut.

However, it is true that due to the high degree of freedom around the ankle, muscle strength is required and fatigue is easy to accumulate. When fatigue accumulates, muscle strength decreases, and when you twist it, you will not stop with muscle strength, increasing the risk of sprain. In that sense, the low cut is easy to sprain is half correct and half wrong.

Therefore, low-cut selects the use scene and the person to use, but if you use it well, it can be said that it is easy to use shoes. Those who are facing are the following people.

・Those who own high cut or middle cut and want a second leg to walk lightly on low mountains.
・To do a trail run.
・Those who want to improve the foot handling of mountain climbing
・Those who want to participate in mountain races such as the Trans Japan Alps Race.

Wouldn't it be more like that? If you have a strong leg strength like going to a mountain race, I think you will choose a low cut.

However, there are risks as described above, so it is important to understand and use them. If a risk occurs during the vertical climbing, it may lead to a serious accident. When purchasing low-cut mountaineering shoes, it is better to see where you are aiming more severe than high-cut or middle-cut.

Either way, I don't think it's the first shoe that I choose. I hope that you will understand the characteristics of shoes and use them for climbing.

In addition, we have a variety of gears and mountain climbing shoes at our shop. I would like to explain the contents of this article carefully. If you have any questions, please come and feel free to contact us.

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