La Sportiva Venom Climbing Shoe

I wear a street shoe size of 10.5 (US) and a climbing shoe size of 9-9.5 (42.5). They were very tight at first, but have broken in now. I enjoy them tight though, so I can feel the rock. They have superb traction, tight fit all around the toes, and the double loops on the back are great for helping slip them off and on. As with most slippers, you will notice a if your feet are sweaty since your foot will move around inside and you cannot tighten them more. However, the elastic in the Venoms keep them snug. Great shoe!

If you need a sticky pad on your foot for climbing V7 and above these are like gecko feet on rocks!

I've gone through climbing shoes. The Venom is the by far the best climbing shoe. For indoor and outdoor. I used it mainly for bouldering and sport climbing. Once the toe is worn out, I will be buying myself another new pair of venoms.

This shoe performs well for bouldering and bolt clipping. I would not use them for multi-pitch routes or crack climbing----mabey if you size them big---but this is not the shoe's purpose. I went down 2.5 sizes from my street shoe and they have stretched out about 1/2 size or so. Great fit and feel, good heel for hooking, nice toe for grabbing on the steeeeeeeeep!!

one of my favorite shoes. not my favorite (Scarpa Booster). but it is incredible. the only reason its not my favorite is because it doesn't retain aggressiveness after a long season. kind of flattens out. also the toe box is very narrow. i actually have scars on my toes it was so tight up there. it wasn't too small length wise just narrow. keep that in mind. could be good or bad depending on your foot. great heel. no bubble what so ever. slip-on stays on no Hook-and-loop necessary. the toe rand makes toe hooking much more solid. and the best part ... Vibram XS

If you are like me and have big feet (size 13 street) then this is the best shoe for you. I do a lot of bouldering and free climbing and these shoes are incredible. I have a hard time finding shoes big enough in good brands and a 44.5 in these is perfect. After the first couple climbs they fit perfect and don't be weary of the slip-on fit, they are tight and hug your foot like a kid hugs their teddy bear. I think crack climbing is their only minor weakness but I can still do it with confidence. Give them a try, you'll be glad you did.

This shoe is amazing - fits like a glove and gives a surgical degree of precision and power. The Vibrum-covered toe box keeps a serious amount of grip to the to the rock. It is an amazing shoe for pretty much everything except trad and multipitch climbs.

After researching to figure out the sizing, I found that downsizing 3.5 sizes from your street shoe was common. La Sportiva recommends downsizing 2-3 from street.They run big. I wear a size 8, 2E width street shoe and I went with a 36.5 which is almost 3.5 sizes smaller. (Aggressive sizing) but they will stretch approx 0.5 Eu size. If my foot was any wider I probably wouldn't buy this shoe. I wore them on/off round the house a couple times before climbing in em to break em in. Break in was a bit painful but worth every second. As they stretch they mold to your foot and create a suction as you take them off/on. They now fit like a glove, typical La Sportiva. They easily handled anything I threw at them (no crack). Very sensitive. I have no performance complaints whatsoever. I will probably buy a 36 next time to fit my smaller foot(0.5 EU diff) Soft, sticky, rubber - get your foot work right they'll last longer. Rubber webbing on the toe helps minimize stretch to get your toe hook on.

Not stiff enough to be a pure edging shoe (i.e. not for Smith Rock!), but surprisingly versatile, with awesome sensitivity. They really excel on overhangs, tiny pockets, smears. A fantastic bouldering shoe: similar to FiveTen V10 slipper, but more comfortable. Note that these stretch significantly. I'm a size 10 US street shoe, and have found that a 41.5 in La Sportiva climbing shoes (Mythos etc.) worked well for me. On a whim I decided to order the Venoms in a 41.0. Initially they seemed painfully small, and I thought I'd got a little carried away with the sizing. But after a few days of bouldering, they stretched out nicely, and now fit like a glove. I'll buy these again and again until La Sportiva retire the design!

i love these shoes. i can put my weight confidently on the tiniest of footholds. make sure they fit tight, and they'll get very comfortable once you wear them in. - good for vertical, overhanging - bad for crack climbing - opposite to what i was told, they work fine for slabs, i have climbed 5.10 slab in them just fine.