I moved last year and now the closest climbing gym is 45 minutes away. (Quite a bit compared to the 20 minutes before the move.) Even the closest outdoor climbing spot is an hour away.
Safe to say I haven’t been able to climb as much as I want.
Not climbing most days has taken its effects though. I’m not used to the physicality and patience it requires. However, the pain and discomfort of beginner climbing shoes is practically gone thanks to the Scarpa Helix.
A World of Change
If you’ve gone climbing, you know how many micro adjustments the sport has. It requires your upmost focus, balance, and strength as you level up in difficulty. You constantly try and learn new ways to hold or hook yourself to the wall.
Leading to some uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful positions.
And in rock climbing, there’s really only one piece of gear you can swap out to try and alleviate the agony. Your shoes.
Casual vs Serious
If there’s one question to ask yourself as a new rock climber when you’re looking for shoes, it’s this. “How often am I going to climb?”
If you’re gonna to go nearly every day, and push yourself to do harder problems, then you’ll quickly accelerate in the sport. If this is you and your goal, I would recommend a pair of La Sportiva Finales.
But, if you’re planning to go a few times every month or less, then you should give the Scarpa Helix a go.
Comfort is King
I used to be the person that climbed 3-5 days a week. With a sick climbing gym 20 minutes away, it was my favorite way to stay active and get stronger. Each climbing session was an hour or more and eventually I could climb 5.11 or V5 rated problems.
(I didn’t always cleanly climb them, but that’s where I would push myself.)
As a consistent climber, the La Sportiva Finales are amazing for a newbie because they’re designed for an intermediate climber but priced less than that. You can stick with the Finales for months as you advance to harder problems.
With that in mind, they’re not comfortable to wear. It takes so much time to break them in, and even after that they’re not nice to wear when you’re not on a wall. Waiting around watching, talking, or just chilling, your feet hurt.
I can’t say the same thing as the Scarpa Helix.
Being a more casual climber now, the Finales aren’t very nice to wear during a date night climbing session, or a Saturday afternoon at the crag. We usually go for a couple hours, and within 20 minutes I’m ready to take the Finales off.
Compare this to the Helixs, and I can wear these the entire time and I’m good. They’re still climbing shoes, so it’s not like you’re wearing slippers. But the shoes have a flatter arch, which means you can easily walk around in them, compared the Finales that you want to take off as soon as you’re finished with a route.
Still Capable
Don’t think that the Scarpa Helix are instantly worse for climbing because they’re nicer to wear for longer periods. Every 5.10 or V4 that I attempt, the shoes are never a limiting factor. (I would go higher in difficulty than that, but I don’t last long on those problems.)
The toe still has a solid tip so you can make your micro-adjustments with accuracy. The sides and back heel are equally rigid so you can confidently maneuver through difficult positions.
And these shoes have laces! (So much better than climbing shoes with velcro.)
The Recap
At the end of the day, the best way I can show you how great these shoes are is telling you that I haven’t gotten any callouses or awful rubbing from them. They almost seem custom made to my feet.
I wouldn’t expect this same result if I were you, BUT, even if they do start to poorly rub your feet, throw a pair of socks on. And you’re good to go.
If I could go back and buy my wife her first pair of climbing shoes, I’d buy her a pair of the Scarpa Helix instead of the La Sportiva Tarantulace. The higher price is more than worth it since they wouldn’t hurt her feet, she wouldn’t need to take them off between routes, and she’d enjoy the sport even more.
Now that I’m more of a casual climber, I can’t think of a better pair of shoes for this time in my life.