La Sportiva Skwama Climbing Shoe - Women's for Sale, Reviews, Deals and Guides

Neil Gresham, Adrian Baxter and Stu Littlefair chat about the latest La Sportiva's climbing innovation, the "S-Heel technology" found on the new Skwama and Otaki shoes: Check out their thoughts in this first complete product review, during a recent trip to the Peak District with Dark Sky Media.

I've had a few pairs of these now and they're my absolute favorite. I love the flexible mid-sole that makes them really versatile. They smear super well, allow you to toe down hard on overhung routes and get lots of good surface contact on slab. I love how sensitive they are and they're way more comfortable than most other aggressive shoes I've tried. My footwork is definitely at its best when I'm climbing in these shoes. Highly recommend!

My favorite climbing shoe for bouldering and overhung sport-routes. They have a great feel to them - not being too rigid or soft. They help make heel-hooks and toe-hooks a breeze.

I've had these about four months now & I love them. They're my first pair of aggressive climbing shoe and I'm surprised at how easy the break-in was...maybe three gym sessions. These are now my everyday shoes. The heel cup fits snugly without slipping. The heel also allows for great hooks, something my previous shoe had been missing. I've used them both indoor and out with the same great performance. After four months of solid use (4 days a week) I haven't noticed much stretch at all. I'm usually a 37.5EU in shoes, but sized up to a 38EU for these.

I had both the women's and men's Skwamas and my broken in size 40 womens are identical in length to a brand new pair of 39.5 men's, slightly shorter in length than brand new 40 men's. As for the stretch I measured them when new and after broken in. The length stretched ~2mm. I'm a 9.5/10 street shoe, size 43 Sportiva approach, and downsize these so tight they're impossible to get on without plastic bags. Even then, they don't stretch much they just soften up an ungodly amount. For me these shoes do everything pretty well. I have a pair .5 sizes smaller for very precise, overhung bouldering, and might get a pair .5 sizes up for multipitch. So comfortable I often wonder if there isn't massive dead space because they are so easy to get on an off, but there isn't any in any foot position. I will say that I prefer a pair that has 2-3w of climbing in them so that they wear a bit off the edge and get a tiny bit more sensitive.

I was excited to try out these new climbing shoes and I downsized a 1/2 size from my solutions (38.5 to a 38.0) and they fit like a glove. Compared to the solutions the heel cup is a better fit though heel of the shoe comes up quite high and digs into my achilles a little bit but I'm sure after breaking them in a callus will form and make them more comfortable. Overall they are easy to climb in and perform well!

Wider toebox than Solution, worth considering when downsizing, or if Solution is too narrow for foot, this could be a good....solution. Ha. Fits super comfortably right away, which is great but makes me a little skeptical as far as stretching goes.