Chris > Prisms: So far we are having a beautiful summer here in Montreal, the festivals have arrived, the pools are open and my Prisms are still kicking. Since my last post I've only had a chance to get into the great outdoors once (its a slow year, trying to get some much needed maintenance done on the house) and I've had the chance to get the shoes onto some 5.11 at the Montagne D'Argent. There are many routes that are ideal for these kinds of shoes, vertical climbs, cracks and next to nothing foot holds. Lets step back and take a look at how these shoes are designed. The Prisms are built around a asymmetric toe with enough rubber to get an elementary school through a year of class, they also have the new patented Faceted Edge on the outside part of the shoe that really does help the back step or drop knee. You'll find them in the Vertical Meters section of Five Tens website so they are not ideal for bouldering, although I must say that the comfortable fit ALMOST outweighs their performance on step terrain.
So now, after three months of use, the edges are starting to roll. It hasn't effected the performance of the shoe and I only really noticed it because...well...I need to write a review on them. I've spent most of the time at the local gym, did three competitions, bouldered outside a few times, a weekend at the crag and its my guess that the shoes will last me longer than most. Shoes will usually last me about four months before the edges roll out and I go from edging the footholds to trying soooo desperately to smear the smaller foot holds.
At Montagne D'Argent there is a climb that I've dubbed "the death climb" (I took a wicked fall last year with the rope caught behind my leg, my head crashing into the rock and landing only a few feet from the ground. Thanks Dan, you pulled in just enough rope). Its a mixed route, the first part is a trad climb up a crack that end on a bolted slab. Now on cracks, these shoes are awesome, no pain whatsoever. I'm still pretty new at trad climbing, I haven't found my comfort zone with cracks and I tend to torque my foot into the crack (so far sometimes I have trouble getting my foot out) and I found that the Prisms are helping increase my level of confidence. Even on the smaller cracks, where there is only enough room for the tip of the shoe, the Prisms held on and didn't let go.
The rubber itself seems to be taking to the mistreatment quite nicely and there are no loose or damaged seams to speak of! There is some velcro damage to the tongue of the shoe though, which may seem irrelevant but maybe a velcroed shoe should not have any velcro-sensitive fabric right under the straps. In this case, its a net-like thin layer that's feeling the wrath, it might not be the best idea! Otherwise, the season is young and I will see what I can do about damaging these babies ;)
