Rock Climbing Shoes for a Morton's Toe Foot Profile
Climbing with Morton's Toe: Painful feet while climbing
Do your toes kill you when you try to fit them in climbing shoes? Is it impossible to find a good fitting climbing shoe? You might just have Morton's toe. Morton's toe is not some crazy bone deformation disease, in fact, up to 20-25% of the population has it. Morton's toe is when your second toe is longer than your first toe. Know as a greek toe in terms of shoe fitting, it was considered a thing of beauty in ancient greek culture and is a hallmark of lady liberty's feet.
The problem that people with morton's toe face is that most performance climbing shoes are designed on an asymmetrical last. This means that the toe box is longest in the big toe area, getting progressively shorter after then. This causes pain for people with morton's toe, as the second toe is squashed. This can cause unnecessary pain and discomfort while climbing. To address this problem, you can purchase symmetrical lasted shoes, or shoes that have a wider toe box. Shoes with a symmetrical toe box are longest at the second toe, accommodating climbers with morton's toe. Here are some recommendations for climbers with morton's toe.
Evolv Demorto
This shoe was built for climbers with morton's toe. The demorto has great edging capability and performs well on vertical face climbs. It is also exceedingly comfortable and its lace up system makes it great for an all day shoe.
Evolv Optimus Prime
The optimus prime is a great choice if you are looking for a performance sport velcro shoe. As part of the Sharma optimus line, the optimus is a slightly downturned shoe designed on a symmetrical last. This shoe excels on overhanging routes, as well as hard boulder problems. It is a great shoe for climbers with morton's toe who are not looking to sacrifice performance.
Acopa Chameleon
If you have a mild case of Morton's toe, you might find the acopa chameleon to your liking. The chameleon is a performance shoe that excess at almost any type of climbing, and has a wide toe box to help accomadate a longer second toe. Acopa shoes are know for their comfort, so it wouldn't hurt to try them out.
Scarpa Force
Another shoe recommended on forums is the scarpa force. The scarpa force seems tohave a wider toebox. With such a shoe, you will not be sacrificing an ounce of performance.
