Here's to further adventures...

by LAURA SHUMAKER September 20, 2016

We’ve been honored to make custom shoes for so many amazing people, but unfortunately, SFT Climbing is shutting down. But I don't want SFT to simply vanish - there are still lots of people interested in custom climbing shoes and probably always will be. So here's a quick overview of where you can still go, as well as some of our thoughts in making this decision.

If you’re still looking for custom climbing shoes, consider trying the following:

kN Climbing - fully custom, Las Vegas, NV. I can vouch for the quality of their work, having ordered early prototypes from them.

evolv - their XY program will let you order two differently sized shoes, but they don't do other customizations.

Roundy Boots - located in the US, haven't seen their work.

In Europe:

Le Chausse Montagne - located in France, haven't seen their work.

If none of these options are nearby, another way to find custom shoemakers near you might be to call local resolers and ask if they ever do custom projects or know shoemakers who do.

SFT Climbing's legacy:

I'm really proud of what we've been able to do - making custom climbing shoes more widely available - the fact remains that continuing to run SFT Climbing isn't a good idea for me personally.

However, I will be keeping this website up as a sort of museum (but all of our shoes will remain "sold out"). When I started making climbing shoes, it was difficult to find information on how to do design and make shoes. Lots of resolers, climbers, and designers were happy to share their knowledge with us, but it was still a long, hard journey. By way of giving back to the community, I'd like to volunteer my experience to anyone who's curious about the shoemaking industry and the unique way we practiced it here at SFT. Have a look around the site (lots of our design process is documented on the rest of the blog) or feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions at service@sftclimbing.com.

Thanks for supporting us, and warmest regards,

Laura Shumaker

(Founder and Lead Designer)

Here's to burritos at the end of the day and new adventures tomorrow...