7 Best Intermediate Climbing Shoes in 2023

Autumn Winter shoes 1305 | How we test climbing shoes

We perform a battery of tests to identify the standouts for this guide. We analyze the materials and commercial features of the footwear. After putting on the hours of legwork, our team of seasoned climbers gave us their final assessments for our in-depth reviews and top rankings.

These are the steps we take:

• We buy all pairs of intermediate climbing kicks for our tests. We use our own funds to preserve the 100% objectivity and honesty of our reviews.
• We clock up hours of climbing sessions to evaluate the real-life performance of the shoes. We subject the shoes to the rigors of climbing to further test their strengths and weaknesses.
• We grade each model’s level of comfort, beak-in time, stickiness, climbing precision, edging ability, heel and toe hooking efficiency, suitability for indoor climbs or crags, durability, and more.
• We collect additional insights from reviews and testimonials given by pro climbers and casual climbing aficionados.

Lastly, all pairs of Zapatilla FortaRun Double Strap Running are assigned an overall rating. Based on the data above, each model receives a CoreScore from 0 to 100.