Breaking in my climbing shoes?

[beckylh84]

I need some hints to get my climbing shoes broken in. They're super painful right now--I went down a 1/2 size from my normal street shoe size. It's mostly just the super stiff leather that's bothering me. I have a 2 day climbing class up in Lake Placid at the end of May, so I'm hoping to get them moderately comfortable by then.

 

[Ringrat]

This is a late response, but...wear them! If they're leather (rather than synthetic leather) they will stretch out, especially as your feet sweat. If they're synthetic they'll stretch much less. You could try "shoe stretch" (stuff you pour in and then wear your shoes) if they're leather, but with climbing shoes if you do that right off the bat you run the risk of them stretching out becoming too loose faster than you might like. Sorry...not very helpful for avoiding pain! I have a pair of shoes that I used to have to take off between every climb and could only use for bouldering (shorter time wearing them). But I loved them.