Black Diamond offers almost everything you need to spend a great day climbing, from safety hardware and packs to harnesses and apparel. But up until now, a couple of categories were missing from their lineup — namely shoes and ropes. Starting this fall, the company is going all in on both.
The first climbing shoe from Black Diamond is the Momentum (pictured top), available for men ($89), women ($89), and even kids ($59). This is a classic Velcro all-arounder, with a unique looking polyester-propylene knit upper and a NeoFriction rubber sole that comes from Butora in Korea.
The Aspect ($139) is an asymmetrical lace-up, wear-all-day, trad shoe made with a leather upper and knit tongue. The NeoFriction Force sole uses a harder rubber than of that on the Momentum.
The high-performance Focus ($174) is built on a slightly downturned last with a leather upper and knit tongue. The shoe uses the same NeoFriction Force rubber of the Aspect for the sole.
Finally, the aggressive Shadow ($180) uses NeoFriction Fuse rubber in the sole — it’s softer than the rest to give you better grip on overhanging terrain. The upper is again a combination of leather with a knit tongue in a cool black stealth look.
Once a distributor for Scarpa in North America, Black Diamond is no stranger to climbing shoes. And the new line was developed by a former American sales rep for Scarpa, Linh Nguyen, who has also worked for Boreal and Evolv. The shoes will be made at a factory in China that was working for Evolv.
The Black Diamond Momentum and Aspect climbing shoes will be available from REI starting in October. The Focus and Shadow will follow along next spring.
Also for Spring 2018, Black Diamond expands their rope collection from the initial four to eleven models, including everything from 7 mm twin ropes up to 10.2 mm single rope workhorses. The 9.4 mm DRY rope features a dry-treated core and sheath, making it perfect for alpine and ice adventures. The collection will even include three static ropes.