Updated August 22, 2025 09:56AM
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Wish You Had Fresh Climbing Shoes for Fall? These Field-Tested Pairs Are Up to 55% Off.
Our favorite shoes on sale during Labor Day Weekend, plus our top picks from Black Diamond's Sendtember Sale.
The Scarpa Drago and Drago LV (Photo: Scarpa)
Updated August 28 – On the cusp of send temps, Rocktober, and Creeksgiving, Labor Day Sales offer climbers a chance to grab end-of-season deals before fall. This year’s roundup includes deals on some of our favorite climbing shoes from La Sportiva, Scarpa, and Evolv. We’ve also highlighted a few of our picks from Black Diamond’s Sendtember Sale.
Not sure what to look for when buying climbing shoes? Check out A Beginner’s Guide to Climbing Shoes.
Top Climbing Shoe Deals at a Glance
- 25-35% Off La Sportiva TC Pro
- 25% Off Scarpa Arpia V
- 25% Off Evolv Zenist
- 25% Off La Sportiva Mandala
- 25% Off Scarpa Instinct VS and VSR
- 25-50% Off La Sportiva Skwama Vegan
- 25% Off Scarpa Vapor S
- 30-55% Off Scarpa Quantic
- 25% Off Scarpa Drago and Drago LV
- 25% Off Scarpa Veloce
- 25% Off Black Diamond Momentum – Kids’
- 20% Off Evolv Venga – Kids’
Our 5 Favorite Black Diamond Sendtember Deals
Before we get into our shoe picks on sale below, let’s talk about the best gear you can get at 25% off during Black Diamond’s Sendtember Sale (August 28-September 1). There’s a lot on sale, from pitons and a portaledge to nuts, headlamps, and harnesses. Here are a few of our favorites from the sale.
Black Diamond Vapor Helmet $127 $170
Our ultralight helmet pick of 2025, the Vapor is among the lightest helmets on the market. With a breathable design, our testers found this helmet comfortable on big days out in the backcountry. Note that this helmet is ideal for folks with larger heads.
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9.4 Dry Climbing Rope – Honnold Edition $255 $340
This kink-resistant rope impressed our testers with its light weight and durability. After taking big whips on this BD rope, hanging on it, and generally put it through the wringer. After a season of abuse, it showed hardly any signs of wear and tear. While this rope is a bit stiff out of the box, it was great to handle. Plus, a portion of the proceeds from each sale support the Honnold Foundation, and its mission to create more access to solar energy around the world. All in all, we chose the Black Diamond 9.4 Dry Climbing Rope as the finest rope for projecting this year.
Black Diamond Creek 50L Pack $180 $240
Our best crag pack of the year, BD’s flagship backpack is built to last, with thoughtfully placed pockets that make keeping it all organized a breeze. We’ve stuffed it with a rope, helmet, gear, a double trad rack, layers, and liters of liquid and taken it everywhere from Squamish to Smith Rock. The oversized top-loading opening and side zip also make accessing gear super easy. This pack is also available in 30L.
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Quickdraws and Alpine Draws $58-$79 $77-$105
This is a great time to stock up on the little things for 25% less. Grab a pack or two of quickdraws or alpine draws to replace any that ought to be retired, or simply add to your gear closet. You’ll also find plenty of carabiners (including lockers), runners, chalk, and other essentials on sale.
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13 Tested and Recommended Climbing Shoes on Sale
La Sportiva TC Pro ($142-$179 $219-239)
The TC Pro is a stiff, all-around rock shoe ideal for all-day wear, long routes, face climbing and cracks, and even El Cap. The shoes are unbeatable in places like Squamish, BC, North Conway, NH, and Yosemite, CA. Famously worn by Tommy Caldwell on the Dawn Wall and Alex Honnold on Freerider, the TC Pro is inarguably one of the most pedigreed granite shoes of all time. Read our full review here.
Note that an older model of the TC Pro is marked for clearance at 35% off, while a newer version is marked at 25% off.
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Scarpa Arpia V ($134 $179)
The Arpia V is a lot like La Sportiva’s Miura VS. Both are excellent outdoor sport climbing shoes that shine in the 5-30 degree overhanging range. But the Arpia V is more comfortable, slightly less asymmetrical, far less prone to changing shape over the course of its life, and a little softer. This gives it versatility on varying steepness at the expense of edging quality. These shoes work well inside, too, but are a bit stiffer than some might prefer in an indoor shoe. That said, the Arpia V could be great indoor shoes for slightly heavier climbers looking for a bit more support. The “LV” in the women’s version stands for “lower volume,” which means it’s designed for narrower feet.
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Evolv Zenist ($134 $179)
A soft, single-strap-closure slipper, the Zenist is known for its sensitivity and flex. It also has a large toe-hooking patch. The shoe is designed for competition climbing and excels on its coordination moves. And the Zenist Pro, U.S. climber Colin Duffy’s go-to, features more scumming rubber and a stiffer, more built-up last, which supports the foot for slab moves.
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La Sportiva Mandala ($172 $229)
Our lead shoe tester Matt Samet loves this shoe, as do numerous La Sportiva athletes, including boulderer Keenan Takahashi and star competition sport climber Ai Mori. The Mandala is an excellent gym and rock shoe that feels stiffer than La Sportiva’s other No Edge shoes. This makes it proficient at steep and overhanging edging on stone. It has more weight/heft in the toebox, with just the “right amount” for big-toe activation on rock. It looks and feels overbuilt and has stretched very little, so should hold multiple resoles. Read our full review of the Mandala.
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Scarpa Instinct VS and VSR
Scarpa keeps making different versions of its ever-popular Instinct—first released more than 15 years ago—and it’s getting hard to keep track of them. But these versions are favorites of our staff, our reviewers, and probably various shoe nerds in your gym.
Instinct VS ($164 $219)
One of the most beloved shoes of the past decade, the Instinct VS is a master of all angles. When it was first released, one of our testers (who has more than 100 shoes in his personal collection) had high praise: “I’m just gonna say it: This is one of the best shoes I’ve ever worn,” he wrote. “They’re versatile, comfortable, and outperform almost any other shoe on every kind of terrain.”
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Instinct VSR ($164 $219)
Built almost exactly the same last as the outstanding Instinct VS, shoe designers put a softer rubber on the Instinct VSR, making it generally preferable for gym climbers, boulderers, and route climbers who keep to the steeps. The Instinct VSR won our 2017 Editor’s Choice Award and has remained a go-to for several of Climbing’s writers and editors. But if you’re looking for elite edging performance, consider the Instinct VS instead. The “LV” in the women’s version stands for “lower volume,” which means it’s designed for narrower feet.
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La Sportiva Skwama Vegan ($100-$164 $199-$219)
Though the Skwama is softer than La Sportiva’s Solution line, and therefore doesn’t edge quite as masterfully, it’s still a highly versatile shoe. The Skwama performs well on everything from vertical basalt sport climbs and technical limestone cave boulders to marathon gym training sessions. In sum: A high-performance slipper-velcro hybrid that’s excellent for just about everything—and animal-friendly to boot. It’s included in the Our Favorite Sport Climbing Shoes roundup. Note that an older model of the Skwama Vegan is marked for clearance at 35% off, while a newer version is marked at 25% off.
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Scarpa Vapor S ($149 $199)
Scarpa’s Vapor S is a comfortable, performance-oriented slipper that excels equally well on systems boards, polished limestone, slabby volumes, and edging terrain. Unlike most slippers—and most shoes on this list—it’s a relatively flat shoe (better for the flat-footed among you) and quite wide. But it’s also incredibly versatile—great for paddling up caves in the Red River Gorge and torquing up cracks in Squamish. They appear on our roundup Our Favorite Sport Climbing Shoes, but Aidan Roberts also wore one on while working on Spots of Time, the UKs first V17 boulder. Read our full review here.
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Scarpa Quantic ($83-$129 $185)
The Quantic is an all-arounder shoe that performs just fine on everything, but truly well on nothing. The key selling point of this shoe? It’s comfortable and affordable. It does far better in the gym than on rock, but our testers have climbed as hard as outdoor V9 and 5.13 with the Quantics on board. Almost all of our testers raved about comfort, which makes it a good training/gym session shoe. As their designer, Heinz Mariacher, says, “My intention was to offer a multi-purpose performance shoe, a mix of lightness, sensitivity, and good precision.” The Scarpa Quantic represents a step up into more advanced footwear for newer or intermediate climbers. Note that the women’s version is more deeply discounted (55% off) than the men’s version (30% off).
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Scarpa Drago & Drago LV ($172 $229)
The Drago is arguably the most popular high-performance shoe on the international competition circuit. It’s also climbed many of the world’s hardest sport routes and boulders outside. One of our testers wrote: “The Drago defies standard climbing-shoe dichotomies. It’s a performance model that’s comfortable. An aggressive downturn makes it supple enough to smear on the smallest of smidges. It’s super soft, yet can toe on tiny edges as well as, if not better than, stiff edging-specific shoes, due to the midsole. It was designed as a specialized sport, bouldering and competition shoe, yet makes an excellent all-arounder; just don’t try to crack climb in them.”
What’s the difference between the Drago and the Drago LV? Width. Climbers with narrower feet should go for the LV version.
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Scarpa Veloce ($134 $179)
Both the OG Veloce and the Veloce L (the “L” stands for “lace) are soft shoes, designed for the combination of comfort and smear performance desired (or so says Scarpa) by beginner and intermediate climbers who spend most or all of their time at the gym. The Veloce L is solid on anything steep and/or smeary—from board and volume climbs in the gym to limestone caves, vertical cobble climbs, and steep basalt sport routes. If you’re looking for edging performance, though, run like the wind away from this shoe. Read our review of the Veloce L, entitled Scarpa’s Latest Shoe Made me Feel Like a Con Artist.
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Kids’ Climbing Shoes on Sale
While we haven’t officially reviewed kids’ climbing shoes, there are two pairs on sale—one of which an editor’s daughter has been climbing in for two or three years. Evolv’s Venga Climbing Shoe for kids is also on sale.
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Tips for Climbers Shopping Labor Day Shoe Deals
Want to avoid returning that pair of shoes you scored at a discount during a Labor Day Sale? Here are some tips:
- Buy from a brand that you already know your size in vs. trying a new brand.
- Shop Labor Day Sales early before your shoe size sells out! We see this happen all the time. Usually, there is limited inventory left of past season shoe models. Retailers are trying to burn through this excess before releasing next season’s models. So supply may be quite limited.
- If you can, try on the shoe at a store or gym beforehand to make sure it’s the best size for you.
- When you see “LV” after a shoe name, it indicates “lower volume.” These versions are designed for narrower feet. If you’re male with narrower feet, you can convert your size and opt for an LV pair, even if it’s also marked as “women’s.”
- Before you panic and initiate a return, remember that climbing shoes take time to break in. That said, you don’t want to break them in too much, to the point that you wouldn’t be able to return them.