La Sportiva - A Word from our Customer...

The University of Central Florida Rock Climbing Team have won both the 2009 and 2010 Collegiate Climbing Series National Championship.  Collectively, the majority of the team members including both individual winners of the two competitions and Aiguille Rock Climbing Center's very own staff members, Charlie Garcia and Mark Mercer, own, wear and love La Sportiva climbing shoes!

We sat with Charlie and former UCF Club President Mike Roller to ask them what they think about La Sportiva climbing shoes.

Thanks for sitting down with me, guys.  How long have you been wearing La Sportiva Shoes?

MR:  I've personally worn La Sportiva shoes for over five years.
CG:  I've been wearing them for about six months since we got hooked up for winning Nationals.

What different models have you owned?

CG:  I currently own two climbing shoes:  The Testarossa and the Speedster.  My approach shoes are my favorite though.  I wear my Slingshots to set routes all the time and I just got a pair of Fireblades.
MR: Cliffs were my first shoes, I wore those for like five years.  I've also owned Testarossas, Solutions and Miura's.

That's a lot of different shoes!  So, what makes La Sportiva so great?  

MR:  They all have great qualities.  Solutions and Testarossa are amazing performance shoes, great heels.  My Miuras are great all around shoes and the Cliffs are just so comfortable and long lasting.

What about you, Charlie?

CG: Well I do most of the ordering for Aiguille and their customer service has been so great to us.  But yeah, the quality of their shoes is great.  I agree with Roller, the heels feel like butter!


Would you recommend them to other climbers?

MR:  I do on a daily basis.   I have never been disappointed with the quality or performance of any sportiva product I have bought.

Any other thoughts?

CG:  Just a big shout out to Steve Baker, our rep for the Southeast.  He's one of the reasons why Sportiva's so great.  Thanks to him showing us some shoes, come January we will have all new Sportiva shoes to purchase at Aiguille.  We wouldn't have gotten the team to so into Sportiva without him hooking us up for Nationals.  Just a really great guy.  Thanks man!

The North Face - A Word From Our Customer...

We sat down with Adam Wisniewski to pick his brain about his North Face experience as well as running a little test to see how waterproof his North Face jacket really is!



Adam, what is the particular product that you own?

I think they discontinued this model. I can't find it online and I bought it at the Travel Country Outdoors porch sale. Maybe a North Face representative will see this and tell me what I am wearing!

How long have you owned it?  Have you used other products like this?
 
I've had this jacket for about a month, but, as an avid snowboarder and snowboard instructor, I've been using similar products for about 11 years.

What do you enjoy about this product?  How does it compare to other brands?
 
I'm really enjoying having a shell that delivers what it promises. Most other brands tell you a shell is "waterproof and breathable", but eventually the fabric gets saturated and starts leaking or loses its breathability. This North Face shell, on the other hand, kept me dry during a Florida downpour while staying breathable. I also like the fact that this jacket's hood is helmet compatible, which means I can keep my skull intact and my head dry at the same time.

Would you recommend this to others?
 
I would recommend The North Face to my friends because their gear is bomber and they manage to add nifty features, such as one-hand drawstrings and chin-friendly collars, to minimalist shells like mine.