It’s Time to Get Your Shoes Resoled, and Positive Resoles is There

When the small rip starts threatening to become a hole, and your big toe starts feeling extra exfoliated as it sticks out and brushes against every hold you climb on, you must come to terms with the fact it’s time for a resoler to work their magic. It’s a tedious task of shipping those shoes out, but that process gives way for the beautiful excuse of buying a new pair.

As my Scarpa Instict VS’s started showing signs of wear with only a thin sliver of the rand rubber left, I turned to Positive Resoles located in the heart of Joshua Tree to repair them. Shipping them out, I anticipated the company’s longer turnaround of about 6-8 weeks, and was impressed when they returned spick and span.

Knowing how proper climbing technique on the wall and shoe maintenance off the wall can have on the durability and strength of one’s shoe, and keeping in mind that resoling acts as a cheaper alternative to buying new, I spoke with Kelsey, a representative at Positive Resoles, through an email conversation, to learn more about the business and shine light on the positive impact they, as well as other resoler companies, play in the sport of rock climbing.

Positive Resoles has been fixing climber’s shoes since the 90’s, and when the business owner was looking to retire, he passed down the company to Doug Green in 2017, who according to Kelsey, has brought it to new heights, with his strong background in resoling, as well as construction, woodworking and metallurgy.

With more than 100 shoes in the shop at a time, Positive Resoles works them in batches, where over 3 weeks they move through various repair stages. Unique methodology, such as extra curing time between stages, and deliberate, professional work produces numbers of resoled shoes upward of 1,000 a year, as Kelsey said.

Whether one needs the rands or toecaps resoled, or reglues and restiching, Positive Resoles offers service for a reasonable price. Rand repairs are $13 each, with reglues starting at $5 and restitching starting at $10. Depending on the extent of damage to a climber’s shoes, however, and how long they put off getting them resoled, the amount of work required for repair varies.

The anatomy of a climbing shoe is simple yet each part plays an intricate and interconnected role, one part of a whole.

Lining the edge of the shoe is where the rand and sole rubber are glued together. It is when one’s climbing shoes are beginning to wear to, but not into, the rand, as Kelsey stressed, when one should take advantage of that perfect time to get them resoled. For climbing on the delicate rand rubber of one’s shoes, when the sole rubber is blown through, can quickly damage them to a point of no return.

With a bit of extra care and effort, maintaining one’s shoes in the best of their conditions for the longest time can be simple. As Kelsey recommends to her customers, a perfect blended melody of good technique on the wall and less wear-time off it are key.

“The number one way to have your shoes last is to improve your footwork,” Kelsey said. “Focusing on using the full sole and not just the rubber under your big toe will help the rubber last significantly longer. Also taking off shoes between pitches and for descents will help them last longer as well.”

Clipped to a climbing bag en route to the gym or when trekking to and from that tedious approach, and there to accompany you on each and every climbing feat, enduring endless moves of grippy granite, limestone tufas or slippery plastic, your climbing shoes are your most loyal partner. They are a clear testament to your hard work, the glorious places climbing has taken you, and the magic of time passed. And for that, they deserve some care. An excellent, professional kind of care. Positive Resoles can provide.

">?w=640""> data-link="https://rockclimbing5.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=523" data-medium-file="

data-orig-file="

">" data-orig-size="2000,3008" data-permalink="https://rockclimbing5.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=523" data-url="

data-width="2000" src="https://rockclimbing5.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dsc_0072-2.jpg" srcset="

600w,

900w,

1200w,

1500w,

1800w,

2000w" style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; margin: 0px; object-fit: cover; object-position: center center; width: 294.844px; cursor: pointer;">