Daniel Woods’ Climbing Shoes
Woodsy favorite climbing shoes ever.
Daniel Woods, legendary mega-crusher, has built a reputation as one of the greatest boulderers of his generation. He has repeated, and established, some of the hardest problems bouldering across the globe, stood on the podium of ABS National Championship and IFSC World Cup events – and more recently – become one of the few people to lay claim to a V17 boulder ascent.
His impressive résumé of climbing accomplishments makes him a hot comedy to climbing brands. Since the start of his career, Woods has teamed up with both La Sportiva, and more recently Evolv, for a non-stop supply of quality climbing shoes.
In this article, we will look at some of the most iconic Daniel Woods climbing shoes. Let’s get started!
What shoes does Daniel Woods wear?
Daniel Woods currently wears the Evolv Phantom for his sport climbing and bouldering projects.
Daniel almost exclusively wears aggressive climbing shoes, which is hardly surprising as he enjoys working the steep stuff. To celebrate his ground-breaking V17 ascent of the ‘Return of the Sleepwalker’, we have looked back on the shoes he has used for his biggest ascents throughout his career.
THE TOP PICK
Evolv Phantom
Used for: Return of the Sleepwalker, Off the Wagon, Blade Runner, Empath
In March 2020, Daniel announced his long-awaited collab with Evolv had been set loose. We have been watching Daniel testing out early prototypes of the Phantom since September 2018, so it was great to finally see these puppies hit the market.
Even a quick glance at the Phantom, you can’t help but notice one or two unusual features. For starters, it’s one of the most aggressive climbing shoes out there, with a very unique camber shape. As Daniel explained “Its shape was unique and different from anything else I had seen. The shape forced the point of the toe box to the big toe, which is where you want to have all your power at.”
This shoe isn’t just good on paper, it works in practice too. Woods has laid down some serious ascents with his signature shoe. For starters, for his recent V17 ascent he donned a pair of the Phantoms, as well as for Box Therapy (V16) and Off the Wagon (V16).
Like Woods said himself “I do not climb in any other shoe… for me, there is no need. This beast does it all. Go try it for yourself.”
BOULDERING
Evolv Agro
Used for: First Ley
Before there was the Phantom, there was the Agro. This menacing-looking shoe was Daniel’s weapon of choice when he first joined the Evolv team.
Unfortunately, the Agro didn’t make it into Evolv’s 2021 line-up, in order to make room for the Phantom as well as their new gym shoe, the Zenist.
It wasn’t just Daniel who was a fan of the Agro either. Other pros including Chris Sharma, Moritz Welt and A-list celeb, Jason Momoa, have all been known to crack out the Agro at one time or another.
We have also put this shoe through its paces and have plenty of good things to say about it. Sure, the break in period is pretty brutal, but after a few sessions the Agro moulds to a great fit, especially for wider-footed climbers.
The split sole and Trax SAS rubber give the shoe buckets of flexibility and can hold their own on the slabs as well as the overhangs.
SPORT CLIMBING
Evolv Oracle
Used for: Finnish Line, Slam Dunk, Barely Legal
The Oracle, another pre-Phantom favorite of Woods. Although this shoe shares some pretty similar features to Agro, there are some pretty big differences too.
The most obvious ones include the lacing system and smaller toe patch. The less obvious differences include more exaggerate and pointed toe box for more delicate foot placement, a slightly stiffer midsole, and a love bump outsole (similar to the Evolv Shaman) for better pocket pulling power.
Although Woods only had a short love affair with the Oracle (about 6 months) he still managed to make bag pretty rad ascents in that time.
On the boulders, Woods topped out some pretty big routes, including the big ol’ highball ‘Finnish Line’ (V16) and ‘Zoolander’ (V12), as well as some respectable lead ascents including La ley innata (8c+)
FOR EVERYTHING
La Sportiva Solution
Since the early days of Woodsy’s climbing career, La Sportiva was his supplier of super sticky climbing shoes. However, after (what seemed like) a slightly bitter breakup, their decade-long partnership came to an end in January 2017.
Of all their legendary creations, there was one in particular that Daniel used on a frequent basis during his time as a La Sportiva ambassador – the Solution.
In fact, Woods was such a big fan of the Solution, he pretty much exclusively used this shoe for almost 10 years. Many of his early daring ascents were made with a pair of Solution strapped to his feet. Remember ‘Creature From the Black Lagoon’, ‘Lucid Dreaming’ or his repeat of Sharma’s iconic ‘Practise of the Wild’? Daniel crushed them all with the help of his trusty Solutions.
If anything is for certain, it’s that we haven’t seen the last of Daniel Woods.
Many fans and publications wrote off Woods as a ‘has been’ after he was unable to make the podium of the ABS Championships in 2017 and 2018.
However, his recent FA of the Sleepwalker sit start has solidified Daniel’s position as one of the best boulderers ever.
We look forward to seeing what projects Daniel Woods has in the works!
