Testing for the grippiest climbing shoes

ERJ staff report (DS)

CERN, Geneva -- Steven Won, a physicist at CERN and an avid climber has been testing the coefficient of friction for climbing shoes -- a much debated subject among keen climbers.

Won cut a sample from each of ten different shoes, applied a weight, regulated the temperature and then tilted the sample on a granite or plastic base until it slipped.

According to these tests, the grippiest shoe is the Evolv Trax XT-5 with a coefficient of friction (µ) of 1.14 on plastic and 0.68 on unpolished granite. 

Steven Won is the Huang Fellow at Northwestern University's Department of Physics and Astronomy, and a member of the USCMS collaboration at CERN. He is also a climber.

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Test results from Steve Won

Rubber experts who are also keen climbers might also like to see this page for more discussion of rubber and friction in the climbing world.