What Shoes Does Janja Garnbret Use?

Janja Garnbret is one of the best climbers in the world at the moment.

Inspired by her amazing feats, I’m sure some climbers will have wondered what this reincarnated spider monkey is wearing on her feet.

So, before I carry on, it’s worth mentioning that shoes don’t make the climber. Everybody has different preferences and reasons for wearing certain pairs. Hell, Adam Ondra even wore two different shoes at once for a particular climb to make use of their strengths and weaknesses.

After watching the IFSC World Cups, it quickly became clear that the Hiangles are a favorite of Janjas.

The Hiangles have unlined leather upper, which is one the most stretchy materials that’s ever used in climbing shoes. What this means is that when you buy a pair it’s better to size them super tight as they will definitely stretch a fair bit.

With Stealth C4 rubber and an aggressive downturn, the shoes are pretty good for anything overhanging. The rubber is pretty standard on high-performance shoes and the aggressive downturn helps your toes catch holds or jutted out bits of rock while climbing anything steep.

Design-wise, I think the hiangles are pretty modest compared to the hyper-bright colors on a lot of shoes you see these days. Existing in half red half grey, the shoe has an almost bland feel. The saving grace is the strap which has a yellow under and Hiangle logo which adds that little splash of color which stops them being boring. Of course, this does not affect the performance. Aesthetics are not everything.

Also, there has recently been a debate whether the sizing of these shoes has changed. Several users on the Adidas website point out that the shoes seem to have shrunk a little. 

One user states “The new 9.5 seem very close to the old 9’s,” so if you are thinking of picking up a pair it might be worth buying a size larger than usual (unless you like a good struggle).

Even with this change in mind, most buyers are still happy with the shoe in the end – just annoyed about the lack of communication regarding the change from Adidas.

While if it’s unclear if Adidas has made any changes to 5.10’s sizing since taking over in 2011, users still agree that it’s a pretty damn good shoe.