UKC

I'm out working in Kampala, Uganda for a year or perhaps more.  We have an active climbing club (https://mcu.ug/), centered around a quarry in the city, with a broad mixture of locals and incomers of more or lesser experience, but many folk don't have kit so the club provides.  

The club needs replacement shoes. Climbing kit is not available here.  Me and a UK mate can likely transport a whole bunch of shoes back here using our work provided luggage allowances, while running the 'gauntlet' of getting hit for import 'tax' on the way in (if the shoes are new that is).

The club would like hard wearing shoes. Cost is an issue, with UG Shilling being weak against other currencies, and club funds are already very limited.

My question(s) is(are), is there an outlet or wholesale for (hard wearing type shoes?) that climbing walls or other organisations use?  

Secondly,  long shot but If anyone knew of a contact at a benevolent shoe manufacturer or importer etc. that would be interested in sponsoring this endeavor to some degree , I'm sure the club would be interested.

Thirdly, longer shot, failing all that, if someone out there has a whole bunch of 2nd hand shoes in decent condition that they don't need or be willing to donate or sell at very reasonable rates.

FYI, Although limited, the quarry provides good tricky climbing, on smooth jug-lacking gneiss. Bolted by a French bloke a few years back I believe. Anyone interested in climbing in Uganda or Kenya, the best start points are the MCU page, or for Kenya - https://www.mck.or.ke/ , and then over on another large climbing page named after a cliff.com.

Thanks for any pointers

I'll be in Nairobi in October, I've got some old pairs and could probably rustle a few more up with a bit of a local appeal.

Maybe send me a pm through UKC.

Hi I have 2 pairs Ill drop you an email

I can send you a few FOC......I'll PM you.

I've got an old but serviceable and not much used pair of rock shoes you are welcome to if you want them. 

This is a great endeavour!

I can't help with your question, but have you tried contacting some UK walls to ask who supplies their rental shoes? They may be able to give you direct contacts with suppliers or manufacturers, and may also be willing to donate their old stock when they replace it...

A good way to do this would be source shoes that can be resoled and ship a load of soles instead of whole shoes. You'll save on shipping and duties and it should be cheaper wholesale if you can get a trade price.

You'll be able to find a cobbler in Kampala who could give the resoling a go off the bat and improve over time, lots of talented craftspeople in the city. You might have to make do with generic lasts to start with but if they're second hand shoes anyway it won't make much of a difference.

Maybe try and get a UK resoler interested who can offer contacts for buying soles and advice to the resoler?

I have a few pairs of secondhand but usable shoes.  Let me know where to post them in the UK and I will send them through.

hey yeah this was on my mind too so will contact my local wall for advice.  We would want new to nearly new shoes to make it worthwhile.. 

sorry for slow response from me will DM folks above presently.

thanks, I not sure its super practical as the club storage space is really limited with zero room for more than what they have.  I don't know much about resoling but always thought it would be specific to the shoe. is it you mean a collection of random worn shoes, then refit with the generic soles? cheers

Have you tried Decathlon ?

By way of an example, I know that Decathlon Philippines supports local NGOs - giving free kit.

Perhaps scour their UK website for contact details and ask ? Can't hurt.

Best of luck !!!

And how about these folks?

Link: https://globalclimbing.org/

I heard about them on the Enormocast. Anither episode had an interview with a guy who started a climbing gym in Tanzania (I think that was it... East Africa, but not Kenya). Anyway, both episodes worth a listen.

j 🙂

thats really interesting will follow up - thanks

These guys say they are selling up and may have a stock of shoes and perhaps other things that might be useful...

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/premier_posts/climbing_centre_for_sale_so...

...and well done ...