The Salomon X Ultra – or versions of it – has been Active Traveller gear test Alf Alderson’s shoe of choice for summer in the mountains for the last four years.
The Ultra GTX is a technical trail shoe that just seems to work without any fuss – it’s comfortable straight out of the box thanks to a light but stable chassis and the combination of an EVA injected mid-sole and the Ortholite footbed provides just the right degree of support and cushioning.
The uppers are made from water resistant textile with a large protective rubber toe cap that does a good job of saving your toes from knocks and bashes. Your feet are kept dry thanks to the Gore-Tex lining which performs better than most uses of the material in footwear that we’ve come across.
Our favourite things about the X Ultra GTX though are the Quicklace system – literally one pull and your shoes are fastened – and the deeply lugged Contagrip soles which provide good grip on most surfaces.
In the long term, there is no reason to suspect this year’s offering from Salomon will perform any less well than those of previous seasons. So we can be pretty sure we know what trail shoes Alf is going to be wearing around the mountains this summer. Again.
