I just finished up my seventh hike wearing the Treksta Men’s Kobra II GTX shoe, and feel like I finally found the right shoe for trail hikes. The Kobra II GTX had a comfortable fit right out of the box, with no break-in needed. This generation of Kobra is built on TrekSta’s NestFIT last, which is [...]
This cool looking, low-cut hiking shoe from Wolverine certainly has my attention. I have never owned Wolverine footwear, and am mostly familiar with the brand as a manufacturer of work boots. So it wasn’t until I received the Pulsar that I began to understand Wolverine as very competitive hiking shoe/boot brand as well. Wolverine is [...]
If you run in any sort of adverse or variable conditions, the Brooks Adrenaline GTX has got you covered. (If you are familiar with Brooks models, this shoe is basically the GORE-TEX® version of the Adrenaline ASR 8.) For me, Brooks’ claims that this shoe is for “ultimate protection from elements on and off the trail” [...]
I felt fortunate to be able to test a pair of LOWA S-Cruise GTX women’s trail shoes. Upon first removing the shoes from the box my initial thought was, “whoa, these are kind of heavy for a trail runner.” I wondered if they just felt heavy compared to my street shoes. I even asked my [...]
Over the past year, I have been testing out the Sabino Trail Mid GTX by Montrail. This mid hiking boot/shoe is a lightweight hiking companion that is great for longer day hikes and hikes where you want to keep dirt, mud and snow out while providing additional ankle support. During the dry season and summer months, [...]
Over the past few months, I’ve been testing out the Arcteryx Stingray jacket in activities such as backcountry skiing, resort skiing, snowshoeing, and cold weather hiking. As most of us know by now, Arcteryx has a history producing products of great quality and innovation, and the Stingray jacket is no exception. And while I have [...]
Named after a mountain range in Switzerland, the Lowa Albula GTX WS is designed to take you where you want to go, whether near or far. The Albula GTX WS is women’s specific backpacking/trekking boot, hence the WS acronym. Lowa is known for making high quality mountaineering to hiking boots, therefore their standards or definitions [...]
With the Free Skier in mind, Mammut introduces the Alagna jacket this season with a bang. This jacket is a lightly insulated Gore-Tex softshell that is nice by itself on warmer spring ski days yet has plenty of room for warmer base layers and 2nd layers for colder days. I’ve been testing out the Mammut Alagna Jacket [...]
For the Hardcore skier out there that thinks they have everything, Mammut has come out with a new softshell ski/snowboard pant that might just make you want to do an upgrade. The Mammut Alagna Pant is a lined with a Gore-Tex membrane that is waterproof and breathable, so whether you are waste deep in west [...]
When colder weather and the elements enter into your running routine, you have a couple choices; You can be a coward and not run, you can head to the local gym and hit the tread mill, or you can embrace the elements and enjoy that adrenaline pumping run you have been waiting for all week. [...]
Trail running can require a shoe to perform many different tasks on the same run. Rock protection, traction, flexibility, water proof, and of course comfortable all come to mind. I am the type of trail runner who is willing to sacrifice some protection for lighter weight, so I wasn’t sure the Blur GTX would be [...]
Continuing to deepen its roots in the trail running scene, La Sportiva continues its efforts with the Mountain Cup trail running series. I recently ran the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase on August 7th, 2010, a 16 mile trail race in Park City, UT. The race started out with about a 1/2 mile fire road to allow runners [...]
This spring I had the opportunity to test 2 jackets that utilized the latest and greatest fabric technology, GORE-TEX® Paclite®. So what is GORE-TEX® Paclite®? Well, simply put it is a fully waterproof and breathable 3-layer fabric that weighs 15% less than other 3 layer constructions. Products featuring Paclite® are designed to endure extreme wet [...]
