Salomon X-Alp LTR GTX® – (Dave’s rating 4/5*)

The Men’s X-Alp LTR GTX® Approach Shoe from Salomon is low cut, lightweight multi-terrain shoe which offers robust protection for approaches and hiking on varied technical terrain. The soft leather upper allows for more flexibility and precision to the foot on rough terrain, whilst the rigid heel cup and Contragrip out-sole give you the stability and strength for longer walks.

The X-Alp features a highly breathable Gore-Tex lining to protect you during those rainy days whilst ensuring you’re not getting wet from the inside due to sweat during high exertion activities. The shoe also features a protective rubber toe cap, a deep out-sole and double layered suede around the lower part of the shoe which offers a high level of abrasion resistance where needed. Good features of the shoe also include a gusseted tongue, which utilises thin glossed leather channels on each side helping to allow any trapped water or snow to run off the shoe around the toe box whilst approaching a climb. These shoes are a great choice if you’re after a mid-flexibility approach shoe which can be comfortably used for most mountain situations.

I have really enjoyed my time so far with my Salomon X-Alp LTR’s, they’ve proved very comfortable and robust so far! The shoes are labelled as an ‘approach shoe’ which isn’t wrong but it is worth mentioning that compared with approach shoes such as the Mammut Wall Guide they aren’t as rigid underfoot, in fact in terms of torsional support and general rigidity I’d say they are quite similar to the Salomon X-Ultra’s if not a little more flexible around the mid-foot area. Salomon never claimed these to be super-stiff under the foot and so really I can’t complain about that. I’ve recently replaced the Otholite foot-bed included with the shoe for a Superfeet Flex which has given the shoe further overall support, these are insoles I use throughout my footwear and are just used as a preference. In general I found this shoe great for 3-4 season hiking and scrambling and would definitely recommend the shoes to anyone looking for a fairly flexible yet durable mountain shoe.

One thing worth mentioning which I have found with most Salomon shoe products is that their sizing can be a little off, when choosing sizing consider buying a half-size higher than your usual fit, obviously where possible try on the shoes before buying so you can choose which size best fits your foot. Salomon’s can often also have a narrower fit in the fore-foot but I haven’t had any problems with these so far (I am quite wide footed) so for those of you who have perhaps avoided Salomon footwear in the past for those reasons that shouldn’t be a problem.

Overall I’d probably rate these as a 4/5. As I mentioned previously if you’re looking for a really rigid shoe underfoot for your approach to a climb these may not be the ones for you. But if like me you need a tough, robust mountain shoe to cover you on all bases for light mountaineering and comfortable 3-4 season hiking I’d definitely recommend them! They’re comfortable, waterproof and lightweight, and lets face it they look incredible!