X Ultra 4 GTX Hiking Shoe

The Salomon X Ultra 4 Gore-Tex hiking shoe is built to chew up even the roughest trails you have your eyes set on. These shoes are made especially for rugged terrain where high-performance ability on various surfaces is required. Built on an AVD-C Chassis, the support offered by these low-top hikers is top-tier, and the combination of SensiFit technology and Quicklace lacing system allows the shoe to conform to your foot. By cinching and uncinching the laces, these shoes are quick to put on and take off, convenient to swiftly shake out any intruding sediment, and easy to manage when getting in and out of a tent.

The Quicklace system is convenient, although we recognize that it is not everyone’s cup of tea. When stowed away in their pouch, they give much less tripping hazard than laces, though we sometimes found ourselves lazily tucking them back into the laces. Over time the tab extending from the ankle of the shoe wears down, and it is a bit annoying to constantly pull it back out once we pull the shoes on. Additionally, the first time we wore these shoes, we noticed that the ankle cuff is slightly higher than on most hikers in our line-up. To reduce ankle rub, we wore thinner socks and then had no further issues.

We love how confident our footwork feels thanks to the deep-set lugs on the outsole and what a difference solid waterproofing, thanks to a Gore-Tex membrane, can make to our hiking comfort. For all of these attributes, it is surprising that the X Ultra 4 GTX shoes come in at such a low weight, a measly 1.76 pounds. This new iteration of a well-known and well-regarded classic shaves off nearly a quarter pound per pair. As a bonus, the price tag is moderate compared to the other options available.