Salewa Mountain Trainer Light Shoe - Men's - 2010 BCS

The blister-free design incorporated within these shoes is truly the best I've seen in an approach shoe. There are literally no seems in contact with the most blister-prone parts of the foot and the footbed is rigid providing great support from heel to toe. The dot rubber sole and wrap around rands are climbing-shoe-sticky and look like they will hold up far longer than the Patagonia Finn's I had previously. These shoes are more than I've expected in an approach shoe. Salewa's quality and attention to detail will have me coming back!

I expected this to be similar to my lightweight Vasque approachers. I was thoroughly impressed with the material they used. They're more like a cutoff pair of Lowa kickers than anything else. The rubber rand is well built, and they look great. Since I have strong ankles, I use these as my main 3 season shoes. If you have jacked ankles, I'd recommend a some mid-tops. The MultiFit footbed seems like a gimmick, unless you plan on bringing different kinds of socks or something it doesnt really matter. I bought a half size smaller and they fit perfectly. I'd go 5 stars but I want to see how long the tread holds out on gravel scrambles.

I'm very impressed with Salewa's quality and design. this is a well made sturdy and versatile shoe. 2 reasons for 4 stars instead of 5--The eva cushioning is ample but a little on the stiff side for my senior knees. The soles are not as sticky as comparable sportiva and 5.10 approach shoe soles.
Great style and construction and fit.

This appears to be a well sorted out shoe except for the tong. The shoe looks as if it would perform well and last. To me, however, there was simply too much material across the top of the foot. The Mountain Trainer Light comes with a multi layered foot bed that allows for some customization, which is nice. Unfortunately, the generous tong caused pressure across the top of my foot that became uncomfortable in minuets. The longer I left them on the worse it felt. The extra padding might be nice for someone whose foot has a lower profile than mine.

i had been looking for a competent approach shoe on and off for about a year and came across these bad boys...i ordered them despite knowing little about the company, which has been around for like 80 years....in short, they are bomber....the rubber rand is very well constructed, the sole is stiff enough to be schlepping a 40 pound pack, and they serve a distinct level of fashion (without the vane laces)....the grip is on par with that of a true climbing shoe and that makes for some sweet scrambles...i would highly recommend these kicks to anyone looking for a solid approach shoe.

Im a solid 12 when it comes to shoes but after reading some reviews i went to the 11.5 and the fit is great but i felt that with all of this hype about the blister free technology that your ankle wouldn't move when you walked but i was very disappointed to find out that not only did my ankle move i was afraid that i was going to roll my ankles because the shoe isn't flush it seems that they took a shoe with a flush sole and added a smaller Vibrim sole to it. The feel of the whole system make me nervous i wish this shoe had a wider sole a little tighter fit. This shoe may work for you but these are the problems that i have seen.