Gear Review
Montrail AT Plus GTX Hiking Shoe - Men's
Hazardous to my health
By Mitch Stein
Ranked #157 - Men's Hiking Shoes
September 13, 2010
I was excited to find a pair of GTX wonders that seemed to fit my feet well, with excellent heel lock-down, for my recent trip to Kauai. I've hiked over the technical, super slippery rocks and mud on the Napali coast before, and was looking forward to the one-two protection of GTX and short gaiters to keep my feet dry(ish).
While I was a bit surprised to see the smallish & hard treads on the bottom of the Gryptilian soles (much smaller than on previous MT Hard Rock shoes I own) they seemed to work fine around my local gnarly-but-dry trails.
However, as soon as I hit moisture on the trail in HI they turned into self lubricating ball-bearing encrusted death machines.
Having hiked there before, I knew I had to be careful, but expected these to provide, at least, as much traction as my old TNF trail shoes on the slippery stuff.
I'll spare you most of the gory details, other than to say that, after six to eight hard, scary falls (which would have been much worse had I not had my excellent Black Diamond trekking poles to save my ass) I became so paranoid about every step I took that it took me over two and a half extra hours to painfully hike out the four miles back to the car... Really glad I had plenty of flashlight power (and GPS) to help me find the way.
Sorry Montrail, I generally love your shoes, but these things were downright dangerous on the slippery stuff! While I accept the risks of my little adventures, and accept that not all equipment works equally well for all users, I must tell you that I have never actually been traumatized by my equipment before. Back they go (thanks BC).
View Details: Montrail AT Plus GTX Hiking Shoe - Men's
Helpful Votes: 3 Yes
Change me.
2 Comments Last Reply: July 1, 2011 By: Kostya
Unfortunately I had the same experience with this shoes, while the trail is dry it is fine, but first wet rock and the shoes became like well oil lubricated, I was not able to make any jump , each step was like the last one. I little bit surprised by such behavior of hiking shoes.
Helpful Votes: 0 Yes
Mitch. Sorry you had a bad experience with the out-sole grippy-ness of the AT Plus. The rubber compound and the 'razor lug' design is something that has been in use for quite some time. A similar design has been in use since the Hurricane Ridge! If you are interested in checking out a different shoe from Montrail and a different out-sole design with dual density rubber (sticky and regular) check out the Mountain Masochist in Gore. They are not quite as stiff as the AT Plus but I have used the shoes as approach shoes and running shoes on wet and dry surfaces and I haven't been down once despite giving it my best shot! Otherwise, complaint heard and noted. Thanks!
Helpful Votes: 1 Yes