Montrail Highlander

TP
Reviewed: 15 December 2010

The best shoe for fast walking and backpacking in the Lakes IMHO. Durable and light. Good grip too.

Durability best in class
Good grip
Cheap

Montrail in their wisdom has decided to stop making / selling them in the UK!! Worst decision snd probably down to a larger footwear company thinking that they need to re-design everything regularly as the only way to keep sales up!! Why? Why change something that is so close to being perfect?

I had two pairs that saw a lot of use. Can't get them now. WHY? Well because Montrail are one of those companies that change designs of footwear that are as close to perfect for their use as possible just so they can have a re-launch. Why the re-launch? No idea anyway they no longer see this as worth updating so you can't get them anymore. Total waste of a good design. Even the Walsh Spirit I have replaced it with is not as good. Close but no cigar. I'm on my second pair in less time than my first pair of highlanders lasted. Same ammount of walking if not slightly less with the walshes.
This review is a total waste of time but lets me vent some spleen over not being able to get the shoe I want and because my second pair of Walsh Spirits are close to falling apart after less than 3 months. not the 9.5 months plus that the Highlanders lasted.

Imperial Dave
Reviewed: 09 November 2010

Funky colour - great shoe

Lightweight
very breathable
excellent grip on rock
comfy
comes in half sizes
the colour scheme! :)
price
durability

nothing really but dont expect a waterproof shoe

Love em.
I have had 4 different Montrail trail or running shoes and love them all. These shoes have an excellent grippy agressive lug that excels on rock. They are light yer supportive and are very comfortable. I was able to get a size 7.5 which is great since I am between sizes on most shoes. They are meeshy and so are breathable and drain really well when wet. They dry pretty quickly too.
Cracking shoe

TP
Reviewed: 06 May 2010

Durable for a shoe.

Durable.
Good grip.
Good feel.
Good price.
Well gripping heel cup.
Laces hold well without coming undone.
Dries very quickly after being wet through.
Drains well after a dunking.
Great winter shoe on snow and ice. Did all my winter walking in them and never came a cropper.
Used them extensively for long distance walks and backpacking without a problem. Have done over 50 miles in one day in them and didn't suffer.

Like all fell shoes they don't last as long as boots do for walking and backpacking.
Cushioning is slightly better than a normal fell shoe but with my boney fore-foot I did tend to get bruised behind the big toe after about 16 miles.

These have finally failed after 9.5 months hard use. This is over 3 times as long as my previous Innov8 Roclitew 315s. For a cheaper shoe to work as well and last 3 times longer then it can't be bad. They even had the class to only fail when I was undoing the laces while sat on the back of my car boot changing them after a long, rocky day out. Class indeed.

Grip is good except on wet, rounded rocks. Very good in mud and grass (wet).

Upper drains well and dries overnight.

Sole has loads of randomly arranged little, square studs that grip well and wore very well.

They failed, eventually, at the laces and on the inside of one shoe where the fabric developed a hole (I put my fingers through it at the end of a walk). It had a slight tear develope at the inside of the flex point on the same shoe on the same day but that was holding well. The sole studs had worn down to half their original length in the middle of the foot (they cover the whole flat sole as there is not heel breast) but were about a third of their original length at the toes and even less at the heel. Not a bad wear as they have done quite a few miles.

TP
Reviewed: 24 August 2009

SOLID

Too early as first outing (very wet), but comfortable out of the box. Took about 8 miles before first minor niggle which wa heel rub. Just breaking them or me in. Grip is good but I did slip on polished, rounded stones and rocks. Suspect the soles are harder then my roclite315s they are replacing. Heard they are durable fell shoes. Gripped well on mud and wet/muddy grass. Much better than my old roclite 315s. Lug pattern is very open so no clogging, especially the small gravelly stones that got into the roclite a lot.

Slipped a bit on wet (very) and rounded (in fact very polished) stones and rocks.

Seems good after the one trip, but it was a good trip battling strong winds and paths that were muddy streams. Will need more time to tell. Need to update after a heavy mileage trip I'm about to go on. Should have over 150 miles done in them in a couple of weeks so will know then how good.

steve456
Reviewed: 31 May 2008

GREAT, IF THEY FIT

Very very hardwearing fell shoe, feel quite aggressive, feel very secure with much more ankle support than most fell shoes.

They're easy to find on special offer of up to around half of rrp so they're terrific value.

Big problem for me is fit, they have quite a high heel and it rubs very slightly on my Achilles tendon. I can't run in these shoes without getting tendonitis (took me a while to figure out what the problem was too, it's not that obvious) so I got rid of them, which is a shame because other than that, they're great.

They soak up quite a bit of water and get much heavier than my Inov-8 330o's. The soles are hard and unforgiving so if you've got a heavy heel-strike and you're on anything harder than grass then they can hurt.

Make sure they fit! They are probably the most durable fell-shoe in the world, but if they don't fit then they'll break you far sooner than you'll break them.