Every year we test footwear, talk to gear makers, and watch the ultralight backpacking market reshuffle itself. This report is where we stop reviewing individual products and step back to map the bigger picture: where the money is going, what…
Hiking with flat feet often becomes a problem only when the miles go up, and the pain starts. That pain may show up in the arch, along the inside of the ankle, in the shin, or even higher up the…
Last autumn, I was out with a group of friends in Austria. Beautiful weather, a light trail, nothing technical. We were simply enjoying the day. But one of us had mentioned he’d been dealing with shin splints, and somewhere around…
If you are a seasoned hiker, you already know the profound pull of the backcountry. You know the rhythm of boots on dirt, the burn in your calves as you push past the timberline, and the quiet awe of waking…
This April, I tested the Salomon Quest 5 GTX for the full from Altendorf to Neumannmühle, with a pack and enough climbing and descending to make fit, support, and heat show up properly. By the later descents, I had a…
The first time I tried a five-day hut-to-hut traverse, I carried what everyone said I needed: energy gels, a pile of protein bars, and three dehydrated dinners. By the end of day one I was flying. By the middle of…
I still remember the first pair of Salomons I hiked in, back when the X Ultra 2 came out. The fit was narrow even then, but the shoe had a grip-and-go feel that made me stay with the line through…
The Altra Timp 6 is built as a trail runner, but I had a hunch it would also do well as a hiking shoe. So I put that to the test over two days in the Netherlands. The run was…
Just as you would never hit the slopes without the right boots, crampons, or your helmet, no mountaineer would ever dream of heading out without a climbing rope. (Sure, you can wear a climbing harness without one, but good luck…
