I'll be upfront and say that the only footwear I've worn in the arctic/sub arctic ( Brooks range, Cirque of the Unclimbables)were leather mtneering boots. These came off for each and every stream crossing because there was no way they would dry out anytime soon. I used Nike Aqua sox, instead.

Now on to lightweight shoes. I have been using since Fall, Montrail CTC's. These have perhaps 150 mi. on them and have held up well and the somewhat sticky soles are wearing better than expected. I use them, primarily for long off-trail jaunts in the Sierra and Trinitys, where the rubber sole compond and rands seem made to tackle Granite. The logest trip was a 65 mile portion of Steve Roper's Sierra High Route-- all off trail and on some fairly difficult terrain--- scree, talus, high angle slabs, snowfields. A great Approach shoe. I've even have used them for climbimg moves up to about 5.4-5.5.

The uppers are synthetic leather and mesh. The mesh is more durable (so far) than it looks and breathes well. On talus and scree, my Montbell Stretch Gaitors do a good job of protecting this perhaps least durable portion of the shoe. The materials are quite hydrophobic and seem to dry pretty quick. There are no drain holes-- a drawback for the conditions you are undertaking. I think a good hack would be to drill some holes in the non- fabric portions of the shoe.

The 2 areas I see wearing out 1st will be the sole ( because of the softer, stickier rubber compound used) and the heel liner--- a problem w/ most of my shoes because of my narrow bony heels which would wear through steel in time. I use these shoes w/ Superfeets ( green performance) which gives me some more torsional rigidity.

Even so, I think the shoes will have a few hundred more miles in them. The only trail runners I have used that seemed well nigh indestructable were the original Lowa Tempest Lows--well not really a trail runner.

Edited by kdesign on 03/03/2006 17:12:22 MST.