Salomon X Ultra 5 Mid Gore-Tex Review

While our admittedly large size 14 pair of Salomon X Ultra 5 Mid Gore-Tex boots weighed in at just 2.4 pounds, making these boots incredibly light, no matter what size you try on. While a feather-like build feels great in the hand, it was the instant fit and feel on our feet that made us smile. Salomon's ADV-C Chassis provides confidence-inspiring best-in-class stability without feeling like a stiff board. What do we mean? These boots support our feet when stepping on exposed roots or sharp rocks, but they also provide enough flex to give feedback, letting us automatically adjust our steps on the fly without needing to keep our eyes constantly fixed on the trail.

Comfort

While the ultralight swing weight of the X Ultra 5 Mid Gore-Tex boots get most of the attention, there's a lot more going on with these boots than it first appears. The Goldilocks-like fit is not too narrow or too wide, nor does it have too little or too much volume: It's just right, perfectly sized for average feet, letting us order our typical size and adjust fit with the laces. The cushion is about average for most hiking boots, giving us a solid blend of ground feel with shock absorption.

The most notable change between the new X Ultra 5 and the previous version is the upper forefoot material. Instead of a mix of synthetics and leather, Salomon structured the new Matryx upper from individually-coated Kevlar fibers and technical yarns. It's basically a very flexible synthetic material that lets our feet easily flex when climbing steep hills or navigating over boulders.

Support

The best part of this mid-height boot's support comes from the footbed itself. The Salomon Advanced Chassis is a molded insert embedded in the outsole, and it provides lateral support while also letting the boot flex without going too far and feeling like a floppy slipper. It is remarkably good, and we're also fans of its use in Salomon's X Ultra 5 trail shoe version. In addition, Salomon's upper construction, including its Active Support wing-like material, supports the upper portions of each foot, keeping our soles snugged properly in place.

The mid-height ankles give you extra support, but they're not perfect: The ankles are thickly padded, so much so that we sometimes didn't compress the padding and lace the ankles tight enough to provide extra support. This wasn't a problem for most easy hikes, but once we shouldered a loaded backpack, we realized the issue. To get maximum ankle support out of this boot, we simply had to lace the uppers a bit tighter to compress the padding and properly snug the ankles.

Traction

Salomon's Contragrip rubber outsole has aggressive lugs in a multi-angle pattern that bites well in most every direction. In addition, we could dig the slight 90-degree heel into forest duff and loose dirt, letting us make steep descents with little slippage. The rubber is soft enough to flex and grab on rocky slabs, and it provided decent grip on slick wet rocks during stream crossings.

While the X Ultra 5 Mid grips most surfaces well, the footbed doesn't have enough rigidity for easy side-hilling on steep ground. For side-hill ascents and descents, both on soft forested slopes and rocky hillsides, we had to adjust our foot placement to maintain full sole contact at the angle of the hillsides. Still, we don't count this as a problem for a lightweight boot — it just illuminates a difference between a more mountaineering style boot that provides support on the thinnest of surfaces compared to lightweight trail cruisers.

Water Resistance

The key to waterproofing most hiking boots comes from their interior waterproof membranes, in this case, Gore-Tex. We were able to stand in a mountain stream without leakage for several minutes, but the most important metric for water resistance with this boot is its flood height of 5.25 inches.

In addition to extra ankle support, a mid-height boot brings much better waterproof resistance to everyday treks than you can get out of waterproof hiking shoes. We like the extra height for stepping across mountain streams, but more importantly, that extra protection is appreciated when we try to navigate across muddy boggy areas and inevitably step in gooey messes that are softer and deeper than we often hoped.

Weight

As noted above, our size 14 obviously weighs more than average-sized boots: 2.4 pounds per pair. Based on our experience with sizing extrapolation, though, we believe that Salomon's reported size 11 weight of 1.94 pounds per pair is likely accurate, making these boots, once again, quite competitive with hiking shoes.

One downside to lightweight hiking boots is that they're not as protective and supportive as heavier hiking boots. While we could backpack in these boots, heavier boots typically offer more support and durability over long miles with heavy loads. However, if you're on the fence between trail shoes and lightweight hikers, the Salomon X Ultra 5 Mid Gore-Tex boots create very little weight penalty for the extra height. Plus, that height will protect your ankles if you like to venture off-trail into brush or when exploring alpine boulder fields.

Durability

While lightweight boots often sacrifice durability for weight savings, the rugged sole is primed for mileage. One key improvement in design seems to be the removal of the vertical leather panels in the upper of the X Ultra 4, which introduced a lot of seams and stitching to glancing blows against sticks and rocks. The new Matryx upper is more streamlined with less exposed stitching to the leather lowers and upper reinforcements.

In general, full-leather hiking boots will be the most durable, but they also tend to weigh quite a bit more. This boot is designed to be quite durable, particularly compared to lightweight hiking shoes.

Should You Buy the Salomon X Ultra 5 Mid Gore-Tex?

If you're stuck between choosing a traditional hiking boot for ankle stability and support but love cruising in light, fast trail shoes, the Salomon X Ultra 5 Mid Gore-Tex boots are a great choice. They offer incredible stability on the footbed with surprisingly good lateral support, plus they have the height needed to help protect your ankles. Better yet, they feel more like a nimble shoe than a boot.

What Other Hiking Boots Should You Consider?

If you're looking for a more technical, lightweight boot for more off-trail exploring than on-trail cruising, the La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II Mid GTX is slimmer and trimmer, nearly as stable, and weighs about the same. If you're looking for even softer lightweight comfort, the Altra Lone Peak ALL-WTHR Mid 2 is a fast and agile option that's great for those wanting the roomiest toe box or have wider feet. For backpacking comfort, the Hoka Kaha 3 GTX blends freakish cushion with solid support.