Peter Macfarlane liked the Salewa Mountain Trainer Lite GORE-TEX shoes – after some adjustments.

With the Salewa Mountain Trainer Lite GORE-TEX, the brand has based the shoe on a hybrid between a rock and an approach shoe. But there is enough flex for comfortable walking but the sole is more rigid than others in my test.

Peter Macfarlane’s verdict

The price is high but I think this would be an excellent shoe if the fit works for your foot shape
Pros
  • grip
  • construction
  • design
Cons
  • price
  • odd fit
Quick specs
Price: no US shipping / £175 (available from Salewa)
Materials: synthetic (no other information available)
Features: Pomoca Outsole, 3F system upper with Kevlar Cables, armoured mesh, protective TPU rand, rubber toe rand
Waterproof? Gore-tex liner
Sizes: UK 6.5 to 14 inc half sizes to 12.5
Women version? Yes
salewa.com

There’s a robust upper which includes Kevlar fibres and rubber randing, but also a very firm toe box. The lacing goes down to the toe to tune the fit, which ensures a very nimble and connected feel at the forefoot. The outsole is excellent with a very aggressive lug pattern which grips across all conditions outside of hard wet surfaces and the wet clay I regularly encounter on my local trails.

The Salewa’s have a Gore-Tex lining, which has been handy for those wet trails. However, water coming in at the ankle is more of a problem with the Mountain Lite, accentuated by the very low-cut ankle cuff. That low ankle height plus a soft construction and a slightly wide heel cup also meant the Mountain Lite’s were not the best fit for my feet. I tuned the fit by removing the lightly padded insole, which allowed more volume in the heel to let me to get the miles in for this test, but it was a compromise.

Otherwise, the shoe is very comfortable with light padding all round and a padded tongue which remains comfortable under the rock-shoe style lacing.

The price is high but I think this would be an excellent shoe if the fit works for your foot shape – I was disappointed not to get more from it.

Testing conditions

Peter walked Munros and ran his local trails in the Kilpatrick Hills for this test and is a long term fan of trail shoes for general outdoor use. He is a UK9, has a narrow heel and wide forefoot, and the weights are taken from his own digital scales.

This review was first published in the June 2025 issue of The Great Outdoors magazine.