User Review: Salomon Wings Sky GTX

Summary

Light weight, good support. Haven't got a lot of miles on them yet but seem to be holding up well for such light weight.

I've been a fan of Salomon's trail shoes for years. I've probably had 4 pairs so far and have always found them to fit me well.  

My hiking and packing aren't all that extreme, and while I visit the big mountain areas as often as I can (about once a year), most of my outdoor time is spent either in the SW desert or East Texas pine/hardwood forests.  I have owned big and tough boots from Lowa and Asolo which performed great when in the Tetons or the Sangre De Cristo wilderness of the rockies, but were just overkill for the majority of my hiking and packing.  

So far I've used these Salomons for about 10 days in the Abojo Range of SE Utah, a short day hike in Canyonlands N.P., and some day hiking here in East Texas.  Pack weight hasn't exceeded 30 pounds on any of these trips. 

I can report that at the pack weight I've used them with, these boots gave me all the support I've needed. On the rocks of Canyonlands the sole was sticky enough I never felt close to out of control, and in the Abajos both above and below timberline I was never really concious of my boots of my feet. That is a good thing, a very good thing.  

Haven't had them out in the west Texas desert yet, so I don't know how they'll do protecting me from all the pokey and pointing things out there. I'm not to optimistic, but we'll find out next month. I'm also wondering if they are going to be to warm for the desert environment.  Until now I've made a point of staying away from Gore-tex footware for this reason. Again, we'll see.

Nor have I done any stream crossings or had them in a deluge yet, so can't really comment on the effectiveness of the Gore-tex lining's waterproof-ness. For walking through brush and tall grass AFTER a rain, they had kept my feet dry.

They are not showing any sign of wear at all at this point, but I don't have a great deal of mileage on them.