The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Altra’s Gritty New King MT Running Shoes Will Help You Dominate the Mountain

By Jahla Seppanen Published August 6, 2021

Gnarly shoes for gnarly men.

Altra Footwear decided to debut their newest, aggressive trail running shoe the King MT ($140) in the dead of winter. Why? Because it’s that freaking tough.

Recommended Videos

Named after the intense 13,534-foot King’s Peak (Utah’s highest), the King MT kicks were designed to speed through mud, light snow, wet grass, and uneven mountain terrain. Hence the prominent spikes on the soles (thank you, Vibram).

Available February 1 in three colorways (black/blue, black/red, black/silver) the King MT’s look like a part soccer cleat part ultramarathon shoe, rocking a lower stack height than Altra’s former model. What makes them so suited for the gnarly outdoors is a newly developed Altra Ego midsole, made from a compound that provides a bouncier cushion with more energy return. And yes, it’s softer and thinner than we’ve yet to see— the entire shoe is only 8.5 ounces.

High caliber responsiveness at a lower weight, plus long-term, mountain-over-mountain durability is why we’re grinning ear-to-ear.

Altra King MT — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Underneath that midsole are significant 6.0 mm outsole lugs—the deepest on any Altra shoe—designed for lateral breaking, medial gripping, and maximum traction in wet and slippery conditions. An extra dose of underfoot protection comes from the flexible StonedGuard rock plate. And lastly, the upper is highly supportive, with TPU overlays on a durable polyester ripstop fabric. A FootLock midfoot strap design locks the foot in place on steep descents. Oh, and there will be steep, steep descents.

Altra Footwear King MT — Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you get bored with the trail, take these puppies to the Spartan Race tracks, as the design is killer when it comes to providing traction through the obstacle course. Altra also expects the King MT to find a sweet spot with Fell runners— a popular European sport that should truthfully be called hill hell, since it consists of racing off road over upland country where the climbs are thigh numbing. Fell run contenders can’t be worrying about poor footwear, since they’re more concerned with intense mountain navigation (a skill you must have to compete), and the accessibility of their survival equipment.

So yeah, these are shoes for outdoor, he-man pursuits. We wouldn’t wear them to the gym.

Photos courtesy Altra Footwear

Topics

Footwear

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Born and raised off-the-grid in New Mexico, Jahla Seppanen is currently a sports, fitness, spirits, and culture writer in…

Outdoors

onX and Toyota join forces for nationwide trail cleanup and revival project

Our national public lands are under unprecedented threat. Now you can chip in to do something about it.

Three men clearing a trail with the onX/Toyota Trail Revival Project.

Our public lands face unprecedented threats right now. Massive funding cuts have fueled staff shortages at every National Park Service, and the trails and backcountry roads of every NPS unit are suffering. Thankfully, onX joined forces with Toyota to do something about it via a nationwide trail cleanup and revival project.

Beginning next month and throughout the summer, the two brands are rallying local communities to work together at five (for now) events in California, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The goal is to address some of the biggest threats to our favorite outdoor spaces, namely the loss of access to trails due to overuse, deterioration, and under-resourced land management organizations. onX and Toyota will provide the resources, including trucks, safety gear, clean-up equipment (think chainsaws), and whatever other tools volunteers might need to clear out trail debris and trash. Volunteers will bring the brawn to get it all done.

Outdoors

Going to the Great Smoky Mountains? The upcoming dates you should avoid

Great Smoky Mountains to have road maintenance in May

Great Smoky Mountains National Park sunset view

Great Smoky Mountains National Park just announced a series of road maintenance projects to take place throughout the month of May. These initiatives will particularly affect the road along the Spur, which is the roadway that connects Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge. In order to ensure as little disruption as possible for visitors to the park, the National Park Service are implementing a series of temporary single-lane closures.

This maintenance is routine, and will include activities like mowing, ditch cleaning, fallen tree and branch removal, and litter pickup. This way, the Sur will remain safe and scenic for the 2025 season. Here are the dates:

Outdoors

27North unveils the Venture X campervan built for luxurious off-road adventuring

With more creature comforts and tech than most studio apartments, you'll never feel like you're "roughing it"

27North all-black Venture X adventure campervan parked in a garage.

For hardcore overlanders who can't bear to be without their creature comforts, we're living in a Golden Age of high-tech, off-road-ready rigs. Missouri's 27North has been at the forefront of the modern overlanding movement, and it's all-new Venture X campervan is a testament to that.

The Venture X joins 27North's line-up of ultra-modern and downright "luxurious" overlanding vehicles, including the Ascender and RexRover pickup truck campers. It's a tech-forward adventure van designed for all levels of overlander, from first-timers to families. Underpinned by the industry-standard Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 170 platform, powered by a 4-cylinder high-output diesel, it rides and drives easy on-road, while the standard AWD system and all-terrain tires ensure it can tackle off-road trails, too. The company's Adventure Package adds a 50-inch light bar, ditch lights, a rooftop tent, and more to the mix, making this a seriously capable go-anywhere campervan.