Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Outdoors

Cover More Ground: Salewa

Austin Parker
By

If you’re serious about backpacking, climbing, or bagging a few summits this summer, you’re going to have to graduate to top-shelf gear. We’re not talking about taking a short hike in your running shoes. No, if you’re going to be putting on double digit miles in a day – or even ambitious enough to tackle a week of backpacking – your boots are the first thing you should start upgrading. The boot gurus at Salewa were kind enough to help us select a few pairs for any mountain adventure this year, and we’ve been logging some trail miles in anticipation of some big spring treks.

Related: 5 Most Physically Challenging Hikes | Winter Stoke: Outdoor Retailer 2015

Related Videos

Alp Flow GTX
The Alp Flow is Salewa’s crown jewel hiking boot. It features GORE-TEX Surround technology, which means short of jumping in a lake you’ll enjoy dry feet for every mile. A burly Vibram sole stands up to extreme punishment – ours have nearly a hundred miles on them and still look brand new. Finally, the 3F fit system ensures a blister free ride no matter how far the trail takes you. Look for them to hit retailers later this summer.

MTN Trainer
For technical terrain, a boot or shoe designed with climbing in mind is your ticket to the top. The Mountain Trainer series comes in both low and mid-top heights. Its toe is stiff enough to provide some edge grip should you need to scramble up steep rock. The lace system goes all the way to your toes, enabling you to dial the fit perfectly.

Ramble GTX
The Ramble is much more of a mellow, lifestyle shoe than Salewa has previously offered. However, don’t let that fool you. This year it is getting updated with GORE-TEX Surround, and has the same 3F fit heritage that all Salewa boots do. We love this shoe for logging days at the office and thousand-mile commutes by airplane, but it has performed well on a couple of spontaneous evening treks to catch a sunset from the trail.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Inside the Darién Gap, One of the World’s Most Dangerous Jungles
The Darién Gap: What to Know Before You Go. Wait. Maybe Don't Go
The dense jungle of The Darién Gap

The Pan-American Highway is an epic 19,000-mile route that starts at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska and terminates at the southernmost end of South America in Ushuaia, Argentina. It's continuous except for a small section missing along the southern border of Panama, often referred to as one of the most inhospitable places on the planet -- this is The Darién Gap. It's 66 roadless miles of dense, mountainous jungle and swamp filled with armed guerillas, drug traffickers, and some of the world's most deadly creatures covering the border of Panama and Colombia.

The environmental impact on the area and the sheer cost of building roads through it have thwarted any previous attempts. Others are concerned that "The Gap" is a natural barrier against drugs and disease flowing freely into North America and the U.S.

Read more
Here’s Your Camping and Outdoor Guide for the Pacific Northwest
Add These Spots to Your List of Must-See Areas in the PNW
An outdoor view of the Pacific Northwest

Few places on Earth offer an outdoor lover's paradise quite like the Pacific Northwest. From forests to deserts, mountains to islands, and beaches to alpine slopes, just about every type of landscape is represented. There's even a rainforest. And whatever outdoor activity you prefer, whether it is hiking, cycling, snowboarding or skiing, swimming, fishing, hunting, camping, or virtually anything else, you can enjoy it in the Washington-Oregon-British Columbia trifecta.

With this in mind, let's take a look at some of the best outdoor opportunities in the Pacific Northwest for camping, hiking, and more. Perhaps I should amend that. "Best" is hard to define. Instead, let's just say that these are some of the "greatest" and leave it at that. So without further ado, here are some of the Pacific Northwest's greatest outdoor destinations.

Read more
Merrell’s New Walk & Talk Hotline: Company While You Hike
Learn About Merrell's Walk & Talk Hotline
A woman strolls outdoors on a dirt road

Research has shown that the pandemic-squeezed last couple of years have had a debilitating effect on social interactions, which has led to a number of mental health issues, including elevated anxiety and depression due to increased isolation. In order to combat lonely quarantines, surveys show elevated participation in outdoor recreation, including throngs of visitors to national parks.

Continuing this thread, this June marks Great Outdoors Month, an extension of Great Outdoors Week forged by President Clinton in 1998, which gradually expanded by succeeding administrations. In order to encourage social connection while getting outside during this time, when the sun shines for longer in the Northern Hemisphere, Merrell shoes debuted the Walk & Talk hotline in 2022. This hotline connects consumers with outdoor representatives to accompany them during walks.

Read more