Along the perimeter of the Edgar Brothers booth at DSEI were a series of glass cases. Inside one of these were four examples of Salomon footwear. Three of the boots were from their Forces line but the fourth boot was a commercial mountaineering model.
Turns out, it’s the X ALP MTN GTX and it’s currently undergoing wear trials with several European military and civil rescue organizations.
It’s a GORE-TEX lined, lightweight mountaineering boot, designed to be used with B1 crampons. They’ve balanced the sole system to make it flexible enough for approaches yet stiff enough for use with crampons.
The Nubuck leather upper is paired with Cordura and a 3D edging chassis. It’s got true to-toe lacing as well as a rubber toecap and heel counter. Additionally, the forefoot is protected with EVA foam and the tongue is also padded.
They’ve chosen the Contragrip sole which is combined with an EVA shaped footbed as well as a carbon fiber “edging” stiffener.
Now, we just need to see a militarized version of this boot in the Forces line.
www.salomon.com/us/product/x-alp-mtn-gtx
