 Thanks. And away we go with my first impressions of the Salomon XA Alpine Pro. Not my full review. That'll happen after 50 miles. Or will it? That is the question. All right. Here we go, folks. Six millimeter drop. All right. So from heel to toe, we're looking at a 24 millimeter stack height in the heel, 18 in the forefoot. In my size, we're looking at 9.8 ounces or 278 grams. And in men's size 9, it bumps up to 10.6 ounces or 300 grams. So not the heaviest trail shoe out there on the marketplace, but it's definitely not in the lightweight category. Today, I took the Alpine Pro up into the Alpine. That's right. Tori's Peak here in Colorado, it's a 14,000 foot mountain, ran up to the top in an hour and 26 minutes in this shoe. And it is being, I would say, marketed and promoted as a, well, it should be since it has Alpine in the name. And yes, we're going to go with Alpine for the keyword. It's being marketed as a trail shoe for the high Alpine environments. And now what does that mean? Here in Colorado, we have a lot, it's called a scree field. So I think it's spelled S-C-R-E-E. I'll confirm that on the screen right now. But scree field, which means it's loose rock. It's kind of, it's gritty and it's very, it's loosey-goosey up there. Like you're not always on a trail. Today I was mostly on a trail. Anyway, that is what this shoe is being marketed as for your trail running endeavors. And let's talk about the upper real quick. So we've got a mesh upper here, especially through this toe box. Really nice breathability, I must say. And then you've got these TPU overlays. So you can see it there on your screen. It's this basically rubber coating to help keep out water, keep out some of the sand, like dirt, sand, grit that's out there on the trails. And there's actually quite a bit of this TPU overlay throughout the upper, almost not the entire way around, but a good portion of the upper does have that TPU overlay. And then the classic Solomon lacing system, that quick draw lacing system that Solomon is known for. That's right, you don't tie the shoes. You use this draw string right there to lace up. And at first I did not like that from Solomon, but I've learned to, I've learned to enjoy it. I'm not saying I love it, but I do it. I don't mind using that quick lace system from Solomon. And lastly on the upper, I must say Solomon, you nailed the collar, but specifically the heel counter. And there's an extra padding. I don't know if you can see it there on your screen, but there's some extra padding inside this heel counter. And it's perfect. It locks your heel into that heel cup, so you don't feel like your heel is going to slip out of the shoe in those steep environments. Amazing good work Solomon on this heel counter. And for Solomon's midsole with a chassis, and I don't understand all the technology behind it, but with a chassis built in, and I basically, it feels pretty rigid just so you know. And I felt it immediately coming out of the box up there when I was putting the shoe on. And on the run, that midsole did feel fairly stiff. And with a 24 millimeter stack height in the heel, 18 in the forefoot, that is pretty lean on the trail running spectrum just so you know. It's very easy to get a heel stack height easily above 30 millimeters, but this is only at 24. And for the outsole on the Solomon XA Alpine Pro, basically you've got a five millimeter lug depth on these lugs. They don't look, in fact, I'll have to measure them here for you, but they don't look like five millimeter to me. They look closer to three to four, but maybe they're measuring one of these slightly deeper ones here in the midfoot, but anyway. And then they also have this hard piece of rubber with a very sharp edge of rubber here, right beneath your toes, that's called the climbing zone. So when you're on a really steep section and you're up on your toes, this sharp piece, it's not sharp, but it's very well, it's pointed to a certain extent to help you basically dig into the dirt as you're going up steep sections. And it felt good, it felt fine today. And it's a very, just so you know, it's hard rubber. We're talking like no forgiveness through this outsole at all. And that tells me a lot of good durability, high build quality in this Solomon XA Alpine Pro. I foresee a lot of good, you could get many miles out of this outsole. I would, gosh, 500, 600, 700 solid trail miles with this outsole. Overall comfort was decent, not amazing through the upper. I'm going to talk about the ride in a minute, but again, that heel counter, absolutely amazing. In fact, let's just jump into it right now. Positive and negative or positive in drawback for the Solomon XA Alpine Pro, the heel counter is definitely the positive. So comfy, such a great lockdown. I love that heel counter. Great job, Solomon. For the drawback, oh boy, oh boy. Not comfortable, not a comfortable ride. Way too rigid, way too hard of a landing. I think because of that Conta Grip rubber outsole, I was not happy at all. And so I started off on a dirt road and then eventually you get onto a trail and then eventually you get up into the high Alpine country where I did most of the filming for today's video. And it was not comfortable at all down below on the dirt road or on the early sections of the trail, but then higher up, it got a little better as the dirt got a little looser and a little... So how will I use this shoe moving forward? I won't. That's right. I'm calling it. I'm not taking it to 50 miles. This is really the first Solomon that I'm not like falling in love with. You know how much I love the Solomon Speedcross 5 and then the SLAB Sense 6 and 7 SG lineup for racing. I would much rather take the Speedcross 5 up a 14,000 foot peak over the XA Alpine Pro. I could, here's how you could use this shoe in. Yes, I'll ask it right now. Question of the day, are there folks out there that are hikers and runners? I don't really hike. I just don't hike or I frankly don't have time for it. I wish I could hike more, but I don't hike. And so at question of the day, who out there mixes hiking into your training? I think it's really beneficial and smart and it takes a little bit of the pounding off your legs. This shoe would be great for hiking and then doing maybe like a mile and a half jog into a waterfall. Or you know what I was thinking? Like some places in Switzerland and the Dolomites in Italy and even here in Colorado where you can bike up to a spot and then jog into a waterfall. Basically mixing up the use for the shoe. I'm not sensing that this is a straight up running shoe. I think it's designed a little more for that speed hiking and it just was not a comfortable ride. I don't know what else to tell you. And at $160, they're not giving it away. Okay. Now durability. Boom. You are your money. Money is going to be well spent, but I would not. I'm not going to run at all anymore in the shoe. I would much rather take. Yes, hold on. I would even rather take the super cross out, which is kind of the simplified version of the speed cross lineup from Solomon. I'd rather just take the super cross out. A little more midsole action. I think it's just my legs need a little more forgiveness through that midsole. And I'm just not feeling it. So I'm done. I'm out. So no 50 miles. No full review from me for the Solomon XA Alpine Pro. All right. All right. That is it for the second video publishing today. I think I got Alpine keyword question of the day about hiking. I love you guys. And hopefully I didn't disappoint too many folks out there, but it's just I'm not feeling it. I'm just not feeling it. So, and actually, you know, like when I want to go fast, which is oftentimes in the mountains, I'll just take the S lab sense six and eventually the sense seven once I break it in a little bit after the pike's peak sense. All right. See beauty work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry.