I’ve lengthy thought-about the Teva model synonymous with sandals. That goes again to my center faculty years when my dad proposed we take a guided raft journey. Regardless of minimal prior expertise with watercraft of any variety, we determined a 5-night, 6-day journey down the Center Fork of Idaho’s Salmon River was the journey for us.
Then we went buying. My dad purchased his first pair of Tevas. I, alternatively, went with a pair of water sandals from a famend maker of basketball sneakers. My dad’s sandals ended up being the identical model — even the identical type — as these of our raft guides. I, alternatively, ended up with deep, painful blisters simply a few days into the journey.
Given my private historical past with Teva, to not point out the truth that over time, Teva has leaned into its popularity because the “founding father of the fashionable sport sandal class,” I used to be shocked to see a press launch about Teva launching a mountain climbing shoe — and I used to be fairly eager to strive them out.
Now, after 3 months of utilizing the Teva Trailwinder Low on trails round Colorado, I’m glad I did. The shoe is a cushty, light-weight path companion excellent for brief, quick hikes on a wide range of terrain varieties.
Briefly: The Teva Trailwinder Low proves itself to be a succesful, totally enclosed shoe (regardless of coming from a model that considers itself the architect of the fashionable sport sandal). There’s room for enchancment within the midsole’s sturdiness, however general, this shoe appears poised to propel the sandal model additional into the fast-hike/trail-runner class.
When you’re looking for mountain climbing sneakers, examine the Teva Trailwinder to others on GearJunkie’s Information to the Greatest Climbing Sneakers.
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Light-weight, breathable design -
Versatile for path operating and mountain climbing -
Dependable grip on rocky terrain -
Snug, responsive midsole
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Midsole lacks sturdiness -
Restricted means to tighten forefoot area -
Lengthy drying time
Teva Trailwinder Low Climbing Shoe Overview
Because the story goes, the Teva model was born in 1984 on the banks of the Colorado River. A raft information with two spare watches connected the watches’ Velcro straps to his flip-flops, and voilà: He had a pair of water sneakers that wouldn’t be whisked off his ft and float downstream.
Like all good model, Teva has expanded and advanced. It has added completely different strap configurations and burlier outsoles to its sandal line-up. Within the late ’90s, Teva even launched its first closed-toe mountain climbing sneakers. They simply by no means reached the icon standing its sandals have.
Teva’s Fall 2024 lineup included the Trailwinder Low and two different dryland companions, the Ellwood Mid and winterized Auroris. The model is clearly making an attempt to spice up its credibility in non-water terrain.
Preliminary Impressions
The Trailwinder Low is billed as a shoe “deliberately designed to be the proper low-mileage, fast-hike type that additionally gives all-day consolation.” That’s exactly how I take advantage of my mountain climbing sneakers: For daybreak patrol outings and after-work exercises on native trails.
After I first pulled these sneakers out of the field, I didn’t discover something placing about it. The sneakers are light-weight, although not featherweight. They’ve an ordinary stack top of 32 mm within the heel and 26 mm within the forefoot for a ladies’s measurement 7.
The Trailwinder additionally has conventional shoe laces (not a Boa or a proprietary quick-lace system). And their uppers use a run-of-the-mill mesh material, albeit one made out of totally recycled polyester.
After I flipped the Trailwinder Low over, nonetheless, I seen one thing completely different from my different path sneakers. The 6mm lugs, every of which loosely mimics the form of a goat’s hoof, characteristic a new-to-me tiered silhouette. I assumed that the design would add an additional dose of grip on uneven terrain.
And I used to be proper.
“The chevron form is perfect for various path and mountain climbing terrains,” Nick Deneffe, senior product line supervisor, efficiency for Teva, advised GearJunkie. “It permits the lugs to dig in like an excavator scoop, to dig via terrain when climbing, and to brake on the descent to maintain you from slipping.”
Deneffe defined that the tiered design permits the lugs to penetrate the bottom and maximize floor contact, which in flip maximizes traction and grip with each step.
Traction in Motion
I first examined that declare in Boulder on the enduring First/Second Flatiron Path, which features simply over 1,000 ft of elevation in slightly below 1 mile. The path isn’t lengthy. However it’s rocky and rooty and includes a short part of sunshine scrambling.
The Trailwinder Low carried out fantastically. I used to be capable of keep my footing and felt stable and steady all through the hike. The mesh higher ventilated successfully, so my ft didn’t overheat regardless of sizzling temps. I felt mild on my ft as I charged the terrain. Colour me impressed.
The proprietary Spider Rubber traction discovered on the Trailwinder Low continued to carry out properly on successive outings up the First/Second Flatiron Path and on different hikes across the Entrance Vary. A few month into utilizing them commonly, I started noticing a bit extra slippage. Nonetheless, that might partially be attributed to dusty path circumstances after greater than 30 days of zero rainfall. My good friend in Hokas was slipping greater than I used to be.
Whereas the Trailwinder Low isn’t designed for winter outings (they aren’t waterproof), I attempted them out after Boulder bought its first snow of the 12 months, only for good measure. Minus not being waterproof or insulated, I beloved these mountain climbing sneakers on a flat, snowy path run over gravel. The burly lugs ate into the two inches of recent snow fairly properly.
In addition they labored successfully on a steeper path in dense, slushy snow. I solely slipped minimally, although my ft have been soaked by the tip of the hike. The sneakers then took about 2 days to dry out. The up to date waterproof GORE-TEX iteration is about to return out in fall 2025 and will treatment the latter situation.
As for his or her efficiency on extra rugged trails as soon as it will get icy? The lugs are burly, however they’re nonetheless made out of rubber, not metallic. When sporting them on packed, snow-turned-to-ice trails, I didn’t belief the lugs to maintain me upright. However I wouldn’t belief the lugs on my Hokas, Salomons, La Sportivas, or Oboz to maintain me upright, both.
What I did like, nonetheless, is that the Trailwinder Low’s clean exterior profile made it straightforward to slide on my Kahtoola Microspikes.
Consolation
The Trailwinder Low weighs 1 pound, 2 ounces for a pair of girls’s measurement 7s, inside the usual vary for mountain climbing sneakers. In contrast with different sneakers on GearJunkie’s information to the Greatest Climbing Sneakers for Girls, the Trailwinder could be the lightest shoe on the listing.
The sneakers by no means felt cumbersome or heavy like a extra conventional boot would have. The comfortable midsole was a welcome addition for each quick, quick path excursions and as a normal around-town shoe.
In the future, I wore them for greater than 7 hours straight throughout a service undertaking adopted by a hike. I can confidently report that my canines weren’t barking. These sneakers certainly dwell as much as that promise of “provid[ing] all-day consolation.”
Match
Look contained in the Trailwinder Low, and also you’ll see two swathes of a stretchy polyester/spandex mix material secured beneath the footbed and connected to the tongue.
Dubbed the NAVILOCK inside bootie, it “retains the tongue in place, the foot safe, and gives added help within the midfoot,” Deneffe says. “If we didn’t have that characteristic in there, you’ll discover much less help, a looser match, and possibly not have complete confidence over sure terrains.”
I’m prepared to consider that the NAVILOCK inside bootie supplied bonus help across the midfoot. However really, I discovered myself wanting even extra help in sure cases. All was advantageous on gravel and broad, flat elements of the path. When shifting rapidly throughout rocky sections, nonetheless, the match didn’t really feel unfastened precisely. However my foot didn’t really feel completely safe both, even after tying the laces down tight.
Maybe a extra sturdy development across the ankle, and even an underfoot chassis, would assist. Nonetheless, that may inevitably include a weight penalty.
Sturdiness of Teva Trailwinder
Teva is, with out query, extra accustomed to constructing sneakers for water excursions than for rocky terrain. It has centered on that setting for the previous 40 years. So maybe it’s not stunning that there’s room for enchancment with regards to sturdiness.
General, the shoe has held up properly these previous few months. The mesh higher, bolstered rubber across the lace eyelets, and the laces themselves present no indicators of rips or fraying. Inside, the footbed nonetheless has a pleasant spring to it. And the Spider Rubber outsole is, for probably the most half, simply soiled, not chewed up.
The LITE-COMF midsole, nonetheless, started flaking off within the area above the outsole only a month in, and it’s gotten even worse with time.
Notably, the midsole’s performance stays intact. To be honest, I primarily wore the Trailwinder Low on particularly rocky trails across the aptly named Boulder. If I’d been on dust or gravel trails, the midsoles definitely would have fared higher. Nonetheless, I used to be shocked at how rapidly the rubber started exhibiting put on and tear.
Teva Trailwinder Low Climbing Sneakers: Conclusion
General, the Teva Trailwinder Low is a mountain climbing shoe constructed to go quick on low-mileage days. They might in all probability even double as trainers in a pinch. They’re additionally an amazing possibility for journeys the place packing area is at a premium.
I’d wish to see the Teva Trailwinder Low enhance barely in stability division. I’d additionally wish to see a variety of enchancment within the midsole’s sturdiness. However general, the consolation, breathability, and particularly the traction of Teva’s first mountain climbing shoe make me excited to see what different path footwear Teva will introduce sooner or later.
