Hoka One One Tor Ultra Hi WP

I wrote this ages ago, and for one reason or another it never got used, so this is just a place to archive it really.

Many keen runners will have at least seen Hoka One One trail running shoes, with their big chubby soles they are hard to miss. While the rest of the running shoe industry seemed to be going for minimalist, ultra-light shoes with very little cushioning, Hoka went the other way – what is sometimes called ‘maximalist’ cushioning. The Hoka One One Tor Ultra Hi WPs (yes, silly name, I will just call them the Tors from now on) have applied that maximalist cushioning to walking boots. Alternatively you could perhaps think of them as supportive, protective trail shoes with an ankle added.

I have to admit the slightly bizarre aesthetics of the Tors is what first led me to ask if I could review a pair, but after six months of use I can now say they are despite looking odd they are fantastically comfortable and capable hiking boots. Compared to more traditional leather three season walking boots they are light (Hoka says 970 grams for a pair of UK 7s). They certainly feel light when you wear them, more like approach shoes than boots. I’ve even clipped them on to the back of my harness and carried them up rock routes – they are a bit bulky to be perfect for this but they aren’t too heavy. They are also just ridiculously comfortable compared to more “classic” walking boots. The biggest proof of this for me is that after a day of wearing them in the mountains I’m quite happy to just get in the car and drive home with them still on. Normally after a day in hiking boots or winter climbing boots there is that lovely feeling of pulling them off and putting your trainers on before getting in the car, but not with the Hoka One One Tors. Hoka say the boots have “late stage meta-rocker geometry, active foot frame stability” and “full length EVA top midsole for cushioning” – I’m sure this is all true although I don’t know exactly what it means. But, basically, whether walking for miles on flat hard surfaces like the flagstone sections of the Pennine Way over Kinder or hoping between rocks on bare, rock-strewn mountain tops like Tryfan, I found the Tors wonderfully comfortable. In many ways they feel like a comfy padded running shoe, but with more protection around your foot when bashing through scree and more support around your ankle when walking over rough terrain.

The boots are waterproofed by using an eVent liner and so far this has worked perfectly even for walking for long periods in very wet and muddy conditions. I’ve always been a bit suspicious of how long liners can last in boots, but I had a pair of Merrells with a Goretex liner that stayed waterproof for years despite loads of use, so hopefully these will last as well. The eVent also seems to breath well enough to keep my feet from getting to hot when the weather isn’t so lousy. I wouldn’t recommend these boots for summer hiking in hot weather, but for the UK except for high summer they seem well rather suited.

The Tors have a “Vibram® MegaGrip Hi-Traction Outsole with 5mm Lugs”. The grip offered by these soles has also turned out to be superb – the lugs grip well in mud and wet grass but the boots also work surprisingly well where friction is central – be that on lichen-covered grit boulders or slimey limestone slabs, and even more surprisingly on polished slabby holds on classic mountain scrambles. The last thing I expected from these boots is for them to work for scrambling, but having worn them up Tryfan’s North Ridge and Bristly Ridge they were great. They of course didn’t edge well on small positive holds like an alpine boot will due to the softness of the midsole, but on bigger holds and slabby moves they were just fine.

I’ve found just one problem with the Hokas, the stitching around the top of the ankle cuff (in cheery contrasting yellow thread) has snapped and is starting to unravel a bit. The swift application of lighter to the nylon thread will stop it unraveling any further, but this seems to be a problem with this sort of stitching on exposed sections of footwear, particularly where the thread is in a stretchy material like the neoprene cuff here. Another ‘issue’ which may or may not be seen as a problem is that the flat profile of the sole means that there is no groove for the underfoot strap of a gaiter. If you have gaiters with wire straps under-foot this might work although I picked up some shorty gaiters with a very narrow neoprene strap from Decathlon thinking they might works with the Tors, but they still don’t. As said before, the Tors seems very waterproof when walking through typical hill bogs but of course any boot will leak if water comes over the top, and I still think that gaiters have their place for hiking in Britain.

But, besides the gaiter issue, I think the Hoka One One Tor Ultra Hi WP are great boots for three season hiking in the UK, be that multiday backpacking on rolling (and often muddy) moorland or the more abrupt up and downs of the mountains. If you like the soft comfort and lack of weight of hiking in running shoes but want the protection, waterproofing, and traction of ‘proper’ hiking boots, then the Tors are well worth considering.