I originally posted about this shoe back in May without reviewing it thoroughly. The Adidas Terrex Fast R Mid GTX has been my main hiker, adventure approach shoe, and by default, because it is my only GoreTex shoe, my winter/snow boot. I have worn it for a lot of short days, as an approach shoe in Colorado, where approaches to climbs generally take less than 30 minutes. I use it when running around in the snowy streets of Boulder and when going to ski in the mountains. But I hadn’t really used it for it’s main purpose, hiking, until recently.
Side note: I generally don’t like hiking just to hike. I want to be going somewhere. I want to hike to climb, hike to ski, hike to swim in some freezing cold alpine lake. Going hiking for…exercise? I can think of plenty of exercises I would rather do.
One thing that I appreciate about my family is that they’re all active. When we get together for a holiday we never just sit in someone’s house and watch TV. We go hiking or on bike rides. For New Years this year my family went to Reno to my oldest sister’s new place. There is quite a bit of hiking around Reno & Lake Tahoe. There was too little snow for good skiing, and even for snowshoeing. We hiked, everyday, a lot, in many different conditions.
In the week spanning the New Year I put a lot of miles on my Fast R’s. And I’ve never appreciated them more. When I first got them they were too narrow for my oddly shaped wide feet, but now they fit me like a glove, a testament to breaking in your boots. The traction grips on every type of terrain; the Continental Rubber sticky but strong, shows no signs of wear. Walking on uneven ground, aka every trail, your steps feel controlled. I didn’t know about the separated heel that helps to stabilize you on descents until I was looking up reviews of the women’s version for my sister. I didn’t know about it, but it works!
The lacing system took some getting used to, but now that I have it figured out I love it. When I’m just slipping the boot on to go around town in the snow I leave it loose and it’s super comfortable. When I’m ready to get into the thicket I can quickly dial in the perfect fit. You pull the loop, cinch down the plastic tab, and tuck the string into an elastic catch. No boots coming untied, ever.
Whether I’m playing in snow, hiking through the mud, jumping across a creek, I’m never worried about my feet getting wet, and because of the build, the boot breathes incredibly well. Oh, and this boot is LIGHTWEIGHT! I even did some trail running and the mid-high boot didn’t bother me at all.
I’ve been very impressed and even helped get a pair for my sister.