Friday, June 05, 2009

Where My Trail Shoes At?

I posted a blog back in December reviewing trail shoes, noting that it was more difficult to find the one or two trail shoes put out by adidas and Nike that I wear - the only ones I've found so far that fit. Of course, the trail shoe market has exploded, with sixty (60) different companies now specializing in trail shoes, so it would make sense if Nike, adidas, Puma and other running shoe mainstays avoid investing too heavily in this area - better to stick with track and field and road running (and soccer, golf, etc) than to compete heavily in such a market that is growing and evolving exponentially.

So, it might be time for me to start looking for a new trail shoe, especially now since my marathon training has ran its course and I'm now adding miles to compete on trail. And so it is fairly timely that I happen to wander onto the Oregon MUT blog a couple days ago and see a news post there from the Portland Tribune declaring the purchase of the END (Environmentally Neutral Design), the Portland-based running shoe company, by LaCrosse. LaCrosse, the mainstay boot manufacturer, is looking to get into the running shoe market. What's more, LaCrosse merged with Danner back in 1994, and both the Danner and LaCrosse brands operate out of Portland, Oregon.

END only has a couple running shoes at this point, since they're a brand-new company and has made a name for themselves through their committment to green and, well, environmentally neutral design. (They're not environmentally neutral, of course, but that's their goal, and they're supposedly greener than the competition.) So, I don't expect that END has a trail shoe for me, because I think at this point they only have a couple light trail shoes, and I'll have to compare them with the other 60 brands out there, but if they're now sharing technology with Danner and LaCrosse, then they just might build in that direction.

And this begs another, more important question to be asked - who wears hiking boots anymore When I was a kid, hiking over the Gorge, Mt Hood, the Central Cascades and other parts of Oregon, I had a solid pair of Danner boots. Yeah, I might get blisters if I hiked all day in them, but they were sturdy and tough - back then you'd be crazy to hike in running shoes. Old Converse, adidas and Nikes had relatively smooth, slick soles, and there just wasn't much in the way of protection or support. Now, however, I can run all day on those same trails in a good pair of trail running shoes. And if I snowshoe or hike - same thing: I'll be wearing trail running shoes. So, why would I need a hiking boot? Maybe if I was summiting a mountain, and spending a good amount of time in subzero weather...maybe. I think this is one reason why LaCrosse's profits were down this April, and why they decided to invest in the running shoe market. More on this later.

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