Mont Blanc BOA

Hi there, I have used a multitude of running, hiking and trail shoes for long distance hiking at this point and finally settled on the Altra Mont Blanc BOAs. They have a slightly more narrow heel than the Lone Peaks and have a better rocker which helps a wee bit with energy conservation if you tend to walk a bit quicker. There's a bit less rubber down there which can suck but I got mine resoled which seemed to do the trick. The BOA might trigger the skeptics into saying that it's unreliable and such but with the near 500 miles that I've put into mine I would disagree. The ability to fine tune the fit and feel on the go has been a godsend for those long, hot and sweaty hikes where your feet expand and you just feel sucky. I found that the ability to open them up so easily helped a ton when compared to my laced shoes and also getting the fit across the feet on the money every single time without having to faff with laces is great. For super remote treks I would not recommend however as having the BOA buckle break will suck. I don't personally think it will and I have not had mine pop off at all in the time I've had them (done pretty much all of the long distance hikes in Scotland and repeated a couple without any issues at all). My only gripe is that the Vibram Lite base that they use kinda sucks and peels away pretty easily so I got them sent off to the Key Cobbler in Kendal and got a much more burly replacement. I will say that it took 2 lengths of the West Highland Way, the GGW and the Kintail way for this to happen though and that's some pretty good mileage for trail runners in Scotland All the best to you!

altra mont blanc BOA has been my favorite shoe. maybe thinking about getting the timps boa when they run out, not a huge fan of the colorways though. still debating snagging some speedlands. need that BOA

I only run mountains and I wear altar mt blanc boas. I also where the regular my blancs. I’ll keep buying them used and third party to the work supple runs dry.

Do you have time to get In sufficient training miles in a new pair before your race? I really like the Mont Blanc boa. I’ve run an entire 100 in them and also the last 40 miles in them after switching out of a pair of speedlands. I don’t think I could do a 100 in the LPs. The MB is the sweet spot for me with a bit more stack and a firmer foam. They’re light and drain well too. The only downside I’d see to them in technical terrain would be the lack of toe protection. Wasn’t an issue for me on tech trails but I could see it being an issue for some.

Sadly the Timp is too narrow for me. The Topo Pursuit 2 is on the list and I will try it as soon as I get my hands on a pair. I tried several Altras (Timp 6, Olympus 6, Mont Blanc, Olympus 275), but none was a match.

Terrain is what determines shoe.  What course?  Also this is a WILD time to consider fresh shoes. When is the race? For Rocky and technical (courses like Broken Arrow 46k in Tahoe or most of trail stuff you see in places like PA): I wear things like LaSportiva Mutants or Lycans (RIP).  Its a trade off with the slimmer last they are built on for the control in heavily rocky terrain, definitely keeping it under 50 miles for my feet in those models. For buffed out west coast trails: something like the altra mount blanc  Road component?: anything over 5 miles on road and I am going for a mixed terrain shoe or the Mount to Coast H1. Logging roads (gravel): mount to coast H1 or altra olympus with gaiters. Road: altra via olympus 2 Winter/cold water?: LaSportiva Cyclin GTx

Never understood what you people do to your shoes to make them break so fast. My 300 km Mont blancs look brand new except the rubber ligs, and the latest three pairs of Altra that I retired all have more than 1000 km on them and none of them have torn uppers. For reference my only shoes that have tore in the upper are the Torin 6 after 600 km and the Topo Cyclone after 700 km, and some Mizuno and Hoka shoes I don't remember the names of.