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Columbia trail shoes

A tale of two pairs of Columbia trail shoes - on the left is the Ravenous Omni Tech and on the right the new Vitesse Outdry.

I bought my first pair of trail shoes - Montrail - in NZ in the mid 2000s and they were a revelation compared to the chunky and feet pinching Timberlands I had purchased in the US. The Montrail ended up lasting nearly 10 years, a good lifetime and I was sorry to let them go.

Since then I have been searching for a replacement without much success. Columbia bought Montrail in 2006. The Ravenous on the left is Columbia’s attempt at replicating the Montrail and has good reviews, but the Vitesse is Columbia’s resurrection of one of Montrail’s best models.

So now I have two pairs of trail shoes.