Hoka Torrent Review

I first discovered the Torrent when I arrived in Colorado a couple of years back and discovered I’d left by beloved Maffetes at home. I took a trip to REI who had this new lower-profile Hoka that I’d never heard of, but which looked pretty darned good. I tried a pair on and they fitted like a glove (well, actually like a really comfortable shoe). A couple of short runs later on some fairly hilly, technical trail and I was in love. But still I was taking a big risk when I committed to wearing these on a 5-day fastpack around the Hardrock 100 course later that same week.

But I needn’t have feared, the Torrents remained comfortable throughout and were just brilliant on all the varieties of trail (and scree!) that we encountered. They are now my go-to shoe for all mountain missions, including the Bob Graham Round in the UK last year (photo taken a couple of days before on our last training run - James Harcombe is also a Torrent fan!) and anything that doesn’t involve long distances on hard-packed trail.

The main things I love about the shoe are:
- they fit my foot perfectly!
- they are light and responsive
- they’re the perfect profile - just that little bit of extra padding but still low enough to the ground that I feel secure even on the roughest, rockiest terrain
- they are super-grippy

For me they are the perfect mountain shoe that I wear whenever I know I’m going to be encountering rough terrain or venturing off-trail. I won’t hit the mountain tops wearing anything else (on my feet!) if I can help it.

Find out more about the Torrent on the Hoka NZ website.