Mount to Coast T1: Testing the Brand's First Trail Shoe While Traveling

This June, the company released the T1, its first bona fide trail running shoe. The T1 has a Vibram Megagrip outsole, a durable and quick-dry upper, and a dual lacing system with two cinch cords to dial in the fit. I’ve been testing it out this spring and summer on day hikes, trail runs in Greece and New England, and for rucking sessions in the woods.

To figure out how to make its trail shoe stand out in an increasingly crowded market, Zhang tapped into Mount to Coast’s existing customer base. Many runners he spoke to lamented the fact that most running shoes did not support the specific needs of their ultra distances, identifying midsole durability and lack of space around swelling feet as critical drawbacks.

Another piece of feedback was that running shoes tend to be overbuilt, with rock plates to protect against sharp objects, and an armored, clunky feel. This comes at the expense of comfort, especially over ultra distances. Zhang learned that a lot of athletes were using low running shoes in ultra races to avoid boot-like discomfort, even though these shoes were technically less protective.

The company’s R1 shoe is supportive and streamlined enough for the road. Zhang’s first idea for a Mount to Coast trail shoe was to just pair a lugged Vibram sole with a Dyneema upper. But he quickly realized the design wouldn’t feel stable enough when you were running up and down the varied trail surfaces. “The rubber has to have very good grip, the upper needs to wrap your foot, and the heel needs to lock your ankle and your foot,” he said.

Indeed, using a shoe without this kind of grip on trail would feel kind of like driving “a sports car on a dirt road,” said Ben Blankenship, a Mount to Coast Senior Product Development Manager and a runner who once held the world record in the distance medley relay. It’s all fun and games, until you hit the wrong rock. “If you catch your toe or roll your ankle there’s no protection,” he said. “You end up with a shoe that doesn’t meet the demands of a course like Hard Rock."

In order to ensure a low, agile trail runner could also be secure, the Mount to Coast team created a new last to build the shoe around. They also designed an entirely new woven fabric for the upper composed of nylon and kevlar, which they attached to a Vibram Megagrip sole. The dual lacing system was added to allow runners to fine tune their fit in the forefoot and midfoot separately.

I brought a pair to test out on a recent trip to Greece and found them to be very comfortable. I wore my T1s anytime we were off the beach, whether I was hiking or trail running on the island of Ikaria or just lugging my kids and suitcases through the airport. It did take me some time to get used to the dual lacing system—on one descent early into my testing, I felt my feet sliding around in the shoe. But once I figured it out, I was impressed by how securely attached the sneakers felt to my feet.

More impressive is the final weight of these sneakers: a mere nine ounces. The quick-dry, durable shoe is also a looker, with Mount to Coast’s trademark minimalist aesthetic. I appreciate that an alternative exists to the splashy maximalist designs from major running brands like Hoka, Asics, and New Balance. (Saucony also offers a handsome, lowkey trail shoe now too, btw.)

Still, I couldn’t help but worry that the Mount to Coast T1 was overkill for casual trail runners like me. But Zhang told me this really is meant to be a shoe for everyone. “Ultra running paces… are not so fast,” he said to justify the sentiment. Mount to Coast designed their trail runner not as a super shoe that would help people break their personal bests, but as a daily driver they would feel comfortable running in and wearing for years. Zhang told me he uses his T1s to play golf—the soles are grippy enough for the greens.

I took this to heart in Greece, where I tried to run as much as I possibly could. At one point, descending from a mountaintop village, I paused for a banana in front of a herd of goats. In the distance, I spotted the impossibly blue waters of the Aegean Sea, the coast visible from the trail. As I assessed the path back to my hotel, I spent a moment thinking about how funny it was that the Mount to Coast T1 sneakers had literally lived up to their name. And then, I barreled my way down the trail. I was late to meet my friends.

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