Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe

Review by Erin Trail

The Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe is Altra’s latest race trail shoe, complete with ultralight materials and a Carbitex carbon plate.

Technical Details

Detailed Review

The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe is a fast and responsive trail shoe, intended for speed and racing.  It has all of the features that we’ve come to associate with Altra: a roomy toebox, zero mm heel-to-toe drop, and a durable, trail-rated exterior.

The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe features a full-length Carbitex™ Monoflex carbon plate for extra propulsion, underfoot protection, and stability on all terrain. The midsole is both light and comfortable with Altra EGO™ MAX in the rim Altra EGO™ PRO in the core. And finally, Vibram® Litebase reduces outsole weight and Vibram® Megagrip provide an unparalleled grip on both wet and dry surfaces.

Testing Conditions

• Trail hill repeat run
• Long endurance trail run
• Looped trail runs (testing out different shoes every lap)

The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe really shined on my trail hill repeat workout.  I could really feel the lightness of the shoe and the snap of the Carbitex plate. The shoes were very responsive and enabled me to fly over rocks and irregular trail surfaces.

My local trail has a good variety of textures: rocks, roots, sand, and dirt.  The shape of the sole and the grippiness of the Vibram outsole gave me extremely secure footing on all of the terrain I encountered.  Footfalls on awkward things were no big deal – no trips or ankle twists.  I also had plenty of grip to efficiently push off and launch with every stride.

The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe also shined on longer runs. The midsole offered a nice amount of cushion and felt good underfoot. While my testing long testing runs were 90 min long, I know that I’d be comfortable and happy wearing these for longer efforts.

During my looped testing runs, I would place these in the middle of the scale for cushion and high for responsiveness.  It wasn’t super cushy (like the Hoka Speedgoat or Norda 005) but the ride wasn’t jarring like some carbon plated shoes can be.  I think the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe is great for someone who likes a bit of cushion but doesn’t want a maximalist trail shoe. The Vibram soles offered plenty of stability and grip and the snap of the Carbitex plate was noticeable.

The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe also come in a variety of colorways, ranging from neutral to attention getting.  I personally love the white/lime colorway and found that while being bright, the colors held up after several dusty runs.

Closing Thoughts

The Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe is a medium cushion, light, and responsive carbon race trail shoe with all of the benchmarks of Altra. This shoe is a great option for those who are looking for a zero-drop trail shoe with a bit of cushion and the zip of carbon.

The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoe is available in three colorways (men and women) and available in women’s sizes 5.5 to 12 and men’s sizes 7 to 15.

Erin Trail