Customer Reviews Arc'teryx Vertex Alpine M

Arcteryx super fan here, and I REALLY wanted to like this shoe. It looked so promising. Avid LD3 fan, gone through three pairs with about 350 miles on each pair. I am unable to get 100 miles out of the Vertex the heels chew my heels up so badly that I was forced to stay off the trail for a few weeks. I tried many 5-10 mile hikes with the Vertex and they wont break in and continue to destroy my heels. In reading reviews it seems Im not the only one with this complaint. I have burly feet and can accept prolonged break-in periods for a stiffer shoe but Arc missed the mark on this one.

I use it as my all-around outdoor adventure shoe. Its light weight and very comfortable to wear all day. Great grip and breathable upper.

I have had great luck with Arctyeyrx shoes & boots These fit exactly 1/2 size small. Probably because of the liner

Overall, this is a fantastic Men's shoe for scrambling. The sole is stiff, the fit is on the narrow side which isn't too bad especially when you are entering high 4th class / low 5th class. The grip on the soles is fantastic on rock, not so much on snow but if you're planning any mountain routes when there is majority snow cover you're likely not reaching for this shoe anyways. This shoe is very well thought out for the most part, the interface with the laces and the shoe tongue is great and it's very easy to tuck the laces away and I've had no issues with the shoe loosening over 8+ hour days. The cuff does a fairly good job of keeping things out of the shoe but it would benefit from being a bit taller, if it went above the ankle joint it would be awesome. The only serious downside to this shoe is the stich that rests against the base of your achilles just absolutely bites into your ankle. I've given it a pretty good chance to break in (~35 hours, mostly hiking with two scrambles) and the shoe still cuts into my heel. I have resolved this issue by taping up my ankle and utilizing molskin before outings, but a shoe of this caliber shouldn't have this issue + every other Arc'teryx shoe I've used does not have this issue. This is unfortunate but is also resolved with the GTX version of this shoe which has a soft material which doesn't require a stich between the shoe and the cuff in the same spot. While the rest of the shoe is stellar, I would recommend trying out the GTX version of this shoe instead due to this issue.

This is a great shoe for climbing approaches. Its the first gore-Tex shoe Ive owned that breathes well. The traction is great. The improved heal gear clip is much better than first one. The one improvement Id like is a slightly narrower toe box.

I got these shoes when they first came out (3-4months ago give or take). I've been wearing them everywhere; socially/actively and I love them! First and foremost, they are predominantly an approach shoe. 11/10 on how they handle and hold up; hiking, scrambling, mixed conditions. They get the job done and I can wear them comfortably around town. I've gone through a lot of approach shoes with other brands and they've all depreciated quick. This one is going strong and is about the only shoe I wear. For context; I average 6-10 miles a day. I've scrambled the flatirons, done multiple 10+ mile hikes and I am one happy camper! Keep in mind, they time to break in. I advise wearing them as your normal sneaker for about a week before using them for your intended activity.

Amazing shoe, needs to be broken in before wearing.

Got these shoes 3 weeks ago, wore them around the house for a total of 3 hours, did the first hike of 5 miles, 400 feet elevation and they absolutely chewed the back of my heels. Not just blistered but fully bleeding when back to the car and a week later still out of commission. Was wearing medium weight high quality hiking socks and the weather was in the 60s F. This ruined my long weekend that was supposed to be full of hikes. Just wanted others to be warned as of never experience anything like this with any other hiking boot/shoe!

I really wanted to like these shoesthey look great, the traction is solid, and the weight feels good on the trail. The durability also seems decent. Unfortunately, the comfort is where they completely fail. I've worn them on a short 2-mile hike and ended up with blisters on my heels. I've also taken them on a 15-mile hike (even using the socks that are specifically meant for these shoes), and the result was the same: blisters and sore arches. No matter the distance, my heels and arches come out hurting every single time. For the high price tag, I expected a shoe I could trust for hiking without pain. Instead, I've found them to be extremely uncomfortable, making them impossible to recommend if you actually plan to use them on the trail. They may look good, but that's about it.

Just like a lot of the other reviews have said, the heel design on these are terrible. It's been a few months now and they still rub my heel raw. Other than that these are really great shoes. I have been putting duct tape on the back of my heels to protect them from the shoe and then these work great. But for the price of these shoes I shouldn't have to be doing that.

The shoes rub so much at the back of the heel due to the low cut back end of the shoe below the liner. I kept trying to break them in but to no avail feel like I've wasted my money with these. Was hoping they'd be great to as they look great but the comfort make them unwearable in the mountains.

The shoes are fairly stiff. Lack cushioning. I also had a big blister on my big toe. The top mesh easily gets dirty. I did one trail run with mud and can't wash them like with my merrell or Columbia shoes

These shoes look great and the quality felt very good, comparable to other Arc'teryx shoes I've owned. Unfortunately I had to return these shoes because they cause terrible blisters on my heels after walking around my house for about 30 minutes. They were also very hard to get on, like getting on a well fitting rock climbing shoe. I think the design on these shoes was a miss.

Sadly, the shoes are not designed well. The heal caused blisters within a few miles of walking. Had to switch to an old pair of Nike's to get releif. The last seemed off as my feet did not sit evenly in the shoe. Grip and cushioning was good.

Good traction and protection, but man does i destroy your feet. The hard outer material gives me so many blisters.

The style of these shoes are great, however, I bought these for easy trail hiking and after a short 30 min trek these shoes DESTROYED my heels. The rubber on the heel digs into your heel during each step. I'm no product developer but perhaps the hard plastic needs to be higher in the heel. I had to return them right away

size 44 feels more like 42...these are too tight for the size.

It was really uncomfortable and It gave me a blister the first time I used it

Heels bleed even after short hikes and different socks. I would not recommend. Support will not repair them but offer 20% of the shoes value if you return them so they can resell them. Disappointed is an understatement.

I *wanted* to love these shoes. As a long time fan of the Norvan & Kopec line of shoes, these had me grinning with excitement to try out. Day 1, horrible pain during break in. Day 3, still no difference, day 4 I started to comparing what climbing shoes I've owned that hurt this much breaking in... never found an answer. Day 5, the pain instilled on my heels was permanent, not 1, but 2 blisters on each side of my heel. Why? The heel retention "pads" are so violent in keeping your heel locked in that they created a blister on *both sides* of my achilles. Took some time away from them, let the blisters heal. Gave these things another shot, day 6, 7, 8 all the most pain I've ever felt on my foot. These shoes had me in tears, literally. Unfortunately that was not the end of my complaints, I thought why not warm these up, twist and bend them with my hands in the apartment. Why bother I thought.... the upper is so light that the shank inside seems to be working double duty on keeping the shoes structure, these things take purposeful effort to flex. The outsole, even worse... It may be vibram rubber but these are not sticky or tacky in any sense of the word. It feels like you're walking with Tupperware outsoles, these days *feel* like a plastic shoe. And the cherry on top, if they're properly sized they're a nightmare to get into. Carry a small shoe-horn with you on the trail because the "debris retention sock" really makes these a challenge to slip your foot in. Despite them being in perfect condition, and well within the return window, Arc retail stores refused a return. Complaints were valid, they even put me on a shoe size rig to tell me I bought the wrong size and that was the cause of pain (it wasn't/I didn't). A pair of bleeding heels didn't even help my case, as there was nothing functionally wrong with the shoe. I wanted to throw these away 3 times over with how bad of a product these are. Given that would be impossible to do, I left them outside of the store, sitting on the sidewalk with a little note saying "Free, SZ8, sorry for your heels". And you know what, I hate these so much I still hope those pieces of junk are still out there waiting for someone to take them home. Jackets being re-sized was a notch against Arcteryx that didn't bother me much, but the fact these made it to market is astonishing. I would easily consider these to be the worst product Arcteryx has ever made... and with having friends inside, I've tried a lot of their gear. But these, these are special. I've started clearing out the gear closet, giving away and selling Arc gear. I haven't liked what the company has been doing for a while, and this is the last straw. Vertex Alpine shoes are the last Arcteryx product I will ever buy. Good Riddance,

Arcteryx super fan here, and I REALLY wanted to like this shoe. It looked so promising. Avid LD3 fan, gone through three pairs with about 350 miles on each pair. I am unable to get 100 miles out of the Vertex the heels chew my heels up so badly that I was forced to stay off the trail for a few weeks. I tried many 5-10 mile hikes with the Vertex and they won't break in and continue to destroy my heels. In reading reviews it seems I'm not the only one with this complaint. I have burly feet and can accept prolonged break-in periods for a stiffer shoe but Arc missed the mark on this one.

The shoes were too small for my size 13 plus and there are no larger sizes. I returned them. I used a 20% off coupon on the purchase but I do not know how I can get another coupon for a future purchase.

Got these shoes 3 weeks ago, wore them around the house for a total of 3 hours, did the first hike of 5 miles, 400 feet elevation and they absolutely chewed the back of my heels. Not just blistered but fully bleeding when back to the car and a week later still out of commission. Was wearing medium weight high quality hiking socks and the weather was in the 60s F. This ruined my long weekend that was supposed to be full of hikes. Just wanted others to be warned as of never experience anything like this with any other hiking boot/shoe!