Customer Reviews Altra Olympus 6

The Altra Olympus 6 is a great hiking shoe, and is perfectly alright for running! I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a well cushioned trail shoe that can do almost anything. As a quick disclaimer, Altra gave me this product for free to try out, but all opinions are my own. My first test of the shoe was on a backpacking/climbing trip on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The approach to the campsite was a steep hike up a ridge with a pack full of camping and climbing gear, and the cushioning and wide base made it perfect for carrying a heavy load. Later that night, I ran down and back up the same ridge, and the pure bulk of the shoe felt a little clunky. Throughout the weekend, I spent hours in the shoe, belaying, rappelling, and just hanging out at camp. Over the next few weeks, I took the shoe out for some more runs and hikes, varying from easy 3-4 mile hikes to longer trail runs up to 15 miles. The shoe really shined on longer hikes and easy runs, but underperformed on the faster efforts, mainly due to the pure bulk of the shoe. The Vibram outsole was incredible, gripping to wet rock, muddy trails, and only slipping a little on more technical bits. The upper fit a little narrower than other Altra offerings (like the Lone Peak), while still being wider and more accommodating than most other trail shoes out there. After about 40 miles, the shoe is still in great shape! My main complaint was the color way that Altra sent to me -- the white upper stained right away in even the slightest mud. When all is said and done, I'm excited to get more miles out of this shoe, mainly as my go-to long distance hiking shoe, while occasionally pulling the shoe out for some easier running efforts on less technical terrain. I'll definitely be taking this shoe on some backpacking trips this summer! As someone who works in the outdoor retail space, I'll likely recommend this shoe to customers and friends that are looking for a solid hiker that can do it all.

I usually run in stiff, low-drop, medium-cushion shoes on trails that often include lots of technical scrambling on the Front Range in Colorado. The Olympus 6s are completely different: large, maximalist, comfortable shoes that can hang on rocky technical terrain but really shine for long runs on gravel and less technical trails. They're perfect for long, slower paced, hard-pack runs with some rocky sections. Altra provided me with this pair of Olympus 6 shoes to test. So I put them through a set of runs that I thought could test their abilities in various ways: "Run" 1: I used the Olympus 6 to hike on trails and bushwack through brush and talus between scrambles. I put them in my backpack and scrambled in approach shoes. 4 miles, 2000ft of vert. I ran short sections to get a sense for the shoe. I found that they were comfortable hiking quickly in difficult terrain, both on and off trail. Running, I found they made me think of a full-suspension mountain bike: you can run right over small rocks and uneven terrain, and these shoes just soak it all up. Run 2: Altra put Vibram Megagrip on the outsoles, so I pushed them to the limit by scrambling the 2nd Flatiron, the most popular 5.0 in Boulder. The full run is roughly 30% hard packed trail, 30% technical rocky terrain, and 40% sandstone slab, and all of it is very steep: 1300ft of elevation gain over less than 1.5 miles, one way. This is not the right terrain for these shoes. It's fair to say they performed surprisingly well considering their intended use, but the massive stack height makes them too unstable to really trust them for scrambling, and they're too heavy to move quickly and precisely on technical downhill. They performed quite well on the hard-pack, both uphill and down. Run 3: My favorite pure trail run is in Eldorado Canyon. This was the perfect run for these shoes: sustained but not incredibly steep elevation gain, 6.5 miles, 1130ft of vert. Pure gravel sections, gravel with big rock chunks, hardpacked dirt, and short stretches of very rocky technical running. They performed very well, and I came out of the run with a couple of segments where I felt really good about my pace. I feel like a longer run on this type of terrain is exactly what the Olympus 6 is designed for. Fit and Comfort: I found the Olympus 6 to be true to size. While lacing up, it's a really comfortable shoe. The upper is breathable and stretchy and hugs the foot well, the heel cup fits well (for my foot, at least), and the gigantic toe box lets your toes splay out very nicely. When running, the massive stack height comes into play, and then I'd say it actually feels a little bit less comfortable because of the slight wobble it introduces and the overall gigantic profile of the shoe. They're also pretty heavy, but feel surprisingly light considering the features: cushioning, tons of underfoot surface area, and some stability features. Stride and Stability: Altras are popular partly because of the claims associated with their zero-drop platform. The idea (part of the idea, anyway) is that a zero-drop or low-drop shoe punishes us when we heel-strike, and encourages a forefoot strike instead. This type of feedback is supposed to improve a runner's stride over time, and I've personally experienced this in Altra road shoes. However, putting a massive stack height under the foot seems like it would dull any of the sensitivity required to really communicate anything about your stride or foot strike to your brain and this is hard to extract from my overall feeling that the Olympus 6 just doesn't really feel like a zero-drop shoe. It feels like a high-stack, low-drop shoe to me. There's one other interesting note here: on certain terrain, particularly when running downhill on semi-technical terrain, I've found that the instability of the high stack height forces me to shorten my stride, which is actually a good thing since I tend to over-stride on the downhill. Is this a good thing overall? Hard to say, since I also feel like I've come close to rolling my ankle in the same circumstances because of the massive, soft cushioning underfoot. This lack of stability is somewhat offset by the absolutely massive outsole. Grip: The outsole is not entirely Megagrip; some of the central lugs are actually a much softer foam. The exterior, along with lines that approximate the locations of your toes, are strips of Megagrip. I've found the material is nice and sticky. The lug pattern works very well for gravel or semi-technical rocky terrain, and decently well for mid-technical rocky trails, but this is not the shoe I would choose for highly technical trail running or scrambling; the shoe simply isn't agile enough, is too heavy, and has too much wobble. I'd be interested to try one of Altra's lighter shoes with Megragrip, like the Timp, in the future. Durability: I've run 25 miles in these shoes, with about 5000ft of vert on a variety of terrain. I haven't seen anything start to delaminate or fail in other ways, but only time will tell whether Altra has addressed the durability issues of previous generations of the Olympus.

Altra gave me the Olympus 6 for free to test. I put this shoe through the wringer. 28 mile hike/run on Mt Greylock in MA and a 40 mile trail race in West Virginia where I encountered wet, rain, mud, and extremely technical terrain with a lot of elevation change. The good: held up unlike previous versions. Grip is outstanding. Wide toe box is indeed foot shape unlike Altra's new direction deviating from their roots on other models. Toes can splay. Comfortable after breaking them in and utilizing ankle lock lacing techniques. The not so good: just a tad short in my opinion. I'm an 11 all day in every model. I would go up to an 11.5 in this model if I bought another pair. To reiterate, just a tad short. The 11 work, I'm talking a quarter inch at mostmaybe less. The pair they sent me had some stitching coming apart out of the box. Didn't cause an issue, but quality control should've flagged it before sending it out. There's some new heal cushioning pad that caused me some irritation at first, but not after breaking them in and adjusting my lacing. The heel tab/loop came folded in for some reason on one shoe (packaging I assume). This also caused irritation on my heel, but shouldn't be an issue if quality control takes a peak before sending out. Overall: I love this shoe and I hope the quality and durability are better moving forward as the last few pairs I've owned(Olympus 5, Timp 4 & 5) were not. I also hope Altra stops narrowing the toe box of other models, puts Vibram mega grip on all trail models as Max Trak is just flat out sub par, and treats their customers better when the durability fails well short of what a shoe should last at their price points.

I've been wearing these for about 3 months, and have decided to go back to the Olympus two's. They are too heavy in comparison, they don't have the padding that the Olympus two's have, and they have those tabs on the back which might be great for heel wear, but if you are doing things like Tai chi you wind up tripping over them. I would not buy these again, and do not like them.

The heel padding rubs too much and creates "warm" area, the shoe wore down in that area, as well as my heel.

The heel cup pad was about 1cm too low for my foot anatomy. The width and cushion felt fantastic otherwise. The heel structure of Olympus 5 was perfect for me. Plans to bring it back???

Great looking shoe. But hurt my feet. Seem to be small in certain places.

Don't ignore the countless reviews about these causing heel blisters like I did. Shame, everything else about this model is what I was looking for.

Gave me some pain on my left foot around the cuboid area. Blisters were quick to develop on both heals and both baby toes . Felt great upon initial wear, but quickly destroyed my feet after a couple of miles hiking. I wanted to love them, but unfortunately, they did not work for me.

The heel cup change on the 6 is very painful for my foot. Unable to break them in so im hoping Altra can help out before my race this Oct... overall very disappointed in the 6. Wish it fit like the 5

The Olympus 5 fit great. However the Olympus 6 seems to have a "grabber" inside to hold the heal more tightly. This resulted in pain like nerve compression which I would only feel after removing shoe

I've owned two 5's. Comfortable but the heel cushion/fabric wore quickly. The 6's have a modified heel best described as a blister-maker. To wear these more than two miles I must apply a blister patch.

I want to fit into the Olympus because sometimes my Lone Peak's leave me wanting more cushion. I have bony feet and ankles, though, and the heel cup in the Olympus keeps getting worse with every iteration. The heel cup has always been too stiff and shallow for me but this latest design with the heel pad and pull tab combo is absurd. It is still too shallow, and the additional padding makes it feel like my heel is actively being pushed out of the shoe. Please make the Olympus heel cup the same as the Via Olympus 2.

These shoes are comfortable and plush, but heavy in larger sizes. I wear a 12.5, and one shoe is 14.8 ounces, nearly a pound. The added weight comes from the wider outsole from the midfoot to the heel. I tried them on a treadmill, but they feel like hiking boots, so I'll return them. I recommend them for smaller sizes or those who don't mind weight, but they're too unwieldy for me. Well-built shoes that could make great hikers.

Overall satisfied with product.

Love the taupe color and the extra tongue padding. But the build out at the heel sent me back to the Olympus 5 while they still had stock. Unless the curve of your ankle exactly matches that point it pushes you forward, away from feeling your heel is settled. I had to order a half size up, which was then too big in other ways. My foot was sliding in and out with every step.

I tried these in at my local retailer, and did not purchase them due to the 'heel pillow' being very poorly placed and implemented. It hit right it the middle back of my heel, and with the stitching and seams combined with the loose heel lock, felt like blisters waiting to happen. If they had added more padding higher around the top of the heel, specifically on both sides of my Achilles in order to lock my heel in more, they would have been great. I had to size up because they felt a little short, but otherwise really like the high stable stack and fit. Just can't believe someone thought putting heel padding with seams there was a good idea.

First impressions loved the Black/Black design, but the shoe fit was snug. Wore these shoes for a few weeks then took them on my John Muir Trail backpacking trip. Within 8 miles I was feeling the hot spots on my heels. I think the "Achilles pillow" caused my heel blisters and I never get blisters. Overall, the fit is too tight and for me the "Achilles pillows" cause Blisters. On the positive the shoe looks great and no signs of wear. I already size my Altra shoes up to a 13, do I have to size up again for the Olympus 6 to a size 14, this seems excessive...

I love the tread grip on the soles of the shoe, it grips better than just about anything I've found, including many other vibram soles. Perfect for hiking on gravel and other loose terrain if you don't want a full boot. The first issue I had though, is these are not as soft and cushioned as the prior model, which may increase durability, but really has impacted comfort and even after walking and hiking for a couple of weeks they don't feel broken in. Second issue is the additional piece of padding sewn onto the heel area. This might be great for people with small feet, but I think it needs to be moved up significantly to help lock in the heel without directly pressing on it in an uncomfortable way for people with big feet and big heels. My guess is it is not raised for larger feet, but rather remains at the same height regardless of size of the shoe. Due to these two large comfort reasons, and not being able to drive with them for longer than an hour before feeling discomfort on my heel, I can't recommend these anymore. Used to be an amazing all-around shoe, comfortable for walking, hiking, trails, and winter to prevent slipping.

Taupe color and extra tongue padding are good, but the heel pad is really weird. It pushed my foot forward which means I need a larger size which doesn't suit the rest of my foot. Then, with every step my heel slides up and down. I didn't get a blister but it was painful for the instep. If the curve of your ankle doesn't fall exactly where the pad is, you're out of luck. Happily was able to get the Olympus 5 again.

I have worn Olympus shoes for many years. This pair feels really stiff. I actually tripped and fell on my first trail hike. I have put several miles on them now and they are better. As with previous models the lip of the shoes is really low. I have to wear Altra gaiters with them to keep debris out of the shoe.

Had to try the new Olympus 6 after the tread falling off fiasco of the 5th version. I immediately noticed the redesigned inner heel pad with exposed stitching and thought well that's dumb, that's big blister waiting to happen but maybe it works to lock the heal in and what do I know? Put them on and it feels like your foot isn't going down far enough as the pad is too low on the heel and in my opinion, actually feels like your heel is going to slip out but at the same time, the overall feel of the shoe is tighter with less volume. This is definitely going to rub and cause blisters so will be returning. I loved the old heel feel and the bigger grab loop that I can actually get a finger in but the tread only lasted a few miles before delamination. Assumed the tread issue is fixed on this current version but do feel like this is one step forward and one step back.

I have been in Altra's for many years now and I have been wearing the Olympus for years on the trail as the cushioning helped me tremendously saying this the NEW Olympus 6 have done something no pair ever has and that's give me Blisters every single time I attempted to wear them on the trail. The heel padding has never been an issue until the 6. Why? Why change it so dramatically. I am not alone in this experience. I'll look to find the Olympus 5 online somewhere and this is beyond disappointing.

The front lip and sole started to detach after moderate use. I have had many Altra Olympus models and these 6s came apart within months. Didn't even do much running or working in them either.