The Salomon XA Pro 3D v9 GORE-TEX is Salomon's stability shoe, and it is the low-cut option to put ahead of a softer all-rounder if you want a locked-down, supportive ride on uneven ground. The name points at the tech that defines it: the 3D Advanced Chassis, a moulded frame between the midsole and outsole that resists the sideways twist you get on rough trail and cambered paths. That frame is the reason this shoe feels planted on terrain where a softer shoe rolls, and it is the single thing that most sets the XA Pro apart from the field.
It is a long-running Salomon design that has been refined over many generations rather than reinvented, and the v9 is the current iteration. Owners and testers keep landing on the same verdict: a secure, sporty fit, confident grip on wet rock and gravel, and durability that outlasts most trail shoes. It is not the shoe for a broad foot, and like any GORE-TEX shoe it runs warm in high summer, but for a slim to medium foot that wants support and grip on mixed and rough ground, it is one of the best hiking shoes going. Here is the full picture.
Who the XA Pro 3D v9 is for
The XA Pro 3D suits the hiker who values stability and a firmly held foot over plush cushioning. If you walk mixed and rough ground, cambered coast paths, rooty woodland trail, loose gravel and rock, and you want a shoe that stays composed underfoot rather than one that feels soft and vague, this is built for you. It carries a loaded day pack well and it has the protection to handle ground that punishes a lighter trail trainer.
It also suits a slim to medium foot specifically. Salomon shapes this shoe to hold the foot down hard, and if that shape matches yours it is superb. The lacing, the chassis and the fit all work together to stop the foot moving inside the shoe, which is exactly what you want on descents and uneven going.
Who should look elsewhere? Anyone with a broad or high-volume foot. Salomon runs narrow, and this shoe locks the foot rather than giving your toes room to splay, so if your feet are wide the KEEN Targhee III is the far safer buy and its roomy toe box is the whole reason it exists. If you want a lighter, more affordable Salomon all-rounder rather than a dedicated stability shoe, the X Ultra Pioneer GTX in the walking shoes guide is the gentler option.
The stability story: 3D Advanced Chassis
The 3D Advanced Chassis is the heart of this shoe and the feature worth understanding before you buy. It is a moulded frame that sits between the EnergyCell+ midsole and the Contagrip outsole, and its job is motion control: it manages how the shoe twists and flexes so your foot tracks straight and stable over rough ground rather than rolling with every dip and stone.
In practice, testers describe the ride as precise, stable and responsive, and that word "planted" comes up again and again. On cambered ground, where the trail tilts sideways and a softer shoe lets your foot cant over, the chassis holds the platform level under you. On loose or rocky descents, where a vague shoe feels nervous, it gives you a base you can trust and push off. This is the terrain where the XA Pro earns its keep and where a comfort-first shoe like the Merrell Moab starts to feel too soft.
The midsole itself is a high-rebound EnergyCell+ compound, which pairs energy return and cushioning with durability. The result is a firm rather than plush feel underfoot. That firmness is deliberate and it is part of the stability equation: this is a supportive, controlled ride, not a soft one, and if you specifically want cloud-like cushioning the XA Pro is not chasing that.
Grip: All-Terrain Contagrip
Grip comes from an All-Terrain Contagrip outsole, Salomon's mixed-surface rubber and lug package, with a moderate multi-directional lug of roughly 3 to 5mm. That is the sensible middle ground for UK day hiking: deep enough to bite into soft ground and shed some mud, shallow enough to stay stable and wear slowly on hard rock and hard-pack.
On the wet rock, chalk and gravel that define a lot of British walking, testers rate the grip as confident, and it holds well on the mixed surfaces this shoe is aimed at. Contagrip sits alongside Vibram as one of the two benchmark compounds for wet-rock grip, and the XA Pro uses it to good effect.
Set expectations against the right rival, though. This is a do-everything hiking-shoe tread, not an aggressive mud tyre. If your regular ground is deep, soft, boggy Purbeck-style mud, an aggressively lugged trail shoe like the Salomon Speedcross 6 with its deep chevron lugs will bite and clear mud better than the XA Pro will. For mixed trail, rock, gravel and moderate mud, the All-Terrain Contagrip is the more versatile choice.
Fit: runs narrow
Fit is the deciding factor with this shoe, and it is where most of the criticism lands. Like most Salomons, the XA Pro runs narrow and holds the foot down firmly. Measurements of the v9 tell the story: the toe box is reasonably generous at the ball of the foot but tapers narrow towards the big toe, which leaves less room for natural toe splay than a broad foot wants. For a slim to medium foot that is a locked-in, secure fit that testers love. For a wide foot it means pressure and potential hotspots.
The shoe fits true to size, and owners widely report it as comfortable straight out of the box with little or no break-in, which is a real point in its favour. The trade-off is simply shape, not quality: a well-made shoe in the wrong shape is still the wrong shoe. Try it on late in the day when your feet have swollen, with the merino socks you actually hike in, and check for room ahead of your longest toe.
Salomon does list a dedicated Wide version of the XA Pro 3D v9 GORE-TEX for men, which opens the door a little for medium-to-wide feet who want this exact shoe. But if your feet are genuinely broad, the honest steer is still to a brand built around width. The KEEN Targhee III gives your toes room to splay in a way no standard Salomon does, and it is the first place to send a wide-footed hiker.
Waterproofing and warmth
This is the GORE-TEX version, so the membrane keeps water out over the height of the shoe: wet grass, dewy mornings, light rain and shallow mud, which describes most of the UK walking year. For general British day hiking that waterproofing earns its place the moment the ground turns damp, and it is the version most people should buy.
The trade-off is the same one every GORE-TEX shoe carries. A membrane traps heat, so the XA Pro runs warm on hot summer days, and once water does come in over the collar, on a deep bog or a stream crossing, the membrane that kept it out now stops it draining. That is physics rather than a flaw in this particular shoe, but it is worth knowing. If you mostly walk dry summer trails and want airflow over waterproofing, a breathable non-waterproof shoe is the better tool for that job.
Quicklace
The XA Pro uses Salomon's Quicklace system: a thin, strong lace with a single pull-tab slider that tightens the whole shoe in one motion, and a small pocket on the tongue to tuck the excess away. Pull it tight, clip the tab, tuck it, done. There are no laces to come undone mid-walk and nothing flapping to snag on brush.
It is a small thing you appreciate every time you put the shoes on, and it works with the narrow fit and the chassis to lock the foot down evenly. The one caveat owners raise is that Quicklace gives you less fine control than traditional laces if you like to tension different parts of the foot separately, and if the lace ever fails it is a cord replacement rather than a standard shoelace. In day-to-day use it is fast, secure and low-fuss.
Durability
Durability is one of the XA Pro's strongest cards and a large part of why it commands its price. This is a robustly built shoe: a synthetic mesh upper with welded overlays gives it the armoured Salomon feel, and owners report it standing up to hard, repeated use without obvious wear. The rubber toe bumper takes direct hits on rock without scuffing through, and the firm EnergyCell+ midsole resists packing out, so the shoe holds its supportive feel over time rather than going soft after a season.
Testers describe the construction as sturdy and hard-wearing, and the general owner consensus is that it outlasts most trail shoes. For a hiker who wants one pair to log serious mileage over years rather than replacing a softer shoe more often, that longevity is where the extra outlay over a cheaper shoe comes back to you.
Specs at a glance
- Weight
- ~360g per shoe (men's, GTX)
- Waterproofing
- GORE-TEX
- Outsole
- All-Terrain Contagrip
- Lug depth
- 3 to 5mm
- Midsole
- EnergyCell+ (high-rebound)
- Heel-to-toe drop
- 11mm (28.7mm heel / 17.3mm toe stack)
- Support
- 3D Advanced Chassis
- Upper
- Synthetic mesh with welded overlays, rubber toe bumper
- Lacing
- Quicklace
- Available widths
- Standard, plus a Wide version (men's)
- UK price
- ~£140
Pros and cons
- 3D Advanced Chassis gives a stable, planted ride on rough and cambered ground
- Confident All-Terrain Contagrip on wet rock, chalk and gravel
- Secure, locked-down fit that slim to medium feet love, comfortable from new
- Hard-wearing construction that outlasts most trail shoes
- Quicklace tightens the whole shoe in one pull and tucks away
- GORE-TEX keeps out wet grass, dew and light rain for typical UK conditions
- Runs narrow: not the shoe for broad or high-volume feet
- Firm ride rather than plush cushioning
- Runs warm in high summer, as any GORE-TEX shoe does
- Moderate lugs are beaten by an aggressive trail shoe in deep soft mud
- Quicklace gives less fine tension control than traditional laces
- Premium price at around £140
A slim to medium foot that wants a stable, supportive, hard-wearing low-cut shoe for mixed and rough UK trail, cambered coast paths and loaded day hikes.
Verdict: is the XA Pro 3D worth it?
Yes, for the right foot and the right ground. The Salomon XA Pro 3D v9 GORE-TEX does one thing better than almost any other low-cut hiking shoe: it stays planted and composed on rough, uneven, cambered terrain, and the 3D Advanced Chassis is the reason. Pair that with confident Contagrip, GORE-TEX for UK wet, the one-pull convenience of Quicklace and a build that shrugs off hard mileage, and you have a stability shoe that earns its around £140 price for the hikers it fits.
The caveats are clear and they point in one direction. This is a firm, controlled ride rather than a soft one, it runs warm in summer like every GORE-TEX shoe, and above all it runs narrow. None of that is a fault. It is the shoe being true to what it is: a locked-down, supportive, hard-wearing hiking shoe for a slim to medium foot.
If your feet are broad, do not fight it, buy a KEEN Targhee III instead and thank yourself later. If you want deep-mud bite over all-round stability, look at the Speedcross 6. But if you have a slim to medium foot and you want a stable, grippy, long-lasting shoe for mixed and rough ground, the XA Pro 3D is one of the best hiking shoes you can buy.
Rating: 4.6 / 5
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Brand guide: for the full Salomon story, the technology behind the kit and where the range fits, read our Salomon brand review.
Salomon shoes at Blacks
Prices pulled live from Blacks, updated daily. Links are affiliate links.
Salomon Men's Barrakee Outdoor Shoes
£59.97
Salomon Men's Speedcross Peak
£100
Salomon Men's X Ultra 360 GORE-TEX Hiking Shoes
£130
Salomon Women's Sense Ride Trail Running Shoes
£71.97
Salomon Women's X Ultra 360 GORE-TEX Hiking Shoes
£140
Salomon Men's Speedcross Peak GTX
£89.97
Salomon Men's Exeo GORE-TEX Hiking Shoes
£79.97
Salomon Women's X Ultra 360 Gore-Tex Hiking Shoes
£130
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