It ain't hyperbole to call HOKA's Tor Ultra the sportswear company's best sneaker — there's a reason this weatherproof beast is perpetually sold-out. Answering the call to improve upon perfection, HOKA has come back from the lab with the Tor Summit sneaker, which somehow challenges its best shoe for peerless girth.
And I mean girth. HOKA's new Tor Summit shoe is just as chunky as the mighty Tor Ultra Low but it's actually more attractive, thanks to a streamlined facade.
Hard to admit, frankly, 'cuz HOKA's Tor Ultra Low is a veritable oversized sneaker masterpiece but facts is facts: the Tor Summit might outdo even its own forebear.
Fitted with nubuck (!) uppers and metal eyelets, HOKA's Tor Summit like an objectively sexier take on what makes the Tor Ultra Low so appealing. The heft is there but the silhouette is appreciably evened out, clean lines in place of purposely awkward chunk.
The same Vibram MegaGrip sole unit anchors this beast, so the Tor Summit is no less sturdy than its ancestor. The only difference is that the Tor Summit is arguably more street-savvy than the Tor Ultra — ironic, perhaps, given the Tor Summit's purpose-driven naming scheme (these are the HOKA shoes you presumably wear to scale the summit).
Not that one necessarily even has to be better than the other but in terms of daily drivers, the Tor Summit makes the most sense to me.
Still, the Tor Ultra is a study in sneaker evolution. Introduced in 2018 as an Engineered Garments collaboration, it took several years for HOKA to reissue the beefy hiker as an in-line model.
When HOKA finally did drop the Tor line again, it swapped the sneakers' breathable eVent lining for waterproof GORE-TEX.
This made the Tor Ultra a solid shoe for inclement weather but, for someone who runs warm, a sneaker to eye warily in ordinary climes.
It didn't help that the Tor Ultra Lo, the more manageable of the two Tor Ultra models — the other is a giant boot — was massively weighty.
Great-looking shoe to be sure, what with the impressively balanced panels on the upper and deliciously massive Vibram sole below, but not too much fun to actually wear by my count.
The Tor Summit solves that concern without sacrificing any of the Tor Ultra's appeal.
Sure, it smooths out the upper's paneling, flattening the appreciably functional vent system for smoothly bifurcation, but the proportions are intact. It's a wonderfully huge shoe, either way.
HOKA hasn't yet given the Tor Summit a release date or price but considering that it did display the sneaker during a footwear preview event for Spring/Summer , expect them to release prior to warm weather.
What a great 12 months HOKA just had. Between its new and remarkably excellent Ora Primo mules — still sold-out everywhere, BTW — and the much-lauded Restore TC slip-on, HOKA's recovery line is stronger than ever, all while its in-line designs just keep getting better.
All the world needs is more Tor shoes and all will be well. Keep 'em coming, HOKA.
