A different kind of snowbird. Hannes putting the 001 G+ Kingfisher to its intended use—through cold and wet conditions. Photography by frauki

No gimmicks. The lightest, fastest and most stable race day(s) shoe ever crafted for trail runners. At 214g (US M 9.5), the 005 redefines what trail super shoe performance feels like. March 2025. Subscribers will gain early access prior to global launch. Link in bio.

001 G+ KINGFISHER An essential addition to any trail runner’s winter toolkit. A thermoregulating, water resistant shoe engineered to the needs of running in winter conditions. This winterized edition of our optimally-cushioned 001 features a G+® graphene membrane for increased thermoregulation and water resistance. This unparalleled technological innovation ensures heat homogenization, avoiding any hot spots or thermal discomfort while also preventing your feet from freezing. Unlike other popular water resistant technologies, G+® allow some breathability for your feet, allowing you to run comfortably and free in cold conditions. 001 G+ Kingfisher is available now. Shop via our e-shop and select retailers.

In 1963, John F. Kennedy unintentionally played an integral role in sparking interest in ultrarunning. In his campaign for presidency, one of his platforms was to improve the nation’s physical health. Shortly after he was elected, JFK published an article in Sports Illustrated called, “The Soft American,” in which he wrote: “We can fully restore the physical soundness of our nation only if every American is willing to assume responsibility for his own fitness and the fitness of his children. We do not want our children to become a generation of spectators. Rather, we want each of them to be a participant in the vigorous life.” Although he never specifically advocated for the 50 mile distance, around the same time another article was published that outlined Roosevelt’s 1908 executive order that every Marine captain and lieutenant should be able to hike 50 miles in 20 hours. These factors caused many Americans to challenge themselves. Thousands of people attempted to hike 50 miles. A small club event run/hiked by high school boys in Maryland that eventually became America’s oldest ultra, the JFK 50. “I came into the race with the mindset of ‘I fear no one’. I had very ambitious goals, but coming down with a cold (and life chaos) made me more realistic. The first 15 miles on the Appalachian Trail were fast! I let David and Eli go early—I needed to run my own race. The tow path was a mental tunnel, but you gotta send it if you want a good result. I kept the vibes high all day, even when it hurt like hell—and oh baby, the last 15 hurt like hell. My crew having a piñata kept me happy all day. It made them easy to spot and was the perfect symbol for what I want to achieve in ultrarunning: something insanely silly but also insanely impressive.” While most runners swap from trail shoes after the first 15 miles on the Appalachian Trail into road super shoes, Matt ran in the 005s the entire duration. “The 005’s whipped—these things kept me floating all day, even when my legs were gone.” This year, Matt ran the 8th fastest time ever, running sub 5 hours and 30 minutes, placing 3rd. Congratulations Matt, you embody what we run for. Photography shitinthewoods

STEALTH BLACK TOOLBOX The world’s first and only duffel bag made entirely of black Bio-Dyneema®, the world’s strongest and lightest fiber™. Designed to contain the full range of our footwear system while still having ample space for other equipment and miscellanea, the Toolbox will support any adventure your mind can conjure. With detachable backpack straps, the bag easily toggles between duffel and backpack modes depending on what your journey demands. The interior features a robust combination of both elasticized and zippered mesh compartments as well as an additional Bio-Dyneema® stow bag for added organizational potential. Whether packing for an approach, race day or weekend adventure, the Toolbox is specifically engineered to support the trail-oriented. Available now in Stealth Black Bio-Dyneema® exclusively via our e-shop and Huckberry (huckberry). Photography by joelkfuller

BRUCE TRAIL FKT The Bruce Trail, which follows Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment from Niagara to Tobermory, is a 900km route known for its varied and rugged terrain. Cody Taylor (codytaylorperformance) followed the trail from south to north, starting in Queenston and traveling through Hamilton, Burlington, Halton, Caledon, the Blue Mountains and up the Bruce Peninsula. He broke in the very same pair of 002 he would complete the journey in with 250km of scouting in the rocky and technical Tobermory area. Only during the last 50-hour push of the expedition did Cody experience any breakage of the shoe, hence the taping of the toe box. “There’s no rips, no tears. The only reason why this happened, where the sole fell off the shoe (where the tape is), was because I had a 50 hour push at the end. I didn’t sleep, I was tripping over rocks — I was pretty sloppy out there, as you can imagine. The expedition took me 14 days and 30 minutes which got me the FKT for unsupported. My backpack weight started at 52.6 pounds and lost 2.5 pounds everyday as I went through my nutrition. I filtered water at natural sources and camped on trail. I didn’t have any pacers or any help whatsoever. Everything went flawless except for the last 160k. I ran out of food and did a 50 hour push to the end with a few 2 minute dirt naps. I lost close to 30 pounds but we brought it home and got the course record. The best piece of gear that I brought were my norda 002.” What do you run for?™ Photography payette

THE NORTH STAR “The cool thing about wilderness is the meeting between the wild outside and the wild inside. When they play on each other good things happen. The mind is, after all, the true frontier, and who knows where the human spirit will go?” - Doug Robinson The approach is what takes us from the house, car or campsite to the climb—or, what separates us from it. Now more than ever, climbers flock to the mountains to escape the jarring clang of big cities and tiring minutia of maintaining a ‘proper’ life. Paved streets and highways are like umbilical cords, tethering us to these realities. Tired and dull from a full work schedule, the weekend warrior seeks out climbs with the shortest approach possible. Climbs with ‘roadside’ written in the description are deemed desirable and the art of the approach is lost. Instead of receiving their communion with wilderness, the climber spends an intimate moment with the highway, its hum a constant noise in their ears—a reminder of their eventual return to society; an anchor to the mundane. I was born and raised in a city and learned to climb in a gym. On one of my first outings climbing outside, I complained to my climbing partner that I was having difficulty scrambling up the large talus field with a crash pad on my back. My soft gym-climber sensibilities were showing. I hadn’t imagined that this much effort would be required just to reach the climbing. “Scrambling over this talus will be good for your climbing,” he said. “It teaches you how to move on rock.” I had no idea that there was an element of mastery to approaching climbs. Read Sarah’s full story on the approach in our STORIES section via the link in our bio. Words by _sarah_christina Photography by ritt_faced

The Squamish VK “Trail Series” (VK standing for ‘Very Kool’, naturally) is an unsanctioned, unmarked and ungodly operation in which runners haunt thicket and get twisted stickside during the year’s dreariest months. Featuring cult classics, mystery goat paths, trade routes and...’trails’, the VK remains loyal to its unofficial motto: “If you want to run perfectly good trails, you can go and do that on your own time”.  Influenced by bike messenger races, sylvan mythos and the short stories of Borges, the VK takes place between the Autumnal and Vernal equinoxes, sending local runners deep into the woods on courses designed to challenge and confound. With only a .gpx file to guide them, runners must employ a mix of mental cunning, physical toughness and Real-Gnome-Gnosis in order to navigate the labyrinthine woods. Appealing to both runnists wishing to bury themselves in the throes of effort and those simply wishing to indulge in the psychedelia of the lamp-lit trail, the VK is certainly....an event. Partnering with local gear savants and community-forgers skiuphill_coast for a special Hallowe’en alley-cat style race, VK participants formed teams, donned cloak and D.I.Y.’d their own route through the notoriously perplexing trails of the Crumpit Woods thicket. Over a hundred runners spread across 25 teams Experienced The Woods that night, 20 of which DNF’d—you do the math. Ticking off a series of mandatory and bonus checkpoints under a darkness complete, the racers also competed for a number of special prizes, perhaps chief among them the “Dumbest-Ass Shoe Award”. While the competition in this field was tough—there were hard-bottom dress shoes and Air Force 1s in the cut—the ultimate winner was running neophyte Eric P., who clomped thru the rhubarb in a pair of big boy gum boots. The dumbest category was of course deserving of the finest of prizes, and our gum boot solider marched home to great fanfare with a pair of 003 approach shoes from the fine folks at Norda. Because sometimes, there is a wrong approach. If that’s not Very Kool, then I don’t know what in the damn hell is.  Words & Event by sunblinding Visuals by joelkfuller & jakeforsythe

003 G+ MAPLE All conditions, all activities. A versatile performance shoe. This cold weather edition of our 003 features a G+® graphene membrane. G+® is a thin graphene membrane lining added to optimize our footwear for fall and winter conditions. It adds thermoregulatory and water resistant properties. This unparalleled technological ingredient ensures heat homogenization, avoiding the creation of hot spots and thermal discomfort for the user while also preventing your feet from freezing. While implemented to combat the cold, G+® is such that it won’t overheat in warm conditions either. Available now. Shop via our e-shop and select retailers. Photography payette & ritt_faced