Review: Arc’teryx Norvan LD3 Women’s Trail Shoes

Although I’m no fell-racing aficionado, it is really important to me that my running shoes are responsive, comfortable and grippy. Full disclosure: my normal trail and fell shoes are Altras. The zero drop and horizontal width I’m accustomed to from ‘natural’ feeling shoes means that the 9mm on these Norvans initially felt like quite a lot. 

I used these in two very different environments close to home in North Wales. My first run was a short, door-to-door 5km loop through the forest and the second a much more exposed, varied route at a higher altitude in mixed conditions. Despite my initial scepticism due to the high drop, I was quickly surprised by the level of support provided by the stiff sole. 

On fairly chilled, predictable trails close to home, I felt like I could move very positively and run with plenty of confidence, a really nice feeling in shoes straight out of the box. The 4mm lugs are perfect on this type of terrain and although the sole was noticeably chunkier than what I’m used to, I actually found this to be a blessing in many ways. They were really comfortable – Arc’teryx reckon the toebox has been designed to ‘accommodate splay’, which I would say is more-or-less accurate. 

When I took them out on more technical terrain, I was equally impressed, although I’d maybe have taken a slightly more aggressive tread for some of the vertical bog that makes Snowdonia (Eryri) such an enviable place to run. The stiff sole gave a lot of drive and protection against rockier, looser terrain, while the very thin upper dried rapidly after encounters with the aforementioned bog.

Although definitely close to the top end of the price range at £150, these shoes deliver a surprising amount of bang per buck. They’re versatile and well-suited to plenty of different terrain types, aesthetically pleasing if a little basic and should go the distance in terms of durability. I think this makes them a reasonable choice value-wise if you’re looking beyond the ‘classic’ trail brands.