Whilein Chamonix everything was (almost) ready for the Great Circus by UTMB we were still on this side of the tunnel, relatively fresh and sheltered from the media bombardment we would suffer from the next day.
Val Veny, just above Courmayeur.
In a quiet, peaceful campsite on the slopes of Mont Blanc, one of those places where you feel like staying for at least a couple of weeks. Hoka Tecton X 3 was there waiting for us, ready to be fitted, ready to be tested.
After seeing the prototype Tecton X 2.5 on Jim Walmsley’s feet for many months-first total black and finally total White-here was finally the shoe in its final version, the same one that Vincent Bouillard would wear a few days later unexpectedly winning UTMB and giving a healthy shake to the Trail Running world. 
As the title says: these are first impressions.
We will then have a chance in the coming weeks to run more miles on them and go into more detail, but first impressions matter and there is no point in telling ourselves that book covers don’t matter.
For example, my foot never got along very well with Hoka.
I never understood whether it was because of (my) narrow sole or the way I run: the fact remains that I often failed to get along even with shoes I really appreciated, shoes with which I would very much like to get along.
I sat down, put on the Tecton X 3s and didn’t want to believe it: they fit perfectly.
They wrapped around my foot like a sock, without the slightest bit of movement, almost without me realizing I was wearing a shoe.
Certainly in part thanks to the fabric collar (of inordinate height), which not only prevents any possibility of debris intrusion but also promotes that feeling of perfect shoe/foot symbiosis.
Running in Val Veny is a joy for the eyes and the heart.
The glacier looks down on you from above, and the light is stunning at all hours, coloring the mountain with ever-changing hues.
We took our time for a first test worthy of the name. We were out for a couple of hours. We enjoyed violent climbs and technical descents so we could evaluate all types of support, but without disdaining a few well-run kilometers in which we eviscerated the very nature of the shoe, which with its carbon plate was born to be stressed at speed.
There was no lack of an unexpected double ford of a river: if on the outward journey we tried to hop between one slippery stone and another, on the return we serenely plunged up to our ankles in the icy water. 
After that test I ran a few more miles on it, to get the last doubts out of my mind before I put these lines down. For the time being, it’s a big yes for me. Rarely have I felt so at one with the shoe, ankle/foot/upper/outsole as one.
The sock-like construction yields slightly in stability but the side reinforcements do their job if you know how to run in it, let’s not forget that it remains Hoka’s top-of-the-line shoe, designed and engineered for athletes who know their stuff so no, I wouldn’t recommend it to a beginner.
The grip is impressive: hopping on wet stones we were all amazed at how tightly we stuck to them, even on steep inclines.
It is a “classic” Vibram Megagrip Litebase with traction lugs but I had the distinct feeling that the compound was softer and consequently stickier than other shoes with the same sole type.
Evidently the lug design also makes a difference.
The upper is made of Matrix, which is soft and very durable: after fording the river it dried in minutes (less breathable, however, was the insole, which stayed wet much longer).
I’m not crazy about the black/blue coloring and perhaps it doesn’t do justice to the design of the object itself, which I find really well done instead: it was released in Chamonix in a limited edition of three hundred numbered pieces but now you can also buy it (I think exclusively) on the official website.
I hope to see soon that total white that Jim Walmsley sported at the Western States Endurance Run 2024, or a white/bronze that Hoka has accustomed us to in the past.
The next step is to run in it. So much.
I feel like doing something long and runnable with it, 80-100 kilometers relatively fast.
Of course one has to see how such a shoe compares after 15-20 hours, when the foot (and not only) is very tired.
I think I will find out very soon. 