Short-Distance Racing Weapon: The North Face Summit Sky 2 First Look Review

The super shoe revolution in trail running is a few seasons old at this point. Where all roads lead to Nike’s Alphafly with a handful of worthy number twos, there’s still no one defining super shoe for the trails — the type where if you line up in anything less, you’re sacrificing first place.

Because of its unfortunate pandemic timing, you might have overlooked the fact The North Face was the first to put a carbon plate in a trail running shoe with its original Flight Vectiv. This rush to be first represented a two-pronged attack by The North Face. It signaled the possibilities for trail super shoe technology that would follow, and it put The North Face back on the map as a running shoe company after long periods of absence or wayward offerings.

The original Flight Vectiv now stands as a mere shadow of the company’s new Vectiv 3.0 footwear; these super shoes for trail racing are the company’s boldest, but are they the most successful? I tested both the Summit Vectiv Pro 3 and Summit Sky 2 to feel out where the trail super shoes now stand. While I have some preliminary thoughts on both, I will focus my first impressions on the shorter-distance racing option, Sky 2.

In short: For the last 4 years, The North Face has continued to level up its commitment to high-performance trail footwear. With the new Summit Vectiv Pro 3 ($250) and Summit Sky 2 ($200) incorporating refinements to the amazing “Dream foam” midsole and dual stacked carbon fiber plates, that commitment is as firm as ever. The cliched “quiver of one” the Sky 2 is not, but it provides specific benefits for trail racers, depending on course profiles and running style.

Don’t miss the GearJunkie guide to the Best Trail Running Shoes.

The North Face Summit Vectiv Sky 2 Review

I’m at mile 9 of the Trans Gran Canaria half marathon, a distance I appreciate for two reasons. First, its ability to wring out everything you have aerobically, as opposed to the grinding-down effect of ultra distances. And secondly, because of the redline pace, the necessity to use a shoe light enough for the uphills and extremely confidence-inspiring to rip the downhills.

I’m finally passing the three runners I’ve been yo-yo-ing with for the last half hour, letting my descending skills give me the chance to distance the others.

As a guest of presenting sponsor, The North Face, I received two shoe choices of race shoes from the new Vectiv 3.0 lineup: the hyper-techy, super-stacked Vectiv Pro 3, or the more nimble, carbon-plated, Dream foam-packed Summit Sky 2. Because the elevation gain and loss was over 4,000 feet and the half-marathon boasted a fairly serious amount of climbing and descending for a “short” race, I requested the Sky 2.

Comparison: The North Face Vectiv 3.0 Shoes

Ultimately, I received samples of both of The New Face racing shoes. In truth, my expectations were sky high for the Pro 3. The first two iterations of this shoe were outstanding. They became the shoes I ran in and raced the most over the last two years.

Plus, the original Sky was uninspiring. So, I assumed the new version would be likewise underwhelming. But as The North Face’s Senior Product manager Brett Rivers told me at the shoes’ unveiling at The Running Event trade show, both shoes were meant to be a “revolution,” not just an evolution.

TNF Vectiv Pro 3

The Vectiv Pro 3, with its exaggerated platform, huge rocker shape, and cutting-edge midsole materials, is a long-distance option for ultra-runners. It cuts an entirely new profile from the Pro 1 and 2. It isn’t the rocket those other shoes were, it’s more of a slow burn, meant to take you long distances and keeping your legs and feet as fresh as possible.

The shoe tries to offer as much propulsion as possible while remaining stable on trails’ naturally uneven surfaces. But as a shorter-distance trail runner, I was elated to discover just how much The North Face improved the Sky 2.

TNF Vectiv Sky 2

Out of the box, the Sky 2 is the sleek, and I mean sleek, alternative to the Pro 3. In racing circles, to qualify as “lightweight,” a shoe has to be under 9 ounces. The Sky 2 weighs around 8.4 ounces in a men’s size 9.

Carbon plates and the volume of midsole foam needed to soften them typically mean a shoe will weigh between 9.5 and 10.5 ounces. You can see this on similar super shoe models from Nike’s Ultrafly to adidas’ Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra.

With the Sky 2, a super shoe can now compete with some of the lightest-weight trail racing shoes that lack the Sky 2’s tech. I think of the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar series or the Merrell MTL Skyfire 2, for example.

Visually, the Sky 2 shares cues with its predecessor. The same rockered profile and very breathable mesh upper. The forefoot is somewhat narrow, but the upper material has give and stretch and can accommodate normal to wide feet.

Two significant changes to the upper revolve around the much-improved tongue system. The former had offset lacing and a thick, sock-style fit construction that really lacked in its ability to make lacing adjustments

The Sky 2 reverts to a thinned-out, traditional gusseted-style tongue with straight eyelets.

When The North Face debuted its Vectiv line in 2021, the uppers used Matryx mesh, a premium, durable weave that became a hallmark of expensive, quality-driven racing shoes. The Sky 2 now uses a proprietary upper material, reminiscent of Maytrx aesthetically.

Time will tell how its longevity compares. During the half marathon, I bashed a toe rounding a switchback, and the resulting abrasion resulted in a loose thread or two. In subsequent runs, this area hasn’t shown additional signs of wear.

TNF Summit Sky 2: More Bounce to the Ounce

Sometimes the trouble with carbon-plated shoes is the dulling effect they can have on your legs and feet. The material is supremely efficient and stiff as hell. This was my experience in the original Sky. It used an EVA outer carrier foam with only a drop-in, nitrogen-infused TPU foam.

The big swerve from the original Sky to the new Sky 2 is that instead of just a drop-in, the entire midsole is made from the soft and springy nitrogen-TPU. The North Face calls this foam “Dream,” and it proved to be just that. It entirely softened the underfoot sensation of the Sky 2, and it’s even lighter weight than the original.

The Vectiv 3.0 carbon plate from the Sky to Sky 2 remains the same. It is forked in the forefoot, meaning three separate prongs run independently on the left-middle-right sides. The prongs meet in the middle where the plate then extends in one length to the heel. The right and left prongs of the fork actually wrap slightly up on the medial and lateral aspects, forming “wings” on each side.

These wings have negatively colored the impression of many runners as they can rub and create painful friction. But even my super-wide feet have never had an issue with the wings — in the Sky 2, original Sky, or any of the Vectiv Pro models.

The shoe has a 6mm drop, with a stack of 28mm in the rear and 22mm in the forefoot. It patently does not suffer from the stability issues that its bloated friends in the trail super shoe universe.

My paragon of lightweight racing shoes, from all of my years of testing, is the Arc’teryx Norvan SL 2. That shoe is so light (about 6 ounces) and so luggy that it can tackle virtually any type of descent and rocket up any climb. Compared to the Sky 2, that shoe from 2021 is low tech. The Norvan has no carbon plate, and the midsole is a simple EVA compound.

The Sky 2 is the closest proxy for the Norvan SL 2 but pulls ahead because of its sophisticated materials and more “runnable” nature. The midsole offers a lot more support and propulsion than the Norvan while providing the same emphasis on speed and ground feel for technical descending.

Outsole Traction

The North Face not only reduced the Sky 2’s weight compared to the original, it added deeper lugs, going from the serviceable 3.5mm lugs to a do-it-all 5mm depth.

In freezing snow conditions at home, I pushed these trail running shoes around switchbacks and up and over boulders. During my Trans Gran Canaria half marathon in the Spanish island’s heat and humidity, the Sky 2 stuck to the ancient stone paths and the slippery, sandy eroded trails from the island’s volcanic origins.

The North Face updated the outsole pattern as well. There is now more midfoot coverage, as the chevron-style lugs creep further down the shoe than in the original. The confounding nature of more lugs with better depth and lower overall weight in the Sky 2 is remarkable.

The Sky 2’s “softer” sensation over the original could also owe to a new Surface Control outsole, where the material actually feels flexible, and the rebound over hard surfaces is just solid, not uncomfortably stiff.

According to Rivers, the Sky 2’s retooled outsole was a request directly from The North Face’s athlete team, which, I might add, is one of the most impressively cohesive and managed groups of any I’ve witnessed in trail running.

TNF Summit Sky 2: Who Is It For?

As more trail runners come into the sport, not buoyed by the “more is better” philosophy of hundred-miler ultrarunners, the need for dedicated racing shoes becomes critical. We need the performance qualities that, until just a few years ago, were limited to road racing flats: highly propulsive super foams, exaggerated rocker shapes, carbon plates, and weight in the 6-9-ounce range.

The Sky 2 checks all of these boxes for runners from 10 to 50km. It is a short-distance racing weapon for technical races.