Martina Valmassoi Shows her Creative Spirit with Limited Edition Sense Ride 5

The athlete/content genius/creative spirit presents her dream shoe, inspired by her and her favorite mountains

Over the last 10 years, Martina Valmassoi has been a real treasure for the brand: from Salomon ambassador to content creator, and now top-level athlete winning races left and right, she has also worked with the Salomon design teams to create her first signature trail running shoe, now available online and in select retailers.

Martina Valmassoi, Salomon’s Swiss Army Knife

Martina, the blond girl from Pieve di Cadore (IT), joined the Salomon Italy trail running team in 2012, before moving on to being one of Salomon’s trail-running community manager for 8 years, attending races, shooting content, all while being a top-level athlete herself. She could run in front of a pack of some of the best trail runners on this planet, snap some pictures, then run to the front again and still keep up with the group!

Her determination and drive led her to launch into new challenges : she has the record for most elevation gain ski touring in 24h, and you might have seen her on the podium of the Pierra Menta, the iconic ski-mountaineering race. She’s also somewhat of a bike fanatic, as she followed the Giro d’Italia for 3147 km during 19 days. Trail-wise, she has been on the top step of the podium at the 2021 Lavaredo Ultra Trail, the 2022 TDS in Chamonix and 2022 edition of the Dolomyths Run. Such an explosive girl had all the right credentials to join the international trail-running team at Salomon, and she confirmed again with a 1st place at Transvulcania 2023.

Martina has since worked on her own line of funky caps and socks. Little by little, she became unavoidable in the Salomon ecosystem, which led to a footwear PLM connecting her with Christophe Borlet in order to create a limited edition shoe inspired by her vibrant and colorful personality.

The Sense Ride 5 by Martina Valmassoi

Since the footwear team was picking its brain on how to renew the fan-favorite versatile Sense Ride, Christophe Borlet, designer for Salomon footwear, who has worked on iconic shoes like the Speedcross, proposed a version of the shoe that found inspiration in its S/LAB counterpart (the speedy and minimal S/LAB Sense 8). The heel and front part of the shoe would be visually separated in order to work with color blocks and give the shoe more personality, as well as a pointy, aggressive design. Even if they were trying to create a shoe that wasn’t too bold so it would remain accessible and appealing to a large number of runners, they had to find ways to create some interest, “just like a screenwriter adds fighting sequences and romance to a movie to make it interesting,” explained Christophe.

The connection between Christophe Borlet, who Martina called “the best designer ever”, and Martina, who Christophe called “the coolest artist in the world”, happened in July 2021. The team gave her a blank slate, only limited by the (large) color palette that had been decided upon for that season. Martina went for the brightest and most attractive colors. “Color means a lot to me,” she says. “Being colorful allows you to snatch a smile at those around you. I always try to be positive in every aspect of my life, instead of remaining in shades of grey, between black and white moments. With a little color, a little positivity you can better cope with any difficulty.” Martina wanted her trail shoe to be closely connected to the mountains, so she got inspiration from her home mountain, the Antelag, and merged it with Les Drus, which she would admire every time she parked her van in Chamonix to prepare for races. “It was great to know I was creating something unique and special,” she admits. She also added the LoveTrail logo, a small detail to show her spirit and remind people to never take themselves too seriously.

The result is a comfortable, versatile trail running shoe, suitable for all types of terrain, with a fun and joyful design. “The collaboration was carried out very well, Martina is an overly generous girl, she gave us much more than expected in terms of graphic design,” Christophe says.

“She would send us feedback and new ideas during her TDS preparation, telling us she had also worked on some apparel ideas, all while prepping for a 100km trail race!”. In fact, in addition to the shoes, Martina also worked on tee shirts that will be available on Salomon’s website.

The versatile shoe for all your walks, runs and hikes

Looking for the one pair of trail shoes to take you everywhere? The Sense Ride 5 is the versatile trail runner that does it all. With highly durable optiFOAM in the midsole, the Sense Ride 5 has a softer feeling than the previous version, with just the right amount of cushioning and response.

The new, more durable All-Terrain Contagrip on the outsole trustworthy on a wide variety of surfaces. The upper uses a lightweight, flexible and durable engineered mesh for an even more optimized and comfortable foothold.

“We were the first to bring this concept that no matter where you run, on the road, to the trails, in your city, you can use the same versatile shoes. The Sense Ride really is that go-to shoe to run anywhere and everywhere,” explains Romain Berger.

If you are interested in this shoe signed by Martina, know that "whether you go slow or fast, you will be the coolest in the mountains."