Best Sneakers for Winter: Five Pairs Checked Against the Makers
The best sneakers for winter keep water out, hold warmth in and grip wet ground. We checked five pairs against their makers’ own pages: the Air Jordan 4 Winterized, the Air Force 1 GORE-TEX, the Salomon XT-6 GORE-TEX, the adidas Ultraboost 22 COLD.RDY and a New Balance 550 Cordura. Four were confirmed on a maker’s page, and the fifth could not be.
- Protection from the elements: the Air Force 1 GORE-TEX and the Salomon XT-6 GORE-TEX both name a GORE-TEX membrane on their makers’ pages.
- Warmth: Nike’s page for the Air Jordan 4 Winterized names a fleece lining, and adidas describes the Ultraboost 22 COLD.RDY upper as insulated.
- Prices: according to their makers’ pages or page data, the four confirmed pairs carry prices between $150 and $210 in adult sizes, with the date of each page in the table below.
What makes a sneaker good for winter?
A good winter sneaker does three jobs: it keeps water out, holds warmth in and grips wet ground. The makers’ pages we read lean on different jobs: two on staying dry, two on staying warm, and the Salomon and adidas pages also name grip, so it helps to know which one you need before you pick a pair.
Nike opens its page for the Air Jordan 4 Winterized with a four-item list of the problem.
Snow. Sleet. Salt. The cold.
The page goes on to say that the winter weather months are “tough, but even tougher on your sneakers”. Both lines come from Nike’s launch page for the pair, archived on 18 August 2025. Once you own a pair, our guide on how to protect sneakers covers the care routine through the cold months.
The Air Jordan 4 Winterized is the insulated pick
The Air Jordan 4 Winterized is the Air Jordan 4 with its usual materials swapped for winter-ready ones. According to Nike’s page, the upper is a loyal blue suede, the mesh underlays are a perforated synthetic, the tongue is rubberized and the habanero red interior has a soft fleece lining for warmth.
Nike adds a rubber outsole that it says helps protect the upper from salt-strewn streets, and it says you will stay cozy and dry, ready for storms and sloshy streets. The page never uses the word waterproof, so we do not either, and because the upper is suede, our guide to cleaning suede shoes is worth keeping close.
The page data Nike published, as archived on 18 August 2025, lists the men’s pair as the Air Jordan 4 Retro WNTR at a full price of $200 and the Big Kids’ pair at $140. It gives 21 December 2019 as the Big Kids’ start date for sales. For the background on the silhouette, see our Air Jordan 4 history.
The Air Force 1 GORE-TEX is the waterproof classic
The Air Force 1 GORE-TEX is the Air Force 1 built around a waterproof membrane. Nike’s US product page, read on 7 October 2026, says the all-leather upper sits on a waterproof GORE-TEX membrane that helps protect against rain, sleet and snow, with a Vibram sole made for wet, slippery and cold surfaces.
The same page states a price of $150 and shows four colorways: Black Pine, Off Noir, Summit White and Clay Green. Nike’s US product pages show no Triple White version of this pair as of 7 October 2026, and we found no maker’s page for an older Triple White GORE-TEX release, so none is covered here.
Before you order a leather Air Force 1 in any color, read up on how Air Force 1s fit.
The Salomon XT-6 GORE-TEX is the outdoor pick
The Salomon XT-6 GORE-TEX is a trail running design adapted for city streets. Salomon calls it a legendary trail running icon reinvented for the city, with innovative waterproof protection for every day, whatever the weather. The spec list on its US page names a GORE-TEX membrane, a rubber outsole, a synthetic and textile upper and a quickLACE system.
Grip comes from Mud contaGRIP, which Salomon describes as deep, sharp lugs made from a compound that focuses on adhesion, built for loose, soft, rugged and uneven surfaces. The listing gives a 10 mm drop and a weight of 13 oz per unit.
According to Salomon’s US product page, archived on 21 April 2026, the shoe is listed at $200. Our Salomon sneakers piece covers the brand’s wider range.
The adidas Ultraboost 22 COLD.RDY is the cold-weather runner
The adidas Ultraboost 22 COLD.RDY is a running shoe with an insulated upper for low temperatures. adidas opens its page with the line that winter can be your favorite season to run. It says the upper is insulated for warmth and comfort in low temperatures, and that a grippy Continental Wintergrip rubber outsole keeps your footing secure on slippery streets.
The page adds energy-returning Boost and a Linear Energy Push system. According to adidas’s US product page, archived on 4 December 2021, the Black pair was listed at $210 and showed as available from Wednesday, 15 December 2021, at 8:00 am UTC.
For longer runs in the cold, our best winter running shoes piece goes through more options, and it is the better starting point if running is your main use.
Does a CORDURA upper make the New Balance 550 a winter sneaker?
A CORDURA upper makes a sneaker tougher, and it does not by itself make it waterproof. According to the CORDURA FAQ, the brand supplies engineered fibers to mill partners who create durable, abrasion resistant fabrics, and the CORDURA home page says the brand has been trusted for durability since 1967. The pages we read make no claim about water.
That matters for the New Balance 550 Cordura, a pair named for its upper. We could not find a maker’s page for it, so its materials and its price are unconfirmed, and we do not guess at either. A CORDURA label tells you about the fabric, so look at the sole, the lining and the construction as well before you rely on a pair in wet weather.
If you are weighing the 550 on other grounds, our best New Balance sneakers list covers the range.
Does GORE-TEX keep a sneaker dry on its own?
GORE-TEX keeps water out only when the rest of the shoe cooperates. Gore’s footwear testing page says the materials in the upper must be non-wicking, so that water cannot be transported into the shoe over the GORE-TEX lining, and that waterproof footwear is filled with water and spun at high speeds to reveal leaks.
According to Wikipedia, GORE-TEX was invented in 1969 and blocks liquid water while allowing water vapor to pass through. The same article says Gore has been replacing its ePTFE membrane with an expanded polyethylene membrane in consumer fabrics from 2024 onwards.
In practice, a GORE-TEX label tells you about the lining. The leather, textile and stitching around it still count, which is why this list names each pair’s upper and sole next to its membrane.
What do the makers list for each pair?
The table below sets out what each maker’s page or page data lists for its pair, with the date of the copy we read. The weather column uses the maker’s own wording where we could, and the price column is the price each page or page data lists, not what a pair sold for anywhere else. For the Air Jordan 4 Winterized it is the full price in Nike’s archived page data, since the visible page shows none.
Pair Weather feature the maker names Price listed Page and date Air Jordan 4 Winterized Fleece lining, rubberized tongue, rubber outsole $200 full price (men’s, page data), $140 full price (Big Kids’, page data) Nike SNKRS, archived 18 August 2025 Air Force 1 GORE-TEX Vibram GORE-TEX membrane, Vibram sole $150 Nike US, read 7 October 2026 Salomon XT-6 GORE-TEX GORE-TEX membrane, Mud contaGRIP outsole $200 Salomon US, archived 21 April 2026 adidas Ultraboost 22 COLD.RDY Insulated upper, Wintergrip outsole $210 adidas US, archived 4 December 2021 New Balance 550 Cordura Not confirmed Not confirmed No maker page found Market prices move and are shown for reference, not as a promise. The four prices come from four different dates, so each one shows what its maker’s page or page data listed in the copy we read, and not a like-for-like comparison.
Read against your own weather, the table sorts the pairs by job. If cold is the main problem, the fleece-lined Air Jordan 4 Winterized and the insulated Ultraboost 22 COLD.RDY are the closest match. If wet is the main problem, the two GORE-TEX pairs are, and the fifth pair cannot be placed until a maker’s page confirms it.
