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Archive 2014 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought

  
 
Jon Tainton
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


The novelty of trail breaking through snow has long worn off and entered the 'mild horror' stage, so I'm looking at replacing/ditching the crampons with snow shoes. I'd still carry Kathoola microspikes for terrain with a light snow covering and verglas. Snow type(?) - rarely blanket powder, more wet/damp snow with a frozen crust, typical of North Atlantic type weather where freeze/thaw/freeze affects the snowpack and high winds emplace the snow. To give an idea of the terrain traversed, see pics below and imagine a foot/30cm blanket of snow with deeper 1m/3 ft + areas of drifts.

Boot Size 11 UK / 11.5 North America / 45 Europe. Weight - 120 kg fully laden (a quick check on the scales and to my surprise, I'm more than prepared for a very long + cold winter )

The MSR lightning ascent seem the dogs 'whotsits', but I'm open to suggestions on other snowshoe brands and practical advice on the limitations of snowshoe e.g contouring slops, practicality of snow covered 'hummocky' vegetation. No traversing of 'technical' ground envisaged.

Thanks in anticipation.



















Oct 08, 2014 at 05:19 AM
howatthunter
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


If your looking at MSR, check the Lightning Explore. They have a nice looking and more adjustable binding. If I were to buy a new pair of shoes, I would consider the Explore. My current shoes are Tubbs. They are nice. I'm sure you will get more suggestions.


Oct 08, 2014 at 07:08 AM
Roland W
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


Be careful of recommendations for sizing of snow shoes that manufactures make. Many of the "guides" that give size of snow shoe versus weight are based on a snow shoe big enough to support you in deep power, and allow you to break a trail in that powder without going in to it too deep. If as you state, your needs are more for use on packed trails, or shallow snow, or crud snow that has no powder type fluff, you should get a smaller snow shoe than the general recommendation, and/or a smaller style of snow shoe. Hopefully you will get more specific sizing recommendations from others.

The MSR shoes in general have good traction on partly icy surfaces, and good traction if you are crossing a side slope. And I am not just saying that because of them being based in the Seattle area where I am from.




Oct 08, 2014 at 11:36 AM
DtEW
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


Roland W wrote:
The MSR shoes in general have good traction on partly icy surfaces, and good traction if you are crossing a side slope. And I am not just saying that because of them being based in the Seattle area where I am from.


Concur, and not from the Seattle area. The wealth of pointy bits on the bottom of MSR snowshoes really bite at any hardness that might flummox other snowshoes. And most (all?) models are modular, with add-on tails available to adjust flotation for your load and conditions.



Oct 08, 2014 at 01:19 PM
rockant
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


I also recommend and use MSR. I would also recommed renting, if available in your area, to try out sizing on your normal terrain.

You will find huge differneces between what works best for slush/crud versus Powder. Spoken from the experience of having shoes that were to small in powder with a light crust. It is no fun postholing in snowshoes.



Oct 08, 2014 at 01:56 PM
Jon Tainton
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


Thanks for all the replies, they are much appreciated for a snowshoe noob.

@howatthunter - there’s not many stockists of snowshoes in the UK and MSR seem to be one known brand that is carried. This year I’ve also looked in outdoor shops in Norway and the French Alps and whilst skiing and snow boarding gear is well represented, snowshoes were much less so.

@Roland W - it may be my poor description of snow type/condition, but UK snow is very rarely ‘powder’, we don’t get sustained periods of high pressure and polar air seen on continents. UK snow events are typically confined to high ground with a heavy snow fall, partial thaw, then freeze for a crust/granular snow then rain/sleet and more snow on top, as low pressure systems skirt the European winter high. I’ve never traversed deep powder, but knee deep ‘wet’ stuff is a truly miserable experience.

Just to clarify the snow shoes are for breaking trail across virgin snow fields, most UK winter walkers stick to known paths/tracks to popular hill summits, my interest is in photographing from lesser peaks/ quieter areas.

@DtEW - how well do the add-on tails work?

@rockant - I’d like to rent, but AFAIK there’s nowhere in the UK that provides a rental service. I can’t imagine postholing in snow shoes is worse than crampon holes.

It’s the wisdom of the FM General Gear forum that I’m relying on to narrow down the size and model and at the moment an MSR lightning ascent/explore 25" model is the contender, with the caveat that it may be undersized for deep powder snow, but OK for the shallower and 'wetter stuff' prevalent in UK hills



Oct 08, 2014 at 05:38 PM
sjms
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


MSR


Oct 09, 2014 at 04:53 PM
leftcoastlefty
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


Jon Tainton wrote:
It’s the wisdom of the FM General Gear forum that I’m relying on to narrow down the size and model and at the moment an MSR lightning ascent/explore 25" model is the contender, with the caveat that it may be undersized for deep powder snow, but OK for the shallower and 'wetter stuff' prevalent in UK hills


You are on the right track. I see that the 25” shoes are rated to 220 lbs. That’s the total weight of you, your clothes and your gear. You are correct that you can go a tad smaller because your snow will be denser. Not knowing anything about your size, the 25" shoes sound fine. You are using these to replace crampons and microspikes so pretty much any size will be a huge improvement.



Oct 09, 2014 at 11:50 PM
Jon Tainton
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


leftcoastlefty wrote:
You are on the right track. I see that the 25” shoes are rated to 220 lbs. That’s the total weight of you, your clothes and your gear. You are correct that you can go a tad smaller because your snow will be denser. Not knowing anything about your size, the 25" shoes sound fine. You are using these to replace crampons and microspikes so pretty much any size will be a huge improvement.


I can confirm the 120kg (250lbs) is me/clothes/boots and laden rucksack, which is just over the upper limit of the 25" MSR. I was still planning to take along microspikes as normally ridges/summit areas tend to be blown clear of snow to a manageable depth and/or have an adequate crust, the snowshoes are to get me through the accumulation areas with less effort expended and time saved. Also I can foresee kicking over a tripod when shod with snowshoes too.

Literally any do's or don'ts on snowshoeing will be welcome. A few intro videos show wildly ecstatic people snowshoeing on fairly gentle slopes, heading straight up/down. So, I'm wondering about snowshoe flexibility for contouring around slopes or diagonal traverses.









Oct 10, 2014 at 07:32 PM
Kris Reiswig
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Snow shoes - advice and insight sought


I also vote for MSRs. I have had them for over 10 years. The new ones have a great binding system. Also, the heel lift is awesome. The only negative is that they are very loud. You will not be able to sneak up on any living creature! Other than that, they have never failed, in any way.


Oct 10, 2014 at 07:49 PM





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