Snow shoes

[Stretch75]

What types of snowshoes are people using these days? Are there any advantages of a certain type? Are the MSR urethane type good for the money? They seem like the type that could handle some punishment, pretty light too....

Edited January 28, 2005 by Stretch75

[cracked]

MSR work fine. But snowshoes in general suck major ass. Have fun.

[Gary_Yngve]

Sadly, right now, skiis suck major ass too.

[Stretch75]

I find postholing sucks major ass in general

[terrible_ted]

I have the first generation MSR shoes and find them fairly versatile. The metal cleats that run along the sides create greater traction on icier/steeper terrain. The rubber straps lasted a lot longer than I initially expected, but sometimes I have to fiddle with them a bit before I get a good seating. I've never needed the extensions to get a good float (I'm ~ 160#).

 

The shoes handle sidehilling better than the conventional tube-type constucts because they dig in more.

 

They are kind of ugly, and noisy as hell.

 

They used to be notably cheaper than the competition. Now: less so.

 

-t

[catbirdseat]

The older MSR ones used to break rivets, but they have replace the aluminum rivets with titanium ones and this doesn't happen any more I am told. After all four front rivets broke on my MSRs I replaced them with SS bolts with aircraft nuts.

 

A friend of mine bought a pair of the newer ones and didn't know about the switch to titanium. He tried to drill out the rivets, but his drill bit wouldn't cut and he couldn't figure out why.

Edited January 28, 2005 by catbirdseat

[darstog]

The MSR snowshoes are the way to go. Light, tough, versatile, traction, etc.

[MisterMo]

Having gone from the monstrous wooden ones to the early Tubbs (which are still hangin' together) I'm continually amazed at how "little" most of the snowshoes look. I mean...people haven't gotten lighter on the whole, and I'm pretty sure the basic physical properties of snow haven't changed...do those little dinky ones really give any meaningful amount of flotation?

[fenderfour]

yes.

[AlpineK]

If I were in the market for snow sport gear I'd wait to buy until late february when the good sales are...and this year there should be some good sales.

 

Snowshoeing is for suckers;skiing is where it's at, but if you have no desire and no skill to ski you may be a sucker.

[Stretch75]

Have the skillz, just needed something for earlier this year getting back into the alpental area. Coming down was great, going up was brutal... I figured I'd rather float than sink.

[Alpinfox]

 

Use the search function.

 

Here is one THREAD.

[OldManRock]

Instead of snowshoes try and find an old pair of Trak Bushwakers - They were a short stubby ski with no wax bottoms

and worked real well in thick woods - Not very fast downhill

but worked super going up - I wish Trak had not stopped making them.

[Plinko]

Lots of MSR loyalty here for some reason...maybe because they're cheap, or local, or ?

 

Check out the specs on a pair of Backcountry Rescue's, made by Northern Lite. They weigh almost 1/2 of what most other shoes weigh. Downside is their traction isn't as good as my MSRs, but for half the weight, big deal.

 

MSR's Denali with extended tails: 4 pounds 10 oz

NortherLite Backcountry Rescue: 2 pounds 11 oz

 

That's a real tough choice....

[MisterMo]

Instead of snowshoes try and find an old pair of Trak Bushwakers - They were a short stubby ski with no wax bottoms

and worked real well in thick woods - Not very fast downhill

but worked super going up - I wish Trak had not stopped making them.

 

Second this. Super cool little skis. I've got the Silvretta Mouse Traps on mine. I scrounge old woodies out of the dump for edge repair. May they last forever.....

[knelson]

(snip...)

 

Check out the specs on a pair of Backcountry Rescue's, made by Northern Lite. They weigh almost 1/2 of what most other shoes weigh. Downside is their traction isn't as good as my MSRs, but for half the weight, big deal.

 

MSR's Denali with extended tails: 4 pounds 10 oz

NortherLite Backcountry Rescue: 2 pounds 11 oz

 

That's a real tough choice....

 

Well sure... if you add the weight of the tails - but you don't need them up here in WA unless you're a gorilla with a full pack. I don't know the weight of the tails offhand, but I'm sure leaving those behinds shaves off at least 1 lb.

 

I agree that less weight = good thing, but trading weight for less traction (therefore less time on feet - either the snowshoes or yourself!) doesn't seem like a good trade in my book.

 

I think MSRs have a great following here because they do great with our local snow conditions - you can just about wear them anywhere, doing nearly anything (within reason.) Your mileage may vary.

 

-kurt

[layton]

[Stretch75]

was looking at these

[luwayo]

i’m on my 4th pair of SS after exchanges made each consecutive spring (msr/atlas user). the list of good/bad is long but the salient pts i care to make are perhaps not commonly mentioned, regardless, they are common complaints amongst my cohorts & i:

MSR bindings: (-) if high mileage user, you could develop forefoot problems from the middle strap if you choose to wear (wet) leathers or some other soft boot; (+) already mentioned but worth repeating – best SS for sidehilling due to side traction bars.

Atlas claw/crampon: (-) notorious for growing giant snowballs. i think it's to do with the rivet underneath. is there a way to defeat this problem?

Atlas welded join: (-) another reliable weak point…the welded piece breaks off…. and now, the so called improvement marketed in 2004 utilizes a plastic v-insert to join the aluminium tube at the back; now the plastic breaks instead. V-shape is the design flaw.

These problems arose over bi/tri-weekly use from scramble/mtnr’g type episodes; not your X-mas holiday/hot chocolate tours on Cypress.

Will not be replacing SS this season as I’ve recently taken up falling down on ^* sticks

 

despite these problems, and having accepted their limited durability, i think MSR or Atlas are the best performers for our snow. i don't have a verdict for TSLs yet; but for a handful of folks i know, the (-) very fancy Tubbs ratchet bindings have been cracking after one use.

Edited February 3, 2005 by luwayo

[Bug]

I have used my MSR's for probably 500 miles. They are worn but still reliable. Side hilling is great and I like the heel lifters. A friend broke one shoe at the toe digging it out of a cache on Denali. It is the only breakage I have seen. Comfort and stride seem fine. The size is good for west coast mashed potatoes but would not be good for deep powder. Then you are far better off with skiis. But for thick brush, nasty trails, and generally unskiable deep snow conditions, the MSR's are tested and approved.

[Alpine_Tom]

(snip...)

 

Check out the specs on a pair of Backcountry Rescue's, made by Northern Lite. They weigh almost 1/2 of what most other shoes weigh. Downside is their traction isn't as good as my MSRs, but for half the weight, big deal.

 

MSR's Denali with extended tails: 4 pounds 10 oz

NortherLite Backcountry Rescue: 2 pounds 11 oz

 

That's a real tough choice....

 

Well sure... if you add the weight of the tails - but you don't need them up here in WA unless you're a gorilla with a full pack. I don't know the weight of the tails offhand, but I'm sure leaving those behinds shaves off at least 1 lb.

 

I agree that less weight = good thing, but trading weight for less traction (therefore less time on feet - either the snowshoes or yourself!) doesn't seem like a good trade in my book.

 

I think MSRs have a great following here because they do great with our local snow conditions - you can just about wear them anywhere, doing nearly anything (within reason.) Your mileage may vary.

 

-kurt

 

I've got the MSRs, and at 200lbs, I've never needed to use the tails. At Alpental a couple of weeks back, they might have been useful, but in general the snow around here is pretty wet.

They are awfully noisy, though. That's the one real drawback as far as I'm concerned.

[knelson]

They are awfully noisy, though. That's the one real drawback as far as I'm concerned.

 

What? You tryin' to sneak up on folks or something?

 

But seriously, they are noisy. But don't you think that pretty much comes from the fact that you're wearing them in places you would normally take other types off? Seems like they're pretty quiet fluffing through powder, but you get that trademarked "CLACK CLACK CLACK KRRRRR CLACK CLACK" at 70 dBA when crunching through spots of hard icy stuff in between the soft stuff. Those are the areas that always freaked me out on the old style. Now I don't even think twice.

 

I suppose they're also noisy when klutzes like me graze the edge of one snow shoe with the traction bars of the other when making a step... or clipping the toe with the traction bars... THAT makes a pretty tattletale noise too!

 

-kurt

[ketch]

They are awfully noisy, though. That's the one real drawback as far as I'm concerned.

 

This is my biggest complaint with the plastic MSRs. I really liked the new lightnings when I tested them out. they were also quite a bit lighter. It seems to me that they were a little over three pounds not bad for weight. I am not sure that for the limited slowshoeing that I do that I want to spend the bucks. Definatley not this year anyway.