Snowshoes... your experiences?

[Jack-O]

I had not snowshoed in 30+ years till a few days ago. I've got my eye on a nice pair at REI made by MSR but they are $300 so they sit on the shelf waiting and mocking me yet.

I did however find a craigslist add for some GI magnesium shoes and bindings in new condition for $39 so I picked them up.

We finally got some snow last night and I headed up into the canyon this afternoon for a brief test and evaluation/cardio trip.

carried my pack which weighs in at 25#, my hogleg, overwhites, gaiters, trek poles, and shoes. with my fat ass coming in at near 200#, lets figure a nice round 235# as equipped. elevation estimated 6200ft, temp was 25 degrees maybe.

it does take some doing to get them damn milspec binders adjusted straight and tight, but they did alright for the trip which was only about 45min. As I would discover later they were not installed correctly.

I went up a draw following someone elses pre-cut trail, which is way easier. once I set off blazing trail of my own, I was sinking 12-14" into the snow depending on conditions. the shoes have a tendancy to slide when side hilling or going up or down hill, so the poles became very important as did setting the shoes to get purchase. at one point going down, I stumbled and ended up on my knees over my shoes facing downhill. there was no way I could have gotten back up with the depth of the snow without the poles to help. In deep snow I think poles are a must, rifle or not.

In any event I probably wont get rid of these as they do seem to work after a fashion and are useful as a back-up pair and for the price represent a fine gear purchase in my book.

These MSR lightning ascent 30's are what I want... http://www.rei.com/product/825002/ms...snowshoes-mens

what I hope to get from those is
-better grip from sliding on the ice
-better ability to grip the pocket of snow under the shoe with the vertical rim and foot crampons
-better floatation (with the optional 5" flotation tails they would be bomber!)
-heel riser helps foot stress while climbing as it levels your foot
-the satisfaction that I bought the most expensive shoes I could find then rarely use them just to spite myself.

What are you experiences with your snowshoes? can you provide a comparison between different types?

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couple of resources for the military snowshoe and some military testing of shoes

testing: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA318339 (summation is that the newer styleshoes and the military mag shoes required less energy use than the bear paw type)

manual: http://www.bethnchris.com/wp-content...Snow-Shoes.pdf

After ****ing with these bindings I will say that NONE of the pictures i found has it right.

Here are some pics of how I think it should be done and what just seems to make the most sense.

options are to move the outside straps in a hole or two to get a different tightness/fit. the downside to moving from the outermost holes is that the strap doesnt move thru the hole as well when adjusting. I'll have to test it a bit more tomorrow.

http://imageshack.us/g/252/s


Step one: thread the strap


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Step two: Insert strap into tightener correctly



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step three: secure the strap after adjustment


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Overall picture of completed strap installation


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there you go!! the hardest easy thing I've done in a while!

[DeltaSierra]

For work, I have had to be on snowshoes all day, every day for weeks at a time.

From that experience, I gained quite a bit of knowledge on the subject....


There are only two types of shoes that I will use - Tubbs aluminum framed shoes, or high quality rawhide shoes.


My favorite shoe would have to be a rawhide bearpaw with a Howe binding made by Armand Boutin of northern Vermont.


I find that the rawhide shoes are much quieter than the aluminum/plastic shoes, and the bindings on the aluminum shoes are not the best choice for long hikes, as they tend to break (I went through three or four shoes last winter, as either the bindings would break, or the webbing would let go) or they simply loosen up by themselves, and at some point the shoe slips off your boot...

I've never had the chance to use the Magnesium shoes, but from what experience I do have, I must say that I highly doubt that they would hold up under my use.



When you are looking at shoes, it is also important to figure out what type of snow you will be hiking in. Powder? Thick crust? Packed ice? Very steep terrain? If you are primarily going to be on packed surfaces, I'd want something with more traction than a standard rawhide shoe.

[Jack-O]

what kind of snow do you work in and what type of activity are you doing? longer range treking type stuff or more tromping around in a smaller area?

Do you do much sidehilling? what works for that?

[Armati]

I have very limited experience snow shoeing but I did not care for it. I found cross country skis much faster and easier to use.

[DeltaSierra]

what kind of snow do you work in and what type of activity are you doing? longer range treking type stuff or more tromping around in a smaller area?

Do you do much sidehilling? what works for that?

I (used) to work for a maple sugaring operation, so my job was to check the lines that are strung through the woods to carry the sap from the trees to the bulk tanks to make sure that there were no leaks or animal damage, and generally carried a backpack/toolbelt with some tools that I needed, as well as food and water.

The activity level was steady walking, dawn 'till dusk (with a short break for lunch) in mostly unbroken snow. I've been in everything from powder, to thick concrete-like snow. Fortunately I didn't have to do much on pack/ice but I've done just enough of that to know that is not what I want to do no matter what...
etc

Side hills are pretty bad any way you cut it. There is no snow shoe that will be better on side hills in my opinion, but rather the person wearing the shoes that will make it better or worse.

[DeltaSierra]

I have very limited experience snow shoeing but I did not care for it. I found cross country skis much faster and easier to use.

Skiing simply doesn't work in the deep forest, especially when you have to travel uphill as much as you travel downhill, or if you have to carry much equipment with you.

[Jack-O]

DS, check out this design of shoe http://www.rei.com/product/825002/ms...snowshoes-mens

It has really good grip and field reports are saying that it sidehills and grips really well.

I went out again today for a bit and tried some really steep down hill sections and got a decent technique, but it's slow and deliberate.

I also have been looking at ski's of various types. of particular interest is the Alpine Touring and Nordic types. lotta money for a set tho and a lot of technique involved either way you slice it. could be faster in a lot of areas tho.

[DeltaSierra]

DS, check out this design of shoe http://www.rei.com/product/825002/ms...snowshoes-mens

I haven't used that particular brand of shoe, but here are my first off impressions...

The bindings are not going to hold up to hard use, in fact, I highly doubt that they would hold up for serious recreational use either. That style of binding breaks quite frequently, due to the type of rubber/plastic that is used. I don't know why, but they can't seem to figure out how to make a non-leather binding that actually works well, and will hold up under strain...

I personally wouldn't want the bottom of the frame to stick out below the webbing, as in deep snow or brush the sharp edge of that frame will catch on all sorts of stuff, and will end up tripping you up more than anything.

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It would be good if you could describe the area that you intend to snowshoe in, as that will make a big difference in what shoe you will want to get. If you are in brushy or forested areas, you will want a bearpaw design, but if you are in plains, and relatively open/flat areas, a good alaskan style shoe (with the "tail" in the back) would be much better.

Since you seem to be concerned with sidehilling, I would suggest that you go out and play around with the shoes that you have.
I think that you will find that the aggressive "bite" of those particular shoes is not needed, unless you are going to be using them for a very specific application (of which I am still not sure what that would be...



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[Jack-O]

Probably the first really in depth review of the MSR ascent shoes I've seen. worth a read if anyone is interested in a decent shoe...

http://4alloutdoors.org/reviews/foot...ent-snowshoes/

[hatidua]

I had the MSR Denali Ascent two years ago and then "upgraded" to the MSR Lightning Ascent last year. After two Winter 14'ers here in CO, I sold the pair of Lightning Ascent 30's and am searching for a pair of the Denali Ascents like I sold

I found that the Lightning Ascent contributed significantly to upper leg fatigue as they are a good bit heavier than the Denali's I'd previously had. The Lightnings might be great for some people, but they weren't comfortable for me.