Cross training - does anyone snowshoe?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa - I've got bigass feet (10EEEE, as well as being high volume thanks to high arches and a high instep) and I am very happy with my MSR Women's Lightening Ascent shoes.

With feet like that, why would you even NEED snowshoes??
(JUST KIDDING!!!!)

All kidding aside....
Thank you all for your help!
After reading lots of info online about snowshoeing and doing a lot of comarison shopping, I bought some snowshoes that I think would probably work well for me.
They are the Tubbs Odyssey women-specific, 8" x 25" with good crampons and what seem to be good pivoting features. There are a few pretty good hills here on my walks, though no mountains. Here they are shown on LLBean's site, (but I got mine from another dealer for $155 instead of $199):
http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/sto...rValue_1=Lemon
I think they will be the right size for me and the right balance, somewhere midpoint between flat "recreational" and uber-aggressive mountain climbing type shoes.

I also ordered some women's adjustable poles and some Gortex gaiters.
Now instead of dreading snow because I'll be off my bike, I have something exciting to look forward to if the white stuff comes down! This being outside in the winter business is all totally new to me. It's only possible because I finally figured out how to dress properly thanks to my cold weather biking. All my life I've avoided being outside in the winter, shivering miserably in bulky acrylic sweaters, heavy coats, and cheap boots. I also had some good winter wear advice from a pro-skiing girlfriend. She and my DH set me straight, and now I love being outside in the brisk cold.

Golly, a whole new world opening up for me at 52....whoodda thunk?

[LBTC]

Way to go, Lisa!

With a good 4" of fresh snow today, DH and I just bought the Atlas snowshoes, mine are women's specific 1023, his 1025. They feel good, the bindings are easy to use, and we definitely burn more calories while we are outside in them!

We just went to a local dog trail loop and the dogs and we really enjoyed the whole thing. I just need to get waterproof pants and figure out how to not shoot snow all over my backside! My bum is very cold and was very wet!!

Off to look at gore tex pants....

(this is way above gaitor height!)

Happy snow to everyone, no matter how you get out to enjoy it!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

LBTC,
That's so THRILLING, you and DH and dogs all out there snowshoeing for the first time together today in fresh snow!! How great is THAT? (dogs were using thier "natural" snowshoes though)
Interesting about the wet bum issue- I'll have to see if that happens to me. I did get gaiters so the snow wouldn't get in my boots. I imagine it depends on your walking style, your shoes, and the type of snow all combining to dictate the degree of "snow flip". Did your husband get snowflipbum too, or just you??

I'm so happy for you- I can hear the excitement in your post!

[LBTC]

I'm very very happy now as I sit on my hot pack to warm up my bum! hahahaha

DH had much less snow flip than I did. Definitely a lot on his calves, and the occasional splat onto the bottom of his jacket, but not much else. His pants were more waterrepellent than mine, he's taller, and he just didn't have as much snow flipping up as I did! Try as I did to keep my shoes flat, slide my feet forward, even exagerating my weight onto my heels, the snow still flipped up. I think the gore-tex cycling jacket I have that covers most of my bum will really help, and I should have better moisture wicking pants under the shell pants. It's not cold today, so I wasn't that worried about it, but even a cycling tight would have been better, I think.

So now I'm searching online for Gore Tex pants. MEC has 3 to choose from, but only one that is marginally affordable. REI does not have a Gore Tex women's pant even though they have 3 to choose from in men's. We have a FarWest store, but that brand does not make a women's Gore Tex pant either. It's amazing. It's like manufacturers think women don't DO things! heehee

And, yes, the fresh snow is fabulous and the dogs had a fantastic time! They got enough of a workout to be resting quietly now instead of insisting we play with the squeak!

When are you going to try your new shoes, Lisa??

Oh and if anyone has any suggestions of where to get gore tex pants (that are remotely affordable) please post!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

When are you going to try your new shoes, Lisa??

1) I just ordered them 2 hours ago, and they won't get shipped out until tomorrow...
2) We haven't had any snow at ALL yet here in upstate NY! Temps still in the 30's and 40's. We're still biking! Weird. Last year we had abnormally small amounts of snow, hope to get some soon...(but not before my snowshoes get here!) A typical winter here we'll get quite a few 3" falls, a few 6-8"ers, and maybe a couple of 10-15" falls. Of course there's way more up in the nearby Berkshire mountains, if I wanted to drive up there to ski country...

Hey maybe you should call Atlas and ask them about your snow flip- they should know all about that and what to do. Are you sure you have the right style and the right size for the kind of snowshoeing you are doing? It can't hurt to call them, surely you'll learn something helpful- they might even suggest you exchange them for another style with them at no charge.
Or perhaps it was just a factor of the type of snow you had today.

Are you looking at ski gear for waterproof pants?- that might be a good place to find them...or snowboarding wear?

[Crankin]

I don't wear waterproof pants when i snow shoe or X country ski. I have a pair of wool Ibex pants that are water resistant and very warm. I wear them for the above activities and for cycling when it is 40 or less degrees. I fall a lot when skiing, and I've never been soaked through. You should look in the Athleta catalog for waterproof pants. They are having a big sale now on that stuff. Sierra Trading Post also has a lot of this stuff, too, but it's a search to look through their web site.
No snow here, another day of cycling... I think Al Gore is right!

[Aint Doody]

The "snow flip" phenomona is puzzling. I have a good friend I go with who ends up with a solid white rear from the waist to her heels. Not me, I'm not a flipper. Others flip only halfway up their legs. I'm quite slew-footed--maybe that's a good thing on snowshoes.

[cosc]

Lucky me-5 to 6 in. of snow here. My dh and I went for a hike with my new snowshoes. What a fun to be outdoors and see the beauty of the season. The snowshoes worked great. Easy to get in and out and I was upright the entire time. I didn't get any snow flip! I'm a duck walker too. My dh was impressed with how well I did, but he didn't know how easy it was since he just had on his winter boots. Some advice to the newbies, don't over do like I did. The muscle that lifts my leg is going to have to recuperate a few days. I hope the snow doesn't melt before I'm able to get out again. I definitley need to cross-train. Lisa I'm glad you found some other snowshoers-bicyclist in your area because SD is too far to go for a Odyssey snowshoe outing.
Here's wishing all the snowshoers a good amount of snow!

[Dianyla]

With feet like that, why would you even NEED snowshoes??
(JUST KIDDING!!!!)

Well, I used to just stamp about barefoot. But then I started noticing packs of Sasquatch hunters prowling around my favorite winter trails and realized I should probably at least pretend to use shoes.

This being outside in the winter business is all totally new to me. It's only possible because I finally figured out how to dress properly thanks to my cold weather biking. All my life I've avoided being outside in the winter, shivering miserably in bulky acrylic sweaters, heavy coats, and cheap boots. I also had some good winter wear advice from a pro-skiing girlfriend. She and my DH set me straight, and now I love being outside in the brisk cold.

I've often wondered what they would find if they (you know, those people, whoever they are anyway) did a study on winter depression and included information about people who have winter-specific hobbies and sports. Whereas before I used to sigh glumly when looking out the window on a gray rainy day, now I think to myself "yippee! mountain snow!"