Snowshoeing

[Crankin]

Did my first snow shoe of the season yesterday. Our neighborhood association cut a new trail in our common conservation land that connects with another trail. So we walked down the street with our snow shoes, put them on and explored. The snow was great and we stayed to the side of some fresh cross country tracks someone had made, so it was deep. A total of 4 miles, including the walking part without our snow shoes.
It snowed again today, but now it is covered with a layer of ice. I hope to get on my skis this week, but not sure if it will be too icy. Anything other than the 35 minutes I just spent on the trainer...

[roadie gal]

I have a boot suggestion. Instead of just plain gaiters, I wear overboots, like Neos http://www.overshoe.com/recreational/ over my regular hiking boots. My feet stay drier and much warmer.

Also, when considering snowshoes, think about what terrain you'll be on. If you're just going to be on packed trails, then the crampons really don't make a difference. If you're going to be off trail you want to get one with good front AND heel crampons. Otherwise when you're traversing, the shoes will twist out from under you. A great backcountry one is the MSR, which has a serrated edge rather than a tubular one. So it can grab into the snow from all over the shoe. The MSR does tend to be heavier than a lot of the others, though.

If you're going to race then look into the Northern Lites brand. They advertise themselves as the lightest on the market. I replaced my old (15 year old, died of metal fatigue) Tubbs with a pair of these. They are LIGHT. And they have a soft binding that molds to your shoe that hangs on very nicely.

[ummbnb]

Just finished reading this thread and can't wait to get out! I'm getting snow shoes for Christmas, or perhaps just after to catch a good sale. I bought new snow boots last year with SS in mind and they are so comfy that I often leave them on all day at the office - heh heh.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My snowshoeing tends to be over fields and through woods. Over fields is of course easy enough. Through the woods it's on trails, sometimes I'm the first one to break the fresh deep snow, and sometimes the trail has been used already and is packed. But my need for crampons comes in when I am going through the woods (my most common outing) and the trail climbs up and down sloping elevation woods. Without my good crampons I'd just be sliding on my behind and colliding into trees left and right, like what happens when I hike those same steepish trails in the deep snow in just my big tread hiking boots.
Also, we live at the top of a VERY steep 1/4 mile hill, and if I want to go down into town after a blizzard I need those crampons bigtime.

My snowshoes are the Tubbs "Wilderness" model. I just love them. That's their model for mid-to-tough terrain, and it has the steel crampons rather than the slightly cheaper aluminum crampon-ed "Venture" model.
Tubbs has one more model that is made for super-tough terrain and has even more aggressive crampons than mine.
I agree, if you only snowshoe on level ground then big crampons are overkill and in fact may just slow you down.

Robyn, nice to hear about your shoe outing!

Ummbdb- I know just how excited you are about getting your snowshoes for xmas!! We want a report after your first adventure, hopefully with pictures!

[short cut sally]

I went ss for the 2nd time today. DH took my truck downtown and I realized that I had my snowpants in there-d/t the weekend weather I didnt' want to get stranded on my way home from work and not be prepared. So I debated-do I wait for several hours for him to come home or do I get on a pair of winter tights and go? I put on the tights and went. I realize what gaitors are now and the need to get them. I had a blast but my feet were wet from all the show that got packed into them. I didn't notice it really until I came home and started undressing. My boots are drying now. I went out xc skiing later, and without being on any packed trails, it was rough skiing d/t the icy coating that was on top of the snow. I enjoyed my ss outing today compared to the skiing. Lisa, I would love to take pics, I am tecnilogically challenged. I don't have a digital and if I took regular pics I have no way to scan them to download them. I keep thinking one of these days my nephew will have to help me teach me all this stuff.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Good for you Shelly!

Wow, you went snowshoeing AND x-country skiiing in the same day??

Yes, gaiters are really pretty essential when snowshoeing I have come to realize. I can't imagine what I would do without my gaiters protecting me from the knees down! I would get pretty wet and frozen.
I've gone SS a couple times now without my waterproof snowpants, with just double winter tights instead. That seems to be enough protection for average conditions as long as I have wool knee socks and my gaiters on.
I found that when layering two pairs of tights, it's best to put the smooth tights on the outside. The fuzzy/wooly tights get snow stuck on them that doesn't want to brush off, whereas the smooth ones you can just brush the snow off.