Snowshoeing

**BleeckerSt_Girl** · 11-03-2007, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by DebW

MSR Denali Classics $140, almost identical to the Denali Ascents but without the televator. Exceptional crampons for traction on steep slopes or sidehills. Easy to use pivoting binding. These are mountaineering quality shoes at an exceptional price.

Deb, can you post a link to those?

**DebW** · 11-04-2007, 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by DebW

MSR Denali Classics $140, almost identical to the Denali Ascents but without the televator. Exceptional crampons for traction on steep slopes or sidehills. Easy to use pivoting binding. These are mountaineering quality shoes at an exceptional price.

Originally Posted by Lisa S.H.

Deb, can you post a link to those?

http://www.msrcorp.com/snow/denali.asp

Available at LLBean

**short cut sally** · 11-07-2007, 06:47 AM

Lisa...it snowed at my house last night! However, it is enough to cover the roof and the grass still has green poking thru, but non the less..IT SNOWED. thought I would share that with you. I am sure you are getting ready for the snowshoeing season.

**short cut sally** · 12-14-2007, 05:09 AM

OK...It's official. I belong to the snowshoeing club here on TE now. I found a pair of shoes per everyone's suggestions in my post about s-shoes. I tried them out yesterday. We finally got some real snow, and it came down so fast that we had like 4-5 inches in no time at all. I was very hesitant about even wanting them, would I use them, would I like them, I have xc skis, isn't that enough type of thing. DH removed the twist tie things so we could re-apply, put garbage bags over them and taped the crampons so incase I found them awkward or not my cup of tea I could return them with as little wear on them as possible. I took them out for their test drive yesterday and what fun! The bags came off about my second trip around the hills. What a fun workout. Better than doing the elliptical inside anyday. I talked to my riding partner last night to tell her she needed to get some also, she said Santa was going to put them in his sleigh via the virtual world after she got off the phone.

**BleeckerSt_Girl** · 12-14-2007, 09:31 AM

Yay Shelly!!!

I hope you can encourage your friend to go shoeing with you- I once went with a girlfriend and it's SO much fun to go together.

Yes, we had about 7 inches of snow yesterday!
Last evening just before twilight I HIKED through the woods for 2 miles on a nature trail near our house. This morning though, I snowshoed the same trail, 2 miles through the woods. I did take some pictures but don't have time to get them organized yet. The snow was deep, wet, and very pretty. I stayed warm.

Take some pix if you can and post them here!

I will post mine in the next day or two when I get the chance.

**BleeckerSt_Girl** · 12-14-2007, 12:04 PM

Here are the photos I took this morning while snowshoeing behind my house:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Strumeli...eForestDec2007

**surgtech1956** · 12-14-2007, 04:24 PM

What's the best boots to wear for snowshoeing? Could I wear some Goretex all leather hiking boots(with gaitors) or are pac boots a better choice??? Thanks

**BleeckerSt_Girl** · 12-14-2007, 07:58 PM

I don't know- try the boots you have, and if they don't work ok then you'll need to buy something else...not much help I know.

Gaiters are definitely the best thing to have though!

**Crankin** · 12-16-2007, 01:56 PM

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** · 12-16-2007, 06:33 PM

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** · 12-16-2007, 06:51 PM

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** · 12-17-2007, 06:46 AM

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** · 12-18-2007, 02:53 PM

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** · 12-18-2007, 03:02 PM

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.

**shootingstar** · 12-24-2007, 07:03 AM

We are in a mountain ski resort area right now vacationing. Did my first day of snowshoeing this year..and found at higher altitudes I really needed to acclimatize. But really lovely going through protected trails amongst soaring trees dripping with lush snow. With mountain panoramic views along the way over the edge.

I wear a pair of outer semi-water resistant pants over 2 pairs of tights. Plus the gaiters.

Our hotel lodge rm. is only 10 ft. away from a steep slope parallel where I just saw a snowboarder fly by..at 8:00 am.

We're doing more snowshoeing in about 2 hrs. after I fill myself with abit more breakfast.

We've been snowshoeing for the last 4 years, every winter.

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