Reliable snowshoes

[Brian]

Last winter I broke my laces on my Sherpa snowshoes three times and on a friend's snowshoes once. The Sherpa's were otherwise really nice, easy to get in and out of, but they were clearly too small. I will need a 30" pair.

Admittedly everytime the laces were broken they were on long treks with lots of trailbreaking and route searching (Lafayette to Garfield, Whiteface to Passaconaway, and cool stuff like that).

Any opinions upon a durable pair of snowshoes good for trailbreaking? How about these all plastic ones? At least there are no laces to break...though something else may give.

I do have to say that I never got stuck due to broken laces. I still had support enough to take me out.

Brian

 

[David Metsky]

Are you referring to the lashing that holds the decking to the frame? If so, most of the current era of snowshoes don't use that type of attachment to for the decking, they use more wide pieces of decking to wrap around the frame.

Take a look here to see the current crop of
Sherpa snowshoes and note the differences.

Other good brands include Atlas and Redfeather, I'm sure others will contribute their favorite brands. IMO, the shoes themselves are pretty equivilant. Take a look at the bindings to really decide what you want. They have the most difference and improvement over recent years.

That said, my 20 year old Sherpas are still going strong, never had a problem with the lashing. I use my Redfeathers more often now, mainly due to the better bindings and claw.

-dave-

 

[Brian]

Yes, they are the lashings that hold the decking to the frame. THey are Sherpa climbers. THe bindings are great, and that I really like. But I am getting tired of relashing and crimping on those clamps, and somewhat concerned about having a break halfway on the Garfield Ridge trail that won't carry me out.

I see that the new Sherpas don't have those lacings. That's seems to be one less thing to go wrong.

I'll need 30" in any case!

Brian

 

[DeadFred]

I love MSR's.

They have a more technical construction like a durable plastic deck, aggressive crampons and brakes than many other snowshoes on the market. You can add tail extensions for deeper powder, too. (Some may find that the floatation is not as good as larger snowshoes, but I've never experienced problems firsthand and I don't even use the tails.)

I just upgraded to the Evo Ascents from the Denali's (which I enjoyed tremendously) and I recommend you check them out at least for comparison purposes. Excellent for climbing on the steeps, too.

 

[ripple]

I second what deadfred said. I do not have the evo, I have and love the denali ascents. Heal lifter is fantastic. Makes going up a lot easier. Check them out. Binding is very simple and once they are on no adjustments needed.

 

[SherpaKroto]

Brian : welcome! I was wondering where the heck you were!

I just got the MSR Denali Evo Ascents also. They might not give you the flotation that you need, but the have been plenty rugged for me, even at my size. I'd look at them with the tails (I don't have the tails yet). And they are 2 lbs lighter than the Sherpas.

 

[John H Swanson]

I've been using Sherpas shoes since 1988. The first pair lasted until about 1998 and were replace by Sherpa because of a failure on the webbing supporting the pivot bar. The new pair from 98 worked well until this winter when I slid off a 3 ft snow ledge onto a rocky stream bed and broke the tubing of one shoe. Sherpa replaced these shoes with a new one.

These new Sherpas have the same laced decking. So, there are different types of sherpa shoes. While they have a new design that does not use lacing, they still make the ones with lacing. Finding them may be difficult. I personally think that the lacing adds traction in certain conditions such as light powder cover over steep hardpack, but maybe it's just positive thinking.

Eventhough I've had problems with my Sherpas, I'm sticking with them (in the same design) because they are light (4.5 lbs for 30" size), they perform well for me, and the tucker bindings are easy to do in mittens. Unfortunately, they have discontinued making the tucker aka mountain guide bindings. Last weekend, I picked up a spare pair of tucker bindings at the Mountaineer for a hefty price.

I am hard on the shoes. I figure it's the 225lb combined load., the 20+ winter hikes/year, and the type of hikes I do. As I could envision getting 10 yrs from a pair, I have recently acquired another pair of 30" sherpas on e-bay to use as a back-up. Eventually, I'll just be mixing matching and rebuilding shoes in the summer. The e-bay option could be worthwhile.

I also noted that the AAI gave the 10 series Atlas the guide's choice award. If I was looking for new shoes, I'd be considering these, but 5.25 lbs is heavy.

I've heard lots of broken shoe stories about the Tubbs and MSRs. On the other hand, alot of people like the MSRs, and they are light, but aren't they noisey on hard snow?

JHS

 

[DeadFred]

John makes a valid point about the noise of the MSR's.

The repeated **slap slap slap** of the plastic can wake the dead sometimes. But if you can overcome this aural intrusion on your hiking experience then I'd say check 'em out for sure.

 

[CaptCaper]

I have gone back to Tubbs after having a pair of Sherpa Mountain 30's with Lotus Comfort bindings.

The new Tubbs Pinnacle's have the Easton aluminum frame and I traded in the Bear Hugs and got the T91's. They have what I think is the most aggressive binding on the market.

They are lighter than the Sherpas and my heel stays centered on the shoe. Also the bindings don't give any discomfort.

The Sherpas let my heel always keel over to the side's and the laceing always got stretched out after a trip. The whole deck would slide back to rear.

The Tubbs Pinnacles have a very tough decking and we have never had any problems with them. At least with the T91's. We did have a rachet type from Tubbs that kept loosening and Tubbs gave us new T91's and they have been great.

Hope this helps

 

[adksteve]

MSR Denali/EVO

I've been using the MSR Denali Ascent for since they came out about 4 years ago. I had a problem with the first bindings - they wore out after about 60 miles of easy snow travel. MSR was great about replacing them and I was pleased to see that they redesigned the binding which has been much more durable. I have since passed these shoes on to my 12 year old son and bought the new MSR EVO Ascent which I just love. They are light and durable and both shoes have excellent traction for climbing in the Adk High Peaks. The only drawback is that they are a little loud on packed trails.

 

[TomEske]

Brian, you asked about the all plastic snowshoes. I have a pair of Little Bears which I absolutly love. (I also have a pair of classic wooden bear paws, and a pair of Tubbs Adirondaks vintige 1940).
Although the Littel Bears would never be up to the requirements of many in this forum for extended hikes, hard ice, and crapmons. However, I did want to take advantage of the thread to mention their strengths. FIrst, they pack very neatly, so on those "maybe I'll need them" trips you have snowshoes, but not the big jobs. Second, they are like wearing large shoes, they don't flap (this takes a bit to get used to). They are fantastic for around camp, you can back up easily, also you can kick them in when climbing, which you can't do with conventionals. This turns out to be pretty darn handy sometimes.
They come in a neat little bag, and I tie them on the pack in December, and take them off in May. No they aren't the end all, but they are a lot of fun. One last point, they are great for learners. I loan mine out a lot to kids and friends that want to try snowshoeing, and everyone has no trouble using them.
Just another view,
Tom

 

[snowshoe]

I have to go with the MSR. ALthough I have the Classics. I have been using them for over 5 seasons now and have not had any problems. You really cant beat the price, the fact that you can add the tails for more flotation and the binding system is very easy to use.

 

[mink319]

Check out these snowshoes from Sportsmans Guide:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=86756

I bought them this fall, they are great and affordable. The bindings are great, and the crampons are real nice too. They will get the job done in a variety of conditions, including ice on steep terrain.

Now, to go back to the classics:

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0010865611928a&navAction=jump&navCount=0&indexId=&podId=0010865&catalogCode=UD&parentId=&parentType=&rid=&cmCat=search&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.2_A&_DAV=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcontent%2FPod%2F01%2F08%2F65%2Fp010865ii01.jpg&hasJS=true

I have the Green Mountain style, and I use them for real deep snow.

Tom, I to have a pair of plastic snowshoes that are great.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=61554
They only fit up to a size 9, and I didnt discover that until after I bough them, but using straps from old snowboard bindings I was able to enhance them so they fit my size 11 kamiks. Before I fixed the bindings to fit larger boots I just wore my XC ski boots on them, size 11 3 pin Alpina Blaze, and they fit fine.

 

[bogorchis]

Love Sherpas with Tucker Claw Binding

I still love my Sherpas with the Tucker Claw bindings; have never had any trouble with the lashing! Have tried the MSR's and they are a bit easier to get into, but I think that their crampon arrangement is lousy. Have had Sherpas since 1988. Didn't like my Redfeathers!

 

[Jasonst]

MSR Denalis are absolutely unbeatable. This is my 3rd hike in them and I can't think of a single negative feature. They are roughly 1/2 the price of Tubbs higher end models. They are extremely light, very packable and compact, and have great traction. I can't imagine hiking without them! Save your money - get the MSR Denali's

 

[snowshoe]

Re: Love Sherpas with Tucker Claw Binding

I still love my Sherpas with the Tucker Claw bindings; have never had any trouble with the lashing! Have tried the MSR's and they are a bit easier to get into, but I think that their crampon arrangement is lousy. Have had Sherpas since 1988. Didn't like my Redfeathers!

I think The Crampons on the MSR are very aggressive. I have tried everything from Tubbs to Atlas and nothing climbed as well as the MSR. There Crampon arrangment must be good although I dont see much difference in the crampon placement when compared to Tubbs and other snowshoes. The are all very similar. I guess It just depends on what is more comfortable for each person, That is why it is a good idea to rent some first so you can get a feel for each and find which ones work best with your style. Everyone is different.

 

[Warren]

I'll second the grippyness of the MSR's crampon. I've just had to replace the bindings on mine, the new ones lack a second row of claws, but the traction is just as good as the old type.

I consider these to be traction devices even more than a floatation device.

I've had two failures on the MSR's, one in the field that made one shoe useless.

 

[NHRANGER]

MSRs are fantastic but watch out for the fact that the bindings aren't as elastic as you'd like at temps way below zero. Otherwise they are great.

 

[spider solo]

Wow, that's really surprising with the lacing problem... I have 3 pairs of Sherpa and have yet to have the lacings fail. A few years back I got a spare supply of lacing and crimps "just in case" but have never had to use them
I don't like the new Lotus bindings and changed the only pair I had with that binding over to the Prater binding... the other two pair I keep with the lace up bindings.
I am always a bit curious about the MSR's but can't forget the vision of the fellow holding the 2 parts of his broken msr's in his hand.
I notice that many of the metal or plastic shoe's try desperately to liven up their shoes by adding lifters and what not.
More and more as time goes by I leave the metal shoes at home and head out with wooden shoes..tired of triping over the crampons on most the new shoes and save them for hikes when I really do think I'll need them.
It will be a long time before I believe new shoes are lighter than wooden ones... I used to believe that, but now it mostly seems to border on false advertising.
I picked up a pair of msr's in a store and was surprised how heavy they were..Sherpas are no light weights either ...which I think encourages people to use undersized snowshoes while the companies try to tell us they are light..but not just downright to small.......
then again I could be wrong......

 

[Jasonst]

Just checked EMS and the Denalis are on sale for 127.96. A steal!!!